By the middle of the Pacific war the Japanese had changed the way they fought. Early on they had spent themselves in massed banzai charges that Marine firepower cut down; by Peleliu and Okinawa they had learned to dig in instead — into caves, coral bunkers, and spider holes, invisible until they fired and giving up ground only when killed. For the Marine on his feet it meant the enemy was almost never in sight and almost always near. Every hedgerow, cave mouth, and pile of rubble had to be treated as occupied. That is the tension in this walking Marine — rifle up, eyes moving, advancing into ground that might erupt at any step.

K&C sculpts the Marine mid-stride with his M1 Garand held ready across the body, eyes off to the flank, in green fatigues, a camouflage-covered M1 helmet, and full field gear. He is the point of a patrol diorama, moving with the watching Marine scanning the treeline, the standing ready Marine covering, and the walking Marine sniper hunting the enemy the rest of them cannot see.

King & Country model USMC063. 1/30 scale (approximately 60mm), matte-painted metal. Single foot figure on a sculpted groundwork base. Boxed.