Soviet Artillery

Latest addition: Hanomak 45mm Anti-Tank Gun with crew

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The Soviets produced 76mm guns from 1942 onwards in massive quantities (over 100,000) and with a 76mm round, they were capable of piercing any German Tank prior to the Tiger I and the Panther. The Soviets were known for deploying large belts of anti tank defensive positions in depth which would wear down the German armored offensive capabilities and would leave them ripe for T-34 counterattacks, which is how they managed to stop the largest ever tank offensive at Kursk. The pictures below depict this gun in a street fighting scenario, as the Red Army pushed west and retook its cities.

Italeri Soviet ZiS 3 76mm Anti-Tank Gun - Part I

This is a nice artillery piece introduced by Italeri. It is a 76mm Soviet Anti-Tank gun. When this set was released, around 2010, it filled a huge gap in the WWII 1/32 plastic toy soldier world. In addition to the gun itself, the set contains a crew with a great variety of poses. There's a main gunner operating the weapon, while the rest of the crew works hard to keep the ammunition supply flowing.

Italeri Soviet ZiS 3 76mm Anti-Tank Gun - Part II

This is what the German vehicles would be facing as they came around the corner.

Italeri Soviet ZiS 3 76mm Anti-Tank Gun - Part III

This perspective affords a better view of the action as well as an unusual detail in the scene.

Can you spot it? I actually included a German guy in this picture by mistake! There's only six figures in the set. 

Plastic Platoon Soviet 76mm Gun with Crew, Winter Dress - Part I

This is a really nice contribution to the hobby. There aren't that many Soviet artillery crews and guns available. I can think of the Italeri set, but that's about it. PP has released this set in both summer and winter outfits. Unfortunately I have only been able to find the winter crew. The figures are certainly nice, as usual, but clearly, the highlight of this set is the gun itself. It comes in a few parts that must be put together - the wheels, shield, trail/carriage and the barrel, but it is fairly easy to assemble. The detail is all there. You can see many nice touches like the hinges on the front of the shield and the grooves on the wooden spokes of the wheels, as well as the firing mechanism of the gun itself.

Plastic Platoon Soviet 76mm Gun  with Crew, Winter Dress - Part II

As you can see from this other angle, you get an officer who is directing the firing of the gun, an ammo handler ready with the next round, a guy ready to fire, and another guy who can be placed in a couple spots to help operate or move the gun - he is carrying a side arm, so he might also be an officer. The uniforms are nicely detailed and show a variety of winter clothing. A couple of long coats, a padded jacket, etc. My favorite is the cap with sheepskin lining. And to round it all up, you also get a couple of ammo boxes. Ready to lay some supporting fire!

Hanomak Soviet 45 mm Anti-Tank Gun 'Sorokapyatka' - Part I

As you can see, this anti-tank gun is operated by a 4-man crew. One man is loading and firing the gun, another is handing him the ammunition. A third one is dealing with the cases containing additional ammunition, and the fourth one is observing and directing the fire. A good crew which can probably be deployed to help with other artillery pieces. In addition to the men you also get a wooden defensive position to go with it. I feel that this set is sculpted at a slightly better level of quality and detail than other Hanomak sets. The posing feels less rigid and more natural. Perhaps if you want to be highly critical, the hands could be done slightly better, and the 45 mm shell being held by one of the men feels a bit too thin, but other than that, I think this is one of their best sets.

Hanomak Soviet 45 mm Anti-Tank Gun 'Sorokapyatka' - Part II

Here's a view from the front to appreciate the detail on the front of the wooden barricade. I probably would have preferred to be able to buy the gun without it. I don't really need it and I would rather pay a lower price, but given that you get it, and it is reasonably nicely detailed,  I should be able to incorporate it into some defensive works for this or some other artillery unit, specially once it is painted as it has pretty nice texture on the wood and the rocky ground. 

Hanomak Soviet 45 mm Anti-Tank Gun 'Sorokapyatka' - Part III

I took this other picture to try to show the different parts that have to be glued to put together the gun. The gun comes as 11 separate parts, 3 of which have to be glued quite precisely to assemble the gun's operating mechanism. What makes it harder is that there are no instructions and some of these parts come attached to their sprue and it is not clear where to cut. Some of the plastic is needed as a pin to be inserted into some small holes, and some of the plastic is simply excess material but it all looks the same. Fortunately I found some pictures of some real guns out there on the internet that guided me in this process. Another thing I had to fiddle with is the gluing and positioning of the trails. At first it seemed like they were going to end up with the hole for the pin that keeps them together on the outside, but it is supposed to go in the middle. After some trial and error I figured out how to glue them in a way that the holes are on the inside. This was not intuitive given how the parts are designed to fit together. In fact, at the online store where I bought them, the pictures they show have them glued incorrectly.

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Introducing the British 8th Army

 Latest edit: Added Kozak Miniatures B8A Set towards the bottom of this post.

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To complement the post on the German Afrika Korps, today I would like to introduce the British Eighth Army, who fought both the Germans and the Italians in the deserts of Libya, Egypt and Tunisia. In addition to its British core, the 8th Army was actually a collection of commonwealth troops from many nations, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Canada, as well as many men from several occupied countries in Europe. They were engaged in a highly mobile war for approximately two years in North Africa. Initially the Italians pushed the British back into Egypt, then the British counterattacked pushing the Italians back into Libya, which made the Germans join the fight under Rommel in February of '41 with the resulting counteroffensive which pushed the British back into Egypt. After a while the British regrouped and mounted their own offensive which pushed the Afrika Korps all the way back into Tunisia and eventually with the help of the US landings in Morocco and Algeria, they managed to defeat the Axis forces and eliminate them from the African continent by May of '43. Among the most pivotal moments of the North African campaign stands the siege of Tobruk in which a surrounded garrison composed primarily of the Australian 9th division held for 8 months preventing the Panzer Army from attacking further into Egypt until it was relieved by the Eighth Army in Nov '41, which is actually when the 8th Army was officially formed. The Eighth Army was led by a few generals, but the most notable one was Bernard Montgomery (as of Aug '42), whose success in Africa propelled him to fame and greater responsibility during the rest of the War. After the North African campaign was won, the British Eighth Army went on to fight in Italy where they again played an important role in tough and bloody battles such as Monte Cassino. In terms of coverage from toy soldier manufacturers, there has been no lack of attention. However as you will see from the pictures below, manufacturers have favored the North African campaign over Italy when depicting the 8th Army.

Airfix British 8th Army - Part 1

Every now and then you come across a pose that you know you have seen somewhere. Such is the case with the guy on the left. There is a black and white photograph of British 8th Army troops approaching a disabled tank in the desert and one of them looks very much like this guy.

Airfix British 8th Army - Part 2

Usually most Airfix poses are fighting, action poses, so the guy on the right who is standing as if on watch, is a bit of a disappointment, specially when there are only 7 poses total. Even with that, these Airfix guys definitely belong at the core of any B8th Army.

BMC British Infantry - Part 1

When BMC produced these guys they were described as British Infantry, however I think they are better suited as British 8th Army guys. If you look at some of the other manufacturers' figures you will also find bagpipes &  berets...

BMC British Infantry - Part 2

 ...and those shovels and picks look like they could come in handy in the rocky, craggy expanses of the North African landscape. 

Charbens British 8th Army - Part 1

These guys are vintage figures, from around the 60's. As far as I know they came factory-painted. I will probably have to paint them over when I paint the rest of these guys. That's when I go through those dilemmas that I described in this other post.

Charbens British 8th Army - Part 2

I have to say that the sculpting is actually fairly decent for figures made around that timeframe. A couple of the guys in the previous pictures can be criticized, but these three guys are pretty good looking.

Cherilea British 8th Army

These guys are 60mm figures. The guy in the middle looks like he could be Monty. The rest of the guys are a decent addition to the unit, a bit upright in some cases, but still acceptable.

Crescent British 8th Army

These guys are fairly well sculpted for the time when they were made and come factory painted. I am not sure exactly how many there were in the original set, but this sample gives an idea of what they looked like.

Crescent British 8th Army clones

These guys are 40mm clones made in Hong Kong. I made the mistake of buying them on eBay without checking that they were the right scale. The only bright spot is that it let me realize that there is at least one more pose that I do not have in 54mm - the guy with the sub MG.

DSG British 8th Army

These are new production figures using the old Britains Deetail molds by a new firm in Argentina. The bases are made out of plastic which I found a bit disappointing as it gives the figures a whole different feeling when you hold them. Other than that, the poses are kind of similar to the Airfix guys, aren't they? 

Britains Deetail Vickers Machine Gun Team

This is a nice set. Hard to find and a bit on the expensive side. The MG actually works. It comes with about 9 little ammo balls which you can fire using its spring mechanism, visible on the side of the gun. It rounds up the collection nicely.

Matchbox British 8th Army - Part 1

Matchbox gave us 13 poses in this set. Almost twice as generous as most of the other manufacturers. Their figures are mostly in good action poses. Casualty figures are not my favorite, but the guy in this set actually looks pretty authentic.

Matchbox British 8th Army - Part 2

Even though the bagpipe guy is not an action pose, I have to admit that he will probably look really nice once he's painted.

Matchbox British 8th Army - Part 3

It looks like this batch contains another Monty. I am going to have to chose who is the boss as there is at least one more candidate to pick from further below.

DGN British 8th Army - Part I

As you can see, this set is heavily influenced by the British 8th Army Matchbox figures. However, when you compare them side by side, you realize that they are originally sculpted, but there is not mistaking that the sculptor tried to replicate the original. 

DGN British 8th Army - Part II

The weapons are definitely different. Some of them are larger, and some of them are missing the bayonet at the tip of the rifle, which several of the Matchbox guys have. 

DGN British 8th Army - Part III

Overall, this is a pretty solid set. Not very original, but fairly decent if you were not aware of the Matchbox figures. Good poses and good level of detail.

Revell British 8th Army - Part 1

These guys are 1/35 scale. I painted several of them along with the Airfix guys a few years back. As you can see, the guys I left out were the ones that are standing a bit funny.

Revell British 8th Army - Part 2

I suppose with the berets and bagpipes these guys could belong to the Black Watch, the famous Scottish regiment which fought in North Africa.

Timpo British 8th Army - Part 1

These guys remind me a bit of the Cherilea guys, particularly the machine gunner. They are also on the taller side of 54mm figures. This set contains what appears to be the third Monty guy in my collection.

Timpo British 8th Army - Part 2

These Timpo guys are not my favorite figures. There are two things that I don't quite like. They are standing too upright and their facial expressions could have used a bit more work. Some of their faces look more like skulls.

Timpo British 8th Army - Part 3

Here are a few vintage figures with some original paint still on them. Notice how they were also cast on a darker plastic color, which I actually like better than that of the newer recasts. 

21st Century Toys British 8th Army Infantry - Part I

This set was sold as British Infantry, but from the short trousers, it seems to me like they are 8th Army troopers. This set was produced after the Germans and the Americans, and you can see the new bases and slightly better sculpting, although not as good with the later sets. 

21st Century Toys British 8th Army Infantry - Part II

The guy running is a good action pose. A bit off balance, but nice enough. The guy on the right does not really grab me. There is something about how he is holding his weapon and how he is standing... The man in the center is a nice middle ground.

21st Century Toys British 8th Army Infantry Series 2 - Part I

This is a set that I had totally missed. I wasn't even aware it existed. Chronologically, it seems to be one of their middle sets, with the sculpting being fairly decent at this stage -take a look at the facial expressions-, the bases not yet so bulky, and already integrated into the figures instead of glued to them. 

 21st Century Toys British 8th Army Infantry Series 2 - Part II

As you can see, the set is comprised of all fighting poses with a good degree of action put into the sculpting. The more a guy is leaning the more I like him. Note also how they have given us figures with both short and long trousers. All in all a nice set from 21C.

Forces of Valor British 7th Armored Division - El-Alamein 1942 - Part I

This is a set that I originally passed on buying. I did not like the bulkiness of the upper bodies. Of course, later on I felt that I should plug the hole in the collection, but by that time, they were no longer being produced and were much harder to find and pricier to get. Anyhow, I am happy I finally got a hold of them. I am still not a big fan of the sculpting and I still don't like the detachable bases, but it felt good to be able to check them off the list.

Forces of Valor British 7th Division - Part II

Here are a few more poses. They came in a different set, Two of them appear to be repeats of guys in the previous set. One of them, the man firing while kneeling, might be slightly different - note the knee is slightly off the ground - or it could also be that the one on top is missing the base and they are actually the same pose. Either way, there's really only two new poses. The wounded man and the man calling his men forward. Sculpted in the same bulky style, so not much new to say about them. 

Airfix British Infantry and Support Troop

These two guys are not officially British Eighth Army, but I've decided to incorporate them into the unit to give them a bit more firepower as none of the sets above contain a mortar or an antitank weapon, which given the nature of the combat in North Africa, would certainly come in handy.

Kozak Miniatures British 8th Army by TS Central - Part I

Here we have an 18-figure set of B8A guys. In terms of poses, this is really generous. I might be wrong, but I don't recall another set as big as this one since the Conte GIs were released about 20 years back. Anyhow, when it comes to 3D printing, given the volume of figures available, I am realizing that I may not be able to pursue completeness anymore. However I do want to have at least one set of 3D printed figures for each service branch and I still had that gap for the B8A. BTW, I really like that they have grouped all these figures as a set because it is pretty hard to track and buy them individually. In terms of these first 6 guys, not much to comment other than getting two poses of what's essentially the same officer figure just with different head gear seems like a missed opportunity to have crafted some better pose, but with an 18-figure set I guess they can afford that luxury.

Kozak Miniatures British 8th Army TS Central - Part II

In terms of the actual figures, I find them just OK. As I've pointed out with other Kozak figures, I find the posing of these guys a bit too stiff. I would prefer to see more bending of the knees, hunching of the back, ducking to avoid projectiles and flying debris, or running faster to find cover. These guys lack a sense of urgency, even the ones who are 'running'. Out of the first two pics, I think the Bickers machine gunner is probably my favorite. Perhaps because he is the one who requires the least intensity to appear to be doing his job well. I do have to say that the variety of weapons is welcome. Having said that, it would have been nice to issue a weapon to the grenade man on the left, perhaps slung across his back? Else he's going to need a lot more grenades! 

Kozak Miniatures British 8th Army TS Central - Part III

This is where the set gets better. The kneeling guys and the prone guys are definitely much better than their standing counter parts. One of the prone guys is firing a Bren gun and the other one seems to be firing a Boys anti tank rifle, aka 'elephant gun', which is a nice choice of weapon. The two kneeling guys in the middle look very similar, but they have different webbing/pouches, and one has a scope on his rifle so that he can snipe better at those DAK guys. One interesting bit is that the bases are not designed by Kozak, but rather provided by the vendor. In this case, they issue circular bases, and if you pay attention you will notice that some of them have a larger diameter than others. You get to glue them yourself, so I allocated the larger ones to the kneeling guys.

Expeditionary Force Scottish Mortar Section - Pacific War - Part I

This set is a bit different because while they are part of the Pacific series, the fact that they are Scottish troops opens up the possibility of using them as B8A guys in North Africa or the ETO. Which is a good option given the few heavy weapons available from other vendors for that service branch. 

Expeditionary Force Scottish Mortar Section - Pacific War - Part II

It is quite nice how just the bonnet makes these guys look significantly different from the other mortar crews in the series. BTW, one small mistake I made was to place the container for the piat's rounds next to the mortar, thinking that it was meant to contain mortar shells. 

Expeditionary Force Scottish Mortar Section - Pacific War - Part III

In this set I decided to give turn the NCO into more of a fighting figure. Not only did he get a Sten gun which he is using to cover his men, but he also got a highlander's cap instead of the bonnet, which by the way, includes some pretty cool ribbons hanging from the back. Just a little extra touch to make him stand out.

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Introducing the British Paratroops

Latest edit: Added Speira/Kozak British Paratroops

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The development of the British airborne forces began in 1940 following the successful German airborne operations that summer. The first British airborne raid, Operation Colossus, took place on Italian territory on Feb of '41 and by November of that year, the 1st Airborne division was officially formed. These troops were actually capable of being dropped by parachute or landing by glider, and once they were even landed from the sea, into the heel of Italy. A few other small operations followed during the mid-part of the war, such as a raid on a radar station on the French coast and a raid on a heavy water facility in Norway and some brigade size landings in North Africa. The 1st Division also took part in the invasion of Sicily and the Italian mainland. By 1943 a second division, the 6th was formed. This division went into action for the first time on D-Day, capturing the famous Pegasus Bridge among other objectives. It fought on in Normandy for 3 months. Around the time that the 6th was withdrawing from France, the 1st Division took part in Operation Market-Garden, perhaps the British Airborne's most dramatic engagement of the war. In a book aptly titled 'A Bridge too Far' Cornelius Ryan tells the story of how the 1st Division held out for 9 days in the town of Arnhem under intense pressure, waiting for the ground troops which were supposed to relieve them after only 2 or 3 days. Eight of the bridges leading up to Arnhem had eventually been secured, but the 9th one had not and out of approximately 10,000 men originally in the division, less than 2000 managed to get evacuated. The 6th Division went on to fight a couple more campaigns. At the end of the year, it was rushed to help stop the German's Ardennes offensive and in March of '45 they participated in Operation Varsity, a combined arms crossing of the Rhine. In terms of figure availability, there is actually a decent number of British Paratroops that have been released by several manufacturers. Let's take a look.

Airfix British Paratroops

A good mix of poses. Some of these guys look like they just landed and are moving on to their objective. Some others are already engaging the enemy. A good set from Airfix as usual.

Airfix British Paratroops - Series 1 - Part I

This is one of the rare Airfix Paras which Airfix made before they switched to the set which has become the standard one. I should say that in terms of the sculpting and poses, the second series is indeed superior to the first and it is easy to understand why Airfix decided to replace them. I once ran into the whole set at a soldier show, before I knew what they were. They were priced a bit on the expensive side, so I passed on them, Years later, when I realized what I had held in my hands, it became clear to me that I should have bought them and that they had actually been priced quite well given how rare they are... This one I got in a large set of mixed figures that someone did not bother to sort out and classify. A bit of a lucky break for me. Here you can see the rest of the poses courtesy of Toy Soldier HQ.

Airfix British Paratroops - Series 1 - Part II

Here is another guy from the set, firing off into the sky. Now the question is, what could he be firing at? In theory, his unit is the one doing the drop... The enemy would not drop on top of them, since after all, they are already behind enemy lines. I suppose he could be firing at a strafing fighter... In terms of the sculpting, I just wish they had given him a slightly more relaxed stance. Maybe the knees, slightly bent? At any rate, I am glad I ran into him. Only 5 more poses to go!

Airfix British Paratroops - Series 1 - Part III

OK, so I had a bit of a lucky break and found a batch of about a dozen paras in pretty good shape. Out of those, we have 3 more new poses. Out of these three, the kneeling, firing guy is my favorite. Now we are just missing the man walking holding his sub mg at his side.

Airfix British Paratroops - Series 1 - Part IV

  Here's the prone bazooka man. These guys are not easy to find, but I was lucky to run into a batch of 10 or so. Unfortunately, I already had most of them, except for the bazooka man of which it had two. On to keep looking for that elusive last pose! 

Conte Collectibles British Paratroops

The British Paras were released as two separate sets if you bought them separately from the Playsets. Each set had 8 new poses, so yes, we got 16 poses in all! That's a good thing because given their larger size, they were not easy to combine with the other British Paras which existed at the time. Since I bought them as part of the playset when I took these pictures I did not pay attention to the sets that they actually belonged to. Maybe when I have some time I will retake the pictures, but for now I will try to point them out in the pictures:

Conte Collectibles British Paratroops - Part I

From L to R they belong to set: 1-1-2-1

This picture shows 3 guys from Set 1 (charging guy on the left, and two firing guys on the right) and 1 pose from Set 2 (firing guy with beret). All 3 guys who are standing firing are all different based on the head gear or the weapon. Not sure why the charging guy and the guy on the right are a bit shorter than the other two. Were they trying to represent men of different heights, or did they change the scale slightly? All of them are nicely detailed and well sculpted in terms of body positioning.

If you are keeping score, this is the number of poses so far:

Set 1-3, Set 2-1 

Conte Collectibles British Paratroops - Part II

From L to R they belong to set: 2-1-1-2

This picture shows 2 men from each set. The 2 guys in the middle belong to Set 1, and the 2 guys at each end are from Set 2. A good mixture of weapons, headgear, and poses. Not a big fan of the kneeling guy firing upwards, but I guess he could come in handy for urban combat, firing at some guy in an upper floor. The Bren gunner is very nicely done. The other two guys with fixed bayonets can be used for some nasty close quarter combat.

Set 1-5, Set 2-3 

Conte Collectibles British Paratroops - Part III

From L to R they belong to set: 2-2-1-1

This shot has 2 men from Set 1 on the left and the other 2 on the right from Set 2. 

The 2 guys in the middle are really good poses. The kneeling guy with the Sten gun is just perfect for a variety of situations. And the officer talking sideways while aiming his side arm conveys the intensity of the moment. I am not the biggest fan of the grenade man with his arm outstretched parallel to the ground, instead of leaning back, but otherwise he is OK. And the casualty figure is really dramatic. Since Set 1 also includes a wounded guy (see below), I don't think we needed another one in Set 2. 

Set 1-7, Set 2-5 

Conte Collectibles British Paratroops - Part IV

From L to R they belong to set: 2-1-2-2

In this picture we have  the last guy (the standing casualty figure) from Set 1 and the last 3 guys from Set 2. The only guy that I find a bit stiff is the officer standing up firing his side arm. The kneeling officer is much better in comparison. He reminds me of Sam Elliot (Sgt. Major Basil Plumley from 'We were soldiers') when he tells his men 'gentlemen, prepare to defend yourselves!'. And the two wounded guys are really well done. I should point out that the hand and sub MG of the wounded guy who is standing came as a separate piece that has to be glued on. Not a big deal. 

Set 1-8, Set 2-8 

Both Sets Complete!

Revell British Paratroops - Part 1

Revell made these guys in 1/35 scale, so you might not want to place them right next to the Conte guys. A nice set for the most part. The second guy from the left is the one guy that I don't find that great. And the guy pulling his parachute is a nice, unique pose, but of course, you can only use him in some limited scenes.

Revell British Paratroops - Part 2

Another interesting detail is the weapons canister. The picture does not show it clearly, but it is actually separate from the figures. I found these guys manufactured in two different plastic colors, as seen above, with green being the most common. BTW, I am not sure if they are still being produced as I have not seen them in a while.

ESCI British Paratroops - Part 1

Here is another unique set from ESCI. Also pretty hard to find. So much that I wasn't even aware that it existed until one of our readers pointed it out to me. The figures are actually pretty decent and in my opinion, better posed than the other ESCI sets. They are using a good range of small arms and even their helmets show a bit of variety, some having a cammo net and some without.

ESCI British Paratroops - Part 2

I particularly like the man charging forward with the Bren gun. One of the more dynamic ESCI poses that I have come across. I don't care that much for the guy standing guard. The guy on the right is one of those funny poses... he seems to be turning at the same time that he is running forward, but yet he is a bit too straight for that amount of movement taking place all at the same time. Anyhow, a good addition to the British paras. Maybe they can help hold Arnhem one more day...

21st Century Toys British Paratroops

I was not aware that 21C Toys had made this set until I ran into it by chance on eBay. They are actually quite nice. I bought 3 sets and the paint job varies from one set to the next, but overall they are nicely finished. The poses are the kind of action pose that I prefer and I also like the variety of weapons that they carry into action. A good addition to the collection!

Charbens British Paratroops - Part I

These seem to be recasts of figures made in the 60s or 70s. On the small side of 54mm. The most interesting guy is the one with the flamethrower. I don't know if this is historically accurate, but it still makes for a unique addition to the unit.

Charbens British Paratroops - Part II

Here is a sixth pose. For some reason the newer recasts do not come with it, but I ran into it in a large batch of mixed figures. Perhaps the mold got lost for this one. Note that it has the same base style and also the pose resembles very much the grenade thrower in the British 8th Army Charbens set. 

 

Charbens British Paratroops - Part III

And here are the first five poses as they were originally released.

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part 1

These are two figures that I stumbled upon on eBay. They are standing a bit too straight for my taste, but they are also old, so we can give them a bit of a break. Anyhow, once they are painted they will be a good addition to the unit, providing their specialized services. I wonder what the guy on the right is supposed to be carrying on his back. Does not look like the usual field pack. Is it supposed to be his parachute? But if he is already operating the mortar, doesn't that mean that he already jumped?

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part 2

Here are some more guys from this set. They are not in the best shape. A couple of them have broken weapons but they still give an idea of what the original poses looked like. The guy on the right is an interesting pose. I am not sure what he represents. Is he supposed to be pulling his parachute? or maybe he is supposed to be in the air, in the middle of a jump?

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part 3

A couple more guys that I recently got in a mixed lot. The guy who is crawling is interesting. He seems more like he is doing some push ups. I would have made him with at least one knee on the ground. The man with the binoculars is fairly decent. Too bad it has lost all its paint.

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part 4

A few more guys in much better condition. The bazooka guy seems to be based off the same figure as the standing man aiming with the rifle, or most likely the other way around, which explains why the rifleman is holding the rifle that way. The flamethrower guy is just a better version of the one in the previous picture which has the flame missing. 

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part 5

Three more figures from the set. Well actually the guy on the left showed up already in one of the earlier pictures, but the weapon was broken, so I included him again since I just got the same figure in better shape. The other two are nice additions. I like the guy who is crawling quite a bit. The MG is also a good addition to the unit, giving it a bit more firepower.

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part 6

And yet one more guy who I found by chance, without knowing that I was missing him, in a large batch that I bought, also without knowing what exactly was in it. I guess every unit needs a good grenade thrower, and here he is. He does not seem to be winding up much for the throw though... let's see how far he manages to throw that. 

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part 7

This is one more guy I just ran into. He is just sitting down, as if he were riding on a plane waiting to jump. To setup such a scene, you would need several of them and they are not easy to find, so I doubt I'll ever get around to that. I should clarify that I did not see any manufacturer marks on him, so I am just assuming that he is a Lone Star figure because he really resembles the other ones.

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part 8

So I think I found the set that the sitting para belong to, or at least one where they can be used more appropriately. This is a Willys Jeep made by Lone Star. Presumably issued to the British Paras through Lend Lease :-)

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part 9

Here is one more British Para. This guy happens to be the machine gunner for this Bren gun carrier, although his MG does not really look like a Bren gun. If he's not the actual gunner, then it's a big coincidence that he fits so well on the seat that has the MG opening... 

 

Lone Star British Modern Paratroopers

This guy came with some of the WWII paras. At first I did not notice that he was from a more modern set. As you can see, the only thing that stands out is the weapon. So if you are not too selective, you can include him in your WWII unit. I probably will.

Lone Star British Red Berets - Part 1

These guys are post WWII figures, but if you overlook the automatic weapons, they could fit well with the rest of the guys. The flamethrower is a good complement to the other sets. I don't know exactly how many poses were produced. First I found these four and later on I found two more (see below).

Lone Star British Red Berets - Part 2

I just received these two other poses. The plastic is a bit brittle as they arrived in multiple pieces. Note how the arm holding the grenade is reattached as well as the head of the other guy. Too bad because there aren't that many of these figures left around.

Lone Star British Red Berets - Part 3

And here is one more guy that I was missing from the set. The guy firing from a kneeling position. A classic post in most sets. Fairly well executed in this case.

Lone Star British Red Berets - Part 4
Here is one more guy who I was missing. Also, one of those that I was not aware of and who came in  a larger batch of figures, so I guess I got lucky. He is displaying a good degree of movement, which is how I like them. BTW, this is almost the same pose as the modern para a few pictures earlier. Initially I thought all they had done was change the helmet. I think I'll let you find the rest of the differences!

Cherilea 60mm British Red Berets

I recently found these guys on eBay. There are supposed to be 6 of them, but I have only found 5. Based on the weapon of the guy on the right they seem to be modern figures, but I think that once you paint them to match the WWII guys they will fit right in.

Cherilea 60mm British Red Berets - Continued

Here is the last guy that was missing from the set. I got him after I made the initial post. Not the most exciting pose, but it rounds up the set of six nicely.

Crescent 60mm British Paratroops

These are original figures from about 40 years ago. They are 60mm. I am unable to fully establish if they are paratroops or commandos. I'll probably just end up painting them as both. Note that they come with a mortar which is lacking in the other sets.

Britains Deetail British Paratroops - Set 1

These guys are actually modern Paratroops, but I like the poses quite a bit and the antitank weapon could come in handy so I've decided to recruit them into the unit.

Britains Super Deetail British Paratroops - Set 2 - Part I

This is one of the other four super rare poses that collectors refer to as the 'Holy Grail' set. Unfortunately, I was only able to get my hands on one of them, even though all four of them were up for auction. But as expected, they were highly sought after. In terms of the figure, I really liked the pose and sculpting of the figure. The manufacturing left a bit of a defect on the neck. My understanding is that the Super deetail figures were made by casting the parts separately and then putting them together with heat, which might explain the neck. Anyhow, it is still a great piece and I am glad I have at least one of them. Maybe I get lucky again and manage to find the rest of his unit at some point. 

Britains Super Deetail British Paratroops - Set 2 - Part II

Another angle, in which you can appreciate his movement a bit better.

Timpo Swoppets British Paratroops

These guys are wearing the distinctive red beret. They come with the typical webbing used by British Army units as well as a backpack. They also have a good range of weapons. I particularly like the Sten gun. The poses as obviously influenced by how you combine the torsos with the legs, but I should say that some of the leg stances are not the best. It also looks like the legs might have come from another set, or they made the Paras in a couple of color schemes. 

Airfix Modern British Infantry

Lastly, these guys are also modern British Infantry, however, the camouflage that they are wearing on their helmets makes them look similar to the paratroops, and their poses are also quite nice, so I am thinking that once they are painted as paras, they'll fit just fine.

Airfix Modern German Infantry - Part I

Same with these guys. But they are so well sculpted that I could not resist getting a batch of them and incorporating them into my ranks. Even though they are German, I think I could use them as British paras.

Airfix Modern German Infantry - Part II

In typical Airfix fashion, the poses are full or action and include plenty of realistic detail. Even the folds on their clothes are all in the right places. Out of this batch, I really like the guy firing his sub MG from the waist and how he leans into it.

Rocco (Royce & Co) British Paratrooper

This guy who came with a mixed set of figures. He is closer to 50mm than he is to 54mm, and appears to have come factory painted. Unfortunately, there are no marks on him to give us a hint about who manufactured him. If you happen to know, please leave a comment so that we might be able to find him some other guys from his unit. Update: one of our readers has identified him as one of the figures made by Rocco (Royce & Co.). 

WW23D British Paratroops - Part 1

These men look ready to join their comrades in Arnhem. There are 9 of them so I decided to split them into two groups for the pictures so that you can see them better. From this first group, my favorite one is the one on the left, kneeling on one leg and leaning forward while firing his sub MG. The one on the right reminds me of the pose from one of the Conte British paras. And the other 3 just seem to be walking on patrol on their way to liberate some Dutch town before the Germans turned on the heat on them. 

WW23D British Paratroops - Part 2

These guys are a bit more adequate for a battle scene. The two guys in the middle are very similar to each other, except that they have the opposite foot forward and one of them is flexing his back knee a bit. The other difference is the type of sub MG. One of them has a sten gun with the magazine on the side, while the other one doesn't. The guy on the left is a pretty standard pose, and the one on the right reminds me of a pose I have seen in another set, but I can't quite place him. Let me know in the comments if he also rings a bell.

Kozak Miniatures British Paratroops Set 2 by Speira

This is their second set of British Paras. I did not get the first one because they are very similar to the 3D printed guys I already bought from WW23D.com. But even this set does have a couple duplicates relative to the one from WW23D. Given the amount of 3D printed figures I've decided that I will have to be a bit selective in terms of which ones I get. Anyhow, I got set 2 because of its special weapons. The heavy MG and the Piat can always come in handy for an airborne unit which is usually light in heavier weapons. The other 5 guys are OK. I also liked that I could order them wearing helmets instead of berets (you can also order them with those). In terms of detail, I like that you can even see mustaches on a couple of guys. It probably helps that I also ordered them in Big 1/32 scale.  

Mars British Paratroops

It's nice to see Mars produce its second set of British troops and that it is representing the Airborne guys as we don't have many of those, at least not released recently. In this set we get a good variety of weapons in use - sten guns, bren gun, mortar, side arm, rifles, some variation in the head gear - helmets with netting and cammo foliage, plain helmet, helmet with netting only, as well as a beret. The poses are fairly decent with all men in useful combat poses. The most interesting poses for me are the two guys in the mortar team who is operating in a prone position. The only thing I noticed on the second man from the left is that its sub mg strap is missing a segment and yet it retains its curvature. This defect is present on both figures that came in the box of 15 men. These guys will go well with the British Airfix paras. Less so with the Conte guys who are a bit taller.

Click here to take a look at WWII Toy Soldiers by Country

Click here to take a look at WWII Vehicles by Country

Click here to see more British Commonwealth Troops

Click here to see the British Paratroops in action.

Click here to see a description of US Airborne troops.

Click here to see a description of regular British Infantry.

Click here to see pictures of British Infantry in action.