1:16 German tanker head phones set-WWII

The headphone set of a German tanker, 1:16

This small resin set holds the communications kit without which the crew of an armored vehicle could not manage: headphones on a headband, the cabling and the throat microphone worn around the neck. In the large scale equipment like this is clearly visible and the head of a figure looks unfinished without it.

How they made themselves understood in a tank

German armored vehicles had an intercom circuit from the beginning of the war and most of them a radio as well. The commander, the driver and the radio operator could therefore talk to one another even on the move, when the engine and the tracks drowned out every word. A microphone resting against the larynx picked up the vibration of the vocal cords instead of the sound in the air, so it did not transmit the noise inside the hull. It was exactly this advantage that gave German units the flexibility their opponents lacked at first.

Working with the part

The castings are thin and break easily, so separate them with a sharp scalpel drawn through the cut rather than with nippers. Check the fit on the head dry; it sometimes helps to sand the inner surface of the headband slightly. A thin cyanoacrylate product applied with a pin will manage the joint, so that the surplus does not run over the hair. Run the cable slightly curved rather than taut; a natural sag is exactly what gives an accessory this small its credibility.

Who the set will serve

• builders of large crew figures
• with busts of tankers in 1:16 scale
• for scenes with an open turret hatch
• modelers who are fine-tuning the detail of a head

Neither a figure nor a radio is part of this item.