The helmets look like the current ACH model, although it would have been good to see them with the more bulky CVC helmet instead, as tank crew would be more likely to wear the CVC - the helmets here make these look more like crew of other vehicles. Again the risk of snagging in a confined environment was a concern, which helps to explain this. All have the MOLLE system on them, which is fine, although no one has attached any pouches or other kit.

This could and did happen, but was not encouraged officially for obvious reasons, although some wearers were concerned about them snagging on parts of the tank during a hurried escape. Although they have been nicely done, they give the impression of not having the armour plates inserted as they seem too snug and not bulky. All wear the OTV or IBAS, which was the flak jacket in use from the late 1990s to the late 2000s, but as with the BDU has now been superseded by the IOTV, again dating these figures to a decade or so ago. As far as we can see their boots do not seem to be the distinctive tankers version which we would have expected. The poses are nice and natural, and should do nicely for a diorama of a suitable modern tank.Īll the tank crew wear the same thing, which is Battle Dress Uniform (BDU), a uniform that was adopted in the early 1980s and replaced around 2008, so these figures are ‘modern’, but not entirely up to date. They all look pretty relaxed, since they are not in combat, and this ‘away from harm’ attitude seems confirmed by the fact that none of them have even a holstered pistol, which would be unusual even if well away from any battlefield. One man is seated as if inside a vehicle, but the rest stand, either outside the vehicle or in the turret. Such machines are a far cry from the relatively unsophisticated vehicles that first saw action in the First World War, and today they bristle with technology to maximise every aspect of the tank’s performance.Ĭaesar have divided this set between tank crew and ordinary infantry, with the former shown on our top row, so we will take a look at those five figures first. Although current operations are of an anti-insurgent type, the US has approximately 1600 tanks in service at present, and a large reserve should the need arise. For over a century the tank has been a feature of the battlefield, and for most of that it has been the mainstay of land operations, a position it retains to this day.

Inside modern army tank