I’ve often wondered why the battles of Operation Market Garden aren’t better represented in kit form, and I think it is simply because there weren’t enough tanks involved as the main players. The main players were instead the Paratroopers. So this set adds to the list of available kits if you want to build something representing the battle at Arnhem. Labelled as a Premium Edition kit this takes Dragon’s older “Red Devils” British paratrooper kit and adds in their new Welbike kit.
Coming in a small tray and lid type box on four grey sprues that in turn contain four British Paratroopers, a Welbike, a parachute drop tube, and a set of weapons. Also included is a small PE fret for detailing the drop tube interior. The Papratrooper figures are an older kit but the moulding is still very good with good faces and a reasonably good level of detail. There is a little bit of cleaning up to do and the uniform folds and areas around the webbing could do with tidying up but nothing that really detracts from the kit.
The Wellbike is very well made and an excellent little kit with a lot of detail. You only get the option to model it in the open position which normally would be fine, but Dragon does make the parts to model it in the stowed position as well but they go in the cousin to this kit, British SAS troops with a Welbike. It would have been nice to have both options.
The droptube is also very well made and the inclusion of the photo-etched parts with which to detail it really make it look good. You also get the clamp frame that was used to attach these to aircraft but there is no parachute pack attached to the base where the parachute came out from. The tube also seems to be undersized as the Welbike should only fill around 3/4 of the length of the tube but instead fills it all. That however is only something that would bother those who need to be totally historically accurate.
The figures depict four figures in a post landing scene, on the look-out but not under fire. The figure holding the bike comes with two sets of arms, his original arms that held a Sten gun and the new arms which allow him to hold the bike. They are all dresed in Paratrooper smocks and Pattern 37 web gear.
As far as personal equipment goes you get three paratrooper helmets with netting covers, one beret, four entrenching tools, two haversacks, a bayonet, a small pouch, six ammo or utility pouches, and four canteens, two with the older harness mount, two in the later sleeve style holders.
The utility pouches in this are odd. The small single one seems to represent no known pouch other than possibly the Browning Pistol mag pouch, but the buckles are wrong. The large ammo pouches depict two Mk III Pattern 37 pouches and four other pouches that look to be shorter Mk I or Mk II pouches but they are way too short. They are also incredibly square as if the were made of a solid material rather than fabric. The haversacks suffer likewise, seeming to be far too perfect in shape.
The weapons consist of a Bren gun with optional folded or open bipod, an SMLE No.4 rifle, a Mk. IV Sten, a grenade, and a PIAT anti Tank rocket launcher. The PIAT includes one rocket plus a three rocket container. These are all well moulded, though with this being a Premium Edition kit the inclusion of Gen 2 weapons would have been a nice touch.
When this kit came out in 2009 it seemed like it was rushed into production to beat Tristar’s similar kit to the shelves. And unfortunately it does show a little in some areas. While the Welbike is very nice and the Paras were a good kit in their day there are just a few niggly points like the poor webbing equipment, the lack of the option to pose the bike opened up or folded down, the older weapons and the undersized container. But those issues should be seen for what they are, small niggles, and putting them aside this does make for a nice looking set once tidied up and the Welbike makes a very nice focal point.
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