Warriors continues its practice of making niche figures no other resin manufacturer would care to make. Sculpted by Taesung Harmms (and painted by Chris Mrosko), Warriors 1/35 African Militiaman looks exceptionally well-done with seam lines, deep wrinkles, nice facial features, and crisp casting. The cream resin kit consists of an African head, right arm holding an AK-47, left arm with closed fist, one-piece cast of torso and legs, and a skinny cassette tape boom box (not shown in box art photo). Although in the box photo it looks like the pants has a hole in it over the right boot, that “hole” is just a deep wrinkle.

The body appears very lanky, a pretty accurate representation of non-governmental fighters of that continent. The sharp facial features give the appearance of a man in his mid-20s or 30s, not a teenage fighter. The box art shows some insignia and nametag over the shirt breast pockets, and a star on the shirt collar flap, but I could not find any such sculpted details on my figure. Another interesting feature is that the right hand doesn’t hold the trigger grip, but actually cradles the gun by holding the banana clip, meaning no fingers are near the trigger. Clearly this Militiaman is not in a combat situation, as evident by the left hand holding the boom box radio and the lack of extra AK-47 magazines. Enterprising modelers may wish to do away with the boom box, or add some additional pouches and straps to create a fighter that appears more “combat-oriented.”

The left hand is closed into a fist, but nothing is attached to the fist, not even a handle and I am clueless where to attach the boom box to the closed fist. (As such, I’ll probably leave the boom box off).

The top of the radio has six circular preset-station buttons and a large volume dial on the left side. The speakers are square with fine diamond crosshatch mesh detailing. A few push-tabs denote buttons for the cassette player. The back of the radio is smooth and devoid of details. I would have expected to see a battery cover or vent slots because the militiaman’s skinny body cannot hide the entire back of the radio from view. Basically the radio looks cheap and low-tech, fitting for suburban Africa or even a poverty-stricken city street of a Western nation.

Although I did not cut off the pour blocks, I could testfit most of the pieces. The arms’ shoulders join well with the torso with little to no gaps. The only fit area of interest would be how to glue the rectangular radio to the closed left fist since the radio has no handle or gluing surface present since one cannot just glue the left fist onto the radio and cover up some of the controls because no handle is present.

The AK-47 has three “barrels” (one for the return gas, the barrel, and the rod below is the folding bayonet).

The figure itself is very tall, probably over six feet. I stood it next to a DML plastic figure and the scale and proportions appear correct, the Warriors Militiaman being skinner and taller than the DML U.S. soldier.

Despite a few oversights and shortcomings (no place to hold the radio, firing hand on banana clip, no extra ammo, empty pockets, and lack of some “eye-candy” details like insignia and rank), modern figure modelers have a whole range of options for using this figure. Perhaps the greatest asset of this figure is that it does not have to represent a (Somalia) militiaman. Due to the ever-changing roles of sides, governments, good vs. bad, and political history of conflicts in Africa, Warriors African Militiaman can fill the role of a (good guy or bad guy) V.I.P. bodyguard, United Nations or Aid Care hired protection, a corporate diamond or gold mine sentry, a hired gun, hired protection for any important African building, an undercover agent, a faction leader, convoy escort, a drug runner, an average armed citizen, or even a gang member. With a swap of a head, this figure can even represent a Special Forces Operator (albeit a skinny one) of many Western nations. By swapping the arms and head, this figure can even pass as an unarmed civilian.

User Contributed Notes