West Wind SWAT Troopers 01

Getting back to my police theme, I still have more SWAT Troopers to review and to show. This time I'm going to take a look at two sets from West Wind's 28mm scale Road Kill range - GRK17 SWAT Team Commanders and GRK18 SWAT Sniper Team.

Set GRK17 SWAT Team Commanders contains four figures as shown in the photo above and the one below. I have yet to name any of these guys so I'll just identify them as figures 1 to 4 going from left to right.

What particularly strikes me about figure 1 is the unusual way he is holding his 9mm Heckler and Koch MP5A Sub-Machine Gun. It looks like he's about to use it as a club! Very unorthodox! Another unusual thing about this figure is that most SWAT personnel only have one pistol as a back-up weapon, but this guy has two, one on either hip. If he is a member of the LAPD SWAT, which seems most likely as their SWAT officers receive two pistols each, his pistols will be the .45 Kimber Custom II Pistol, a variant of the old Colt Government Pistol.
Figure 2 is in a more orthodox officer's pose, with his left hand raised as if telling his team to halt. He holds his MP5A Sub-Machine Gun pointing skywards in a standard non-threatening pose. He has night vision goggles but he has pushed his up onto his helmet. He only has one pistol in a holster on his right hip.
Figure 3 is the only one out of this group not to wear a helmet and not to be armed with a Sub-Machine Gun. His only weapon is the .45 Kimber Custom II Pistol, which he holds in his right hand, ready to fire. His head is protected by a Nomex ski-mask, which is fire-retardant.
There is nothing to distinguish figure 4 from a normal SWAT Trooper. He is dressed, equipped and armed as any standard LAPD SWAT Trooper. He holds his MP5A Sub-Machine Gun in a two-handed grip as he crouches down.

Set GRK18 SWAT Snipers contained four figures but I have only shown three here in the photos above and below. The reason for that is that you get two of each of the second and third figures in the photos. The first figure is a conversion of the third figure. The second figure will be a lot harder to convert, so for now remains in my bits box.

As I said, figure 1 is a conversion of figure 3. I cut him in half at the waist and added a pair of standing legs out of modelling putty. I also posed him so that he is pointing his sniper's rifle upwards as if aiming for a target at a higher level than him. Another reason to assume that these guys belong to LAPD SWAT is his choice of sniper's rifle. It is the 7.62mm Heckler and Koch PSG1 Sniper Rifle. This is standard issue with the LAPD SWAT. I added a rather large piece of granite to his base to give him a modicum of cover. It would work better if he was prone.

Figure 2 is the spotter for his sniper partner. He is nicely posed, kneeling down whilst searching for targets through his binoculars. Sadly such a pose makes it difficult to convert him. It wouldn't be impossible to alter his pose to a standing one, but it wouldn't be easy cutting him in half. He is armed and equipped as any standard SWAT Trooper with MP5A SMG and Kimber Custom II Pistol.

Trooper 3 is also kneeling down as he prepares to fire his PSG1 Sniper's Rifle. He carries a lot less equipment than other SWAT Troopers but he does have his .45 Kimber Custom II Pistol in a holster on his right hip.

I must admit, that in my opinion, I have kept the best range of SWAT Troopers to last. Foundry's SWAT figures are the most numerous but are let down by an odd choice of non-regulation weapons and far too many females. RAFM's SWAT Troopers are more accurately portrayed but are heoically sized, ie. they are very tall. Copplestone Castings' HRT Team are damned near perfect but there are only five of them. The Heroclix SWAT Troopers are long gone but may be found if you search the Internet. But they too, are massively overscaled for 28mm. Which brings me back to West Wind. Their SWAT Troopers are perfectly sized to fit in alongside most other ranges of 28mm scale figures. They are all accurately armed and equipped. There are four sets in their range and I'll be reviewing the next two sets in my upcoming post on Wednesday. One other big factor in their favour is the price. They retail for £6.00 per set, making each figure a bargain at £1.50. If you are on a tight budget and can only afford one lot of SWAT Troopers I'd highly recommend going for this range. I think they are superb!