A Sherman was a five-man world: commander, gunner, and loader in the turret, driver and bow gunner in the hull, all working a cramped steel box by voice over the intercom. Their gear was built for that life. The M1938 tank helmet — a molded fiber shell patented by Rawlings in 1941 — was not armor at all; it cushioned a man's head against the hard edges of a lurching tank and, through its leather earflaps, held the radio earphones in place so the crew could hear one another over the engine and the guns. What every tanker feared was the order to bail out of a burning hull, seconds counting, through a single small hatch.

The set gives you two tanker figures in M1938 helmets and goggles plus five accessory pieces — spare helmets, track links, and a rolled camouflage net — to bring a vehicle to life. Crew and service the armor with them: mount them on the M4A3 Sherman and the M10 Tank Destroyer, and pile on the Armor Accessory Set No.1 for a full motor-pool diorama.

W. Britain model 25270. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Seven-piece set — two tanker figures with M1938 helmets and five accessory pieces (spare helmets, track links, and a camouflage net). Boxed.