Mortars

Mortars are a convenient way for an infantry unit to provide itself some indirect fire support at the local level. They are useful to help break up an enemy attack, or to attack targets out of direct line of sight, like those on a reverse slope or inside a ravine. This also allows them to be fired from a sheltered position. Light mortars can be carried by individual troops. Heavier ones were usually carried as separate pieces -base, barrel, bipod- by the members of the mortar team and quickly assembled when and wherever needed. These pieces can be quite heavy. The memoir of a Soviet soldier who was a member of a mortar crew, told the story of a man who was carrying the base of the mortar on his back, who suddenly fell to the ground while on the run and never got back up, having his skull crushed by the weight of the metal plate. As far as toy soldier manufacturers go, there has been a good variety of mortar figures made available, ranging from the very light mortars to some heavier caliber ones. Let's take a look.

21st Centruy Toys American Mortar Team - Picture 1

21 C Toys came up with this nice mortar set that includes 3 factory painted figures, the mortar and a sandbag wall for protection. This is the view from the front.

21st Centruy Toys American Mortar Team - Picture 2

Here is how it looks from the back. Note that the base is a bit too small and it comes with 'footprints' that indicate where the figures should be placed.  That makes the kneeling guy sit a bit too far from the mortar. Given the position of his hand, which seems to be reaching out, you'd think that he'd place himself closer to the mortar or he would be leaning towards it.

21st Centruy Toys American Mortar Team - Picture 3

Here is a better shot of the figures. I actually like to place them behind another sandbag wall, without the base. That allows me to set them the way I like them.

BMC American Mortar Crew - Part 1

BMC Produced a couple of mortar crewmen, but it did not give them a mortar. However there are other American mortars below that they could be attached to, particularly this guy who could just be the ammo handler.

BMC American Mortar Crew - Part 2

The second crewman. This guy is about to drop the shell into the mortar (or take a dive into the pool?), so you will need a standalone mortar like the one from 21st Century Toys for him to drop his shell into.

Britains Deetail American Recoilless Rifle Team

A Recoilless Rifle is technically similar to a bazooka, open in the back so that the recoil can escape through that opening, plus a rifled barrel. This one from Britains Deetail looks more like a heavy mortar to me so I've decided to list it here as well.

Charben American Mortar

Mortarman and mortar from Charben, made in the 50's or 60's, so that explains the odd position of the arm. Sculptures were optimized for ease of release from the mold back then.

Marx American Mortar Crewman

A nice figure from Marx. We just need to find him a mortar now.

Toy Soldiers of San Diego American Mortar

Good set of mortar and crewman. The mortar actually came as separate pieces.

BUM American Mortar

These guys are allegedly American although they don't look like it. This set also comes with the barbed wire, but I did not include it in the picture to get a better shot. Note also that the figures seem to be clones. You can tell not only because the level of detail is a bit faded, but also because the original oval bases are now encased in larger rectagular bases. 

Monogram 1/35 American Mortar

These guys are allegedly 1/35, but they are actually smaller than that in my opinion. Not sure why one of the men has the helmet painted white. Must have been the previous owner's choice.

Revell 1/40 American Mortar

This mortar team is one of my favorite ones. In fact, they are the poses that made me get these figures. I really like how one of the mortar man is lying on the ground while dropping the shell into the tube.

  

Airfix British Mortar

Light mortar/mortar man from Airfix. That one would be an easier one to carry.

Airfix British Support Group Mortar Crewman

This one came with the infantry support group set. He would be a good #2 for the previous guy, if you ignore the fact that the shell seems to be of a heavier caliber.

Britains Deetail Mortar Team

Nice heavy mortar from Britains Deetail. This one can be operated with a spring to fire little shells.

Crescent British Paratroopers Mortar

Good to support your lightly armed paratroopers during an airborne operation.

Lone Star British Paratroopers Mortar

Here is another mortar for those Red Devils.

Britains Swoppets British Infantry Mortar Team

This is a nice little set, very well put together. Unfortunately the man dropping the shell into the tube is missing the shell, but if you assume that he just dropped it, then it works just fine.

21st Century Toys German Mortar Team - Picture 1

21C Toys did a great job with this one. As with the Amreican mortar set, not only did they give us a factory-painted, 3 man crew and mortar, but they also set it inside a very nice mortar pit to give them extra protection.

21st Century Toys German Mortar Team - Picture 2

This is how the figures look outside the pit. Notice the well-detailed facial expression. My only criticism is that they all seem to have the same face.

21st Century Toys German Mortar Team - Picture 3

Here is how the mortar pit looks from behind. Note that it even has some steps to climb into it.

21C Toys German Afrika Korps Mortar Team

I think these guys are a mix of the artillery crew set and the mortar team. The standing guy is the same as the one for the regular infantry's mortar team, except for the uniform colors, but the two kneeling guys are different.I have seen those also in the PAK 40 crew. Now, I don't know if the mortar team included thee figures, or maybe the collector who sold them to me mixed the sets. 

BMC German Mortar Crew

Another set of crewmen without a mortar. Again, you could set them up using the one from 21C Toys, but that would mean taking out the nicely sculpted guys from 21C. Hard choice.

Britains Deetail German Mortar Team

Same as the British heavy mortar, but with German figures.

Dulcop German

Light mortar and crewman from Dulcop. He's holdng that shell a bit too close in my opinion, but those are the trade-offs sculpturs must make if they want to cast the figure in a single mold without it getting trapped in the mold.

Italeri 'Elite German Troops' Mortar

Nice heavy mortar. The bipod comes detached, so you either glue it or have to set it up everytime you deploy the figure.

Timpo Swoppets German Infantry Mortar

Not an easy one to find, particularly in a good state. All parts seem to be there, including helmets, and as you can see, it was a fairly decent set. In addition to the actual mortar and its crew, it also comes with a few extra shells and a detachable bush which can be swapped for another plant of your choice if you have any spare ones :-). A nice addition to the collection.

Atlantic 60mm Italian Mortar

The ony Italian mortar in my collection. So he'd better be effective.

Might have come factory-painted.

 Atlantic Italian Heavy Mortar Team

I believe this set is actually representing post-WWII figures, but I think they can still pass for WWII guys. As you can see, there are 4 figures. The three kneeling guys are the mortar crew. The prone guy is supposed to be manning a heavy machine gun, but it was missing from the set when I got it. As it's the case with all other Atlantic figures, they come unpainted. These were painted by their previous owner, who actually did quite a nice job. All in all a good set.

Airfix Japanese Mortar

A light mortar, reminds me of the one they made for the British Infantry set. Note how this guy also carries his shells in that bag. Not a big supply though. Hopefully the other guys in his squad are carrying a few more shells.

BMC Japanese Mortar

This time BMC did give the man a mortar, not to mention that the sculpting is much better than their usual.

Britains Deetail Japanese Recoilles Rifle Team

Just like the American one, I think this one can pass for a heavy mortar.

Hing Fat Japanese Mortar

A clone of the Airfix figure, with much less detail.

Cherilea 60mm Soviet Mortar

I mean, that the figure is 60mm scale. I don't know about the caliber of the mortar, but it could be close to 80mm.

Italeri Soviet Mortar

A very similar sculture to the German Elite Troops mortar, but this guy did come with the bipod for the heavy mortar attached to it.

Supreme Playsets Soviet Mortar

A recast of the above figure with some factory paint.

Cherilea 60mm Chinese Mortar

Another 60mm scale figure. The only mortar man in among the Chinese I have. Looks like an 80mm mortar, but the shells seem on the small side don't they?

Click here to see a post on American Artillery

Click here to see a post on the German 88s

Click here to read about the Nebelwerfer

Click here to read a post about some really BIG mortars

Click here to see a post about Italian Light Artillery

British Infantry - Part IV

In an earlier post I described all the British Infantry poses that I was in the process of painting. That post left out some poses that I decided not to paint. At the time I was aiming to paint 50 different guys with the goal of using them for war-gaming, so I left out the poses that were least appealing and those that were the least useful in a war-game. Then there are also a couple figures that I have managed to find after I finished painting that batch. Since I would like this blog to be as complete as possible and serve as a catalog organized by manufacturer I feel the need to remedy this. So here are the British Infantry soldiers who did not make the 'paint cut'. 

Airfix British Infantry Support Group

The 5 guys on the right are from the original set. The radio man on the left is a paratrooper, but it came with the set of recasts that I bought a few years back. Since I had already painted him with the paratroopers, I left him out of the British Infantry selection. The other guys are mostly standing around and I wanted action poses. The right-most guy needs a gun or a mortart to go along so I also cut him. And the prone guy is supposed to be feeding ammo to the vickers MG (not shown here) but I already had enough prone guys, so he made room for other action poses.

Atlantic British Infantry - Part 1

I have very mixed feelings about these guys. Some of them are nice and some of them are really bad. The man helping his mate is a very good pose. Similar to a Marx 'Battleground' GI. But the other two miss the mark when it comes to realism. The one on the right seems to be picking an apple from a tree, when in reality he is supposed to be throwing a grenade. The one on the left seems to be waving at his friends... not a battlefield pose.

Atlantic British Infantry - Part 2

Again, a mixed lot. The commander is good. I would have painted him if I had not had enough officers already in my selection. The other two prone guys were easy choices to cut. The one on the left seems to be doing push ups, and the other one comes with a detached Bren gun which you would actually expect him to be holding with both hands.

BMC British Infantry

Compared to BMC's Germans and Americans, the British are actually fairly decent. In this case, I wouldn't say that I cut them, but instead I chose to paint them with the British 8th Army instead. But I did let them contribute two poses to the batch of 50 that I painted.

Britains Herald British Infantry - Part I

The Britains Herald poses are fairly good in general. They represent post-war figures, but they still come in very nice poses. I ended up painting 10 of them. The mine sweeper guy did not get painted because I got him after I was done painting the other guys. The marching guy was eliminated because I wanted more active poses. The rest of the Heral British Infantry poses are in this other post.

Britains Heral British Infantry - Part II

This guy is more like a 50mm figure than 1/32. From waht I understand he was designed and manufactured as a test product -and just this single pose- when Britains was evalauting getting into the plastic market. In case of a failed experiment, they were going to be sold to the tourist market, hence the ceremonial stance. 

Click here to see the rest of the painted British Infantry figures

Click here to see other British Infantry figures that I have yet to paint or are factory-painted

Click here to see a post about a special British guy

Click here to see a post about British Infantry in action

US Infantry - Part III

In a previous post I described all the American Infantry poses that I have already painted. That post left out some poses that I decided not to paint. At the time I was aiming to paint 100 different poses with the goal of using them for war-gaming, so I left out the poses that were least appealing and those that were the least useful in a war-game. Then there are also additional figures from those manufacturers mentioned in that post that I have managed to find after I painted those figures. Since I would like this blog to be as complete as possible and serve as a sort of catalog, organized by manufacturer I feel the need to remedy this. So without further ado, I present to you the GIs who did not make the 'paint cut'.  

BMC US Infantry

The BMC GIs are not the best sculptures out there. The guy on the right throwing the grenade has arms so short that he reminds me of a T-Rex. The guy next to him dropping the mortar shell into an imaginary mortar looks more like he is ready to take a dive. The third guy from the right, I must admit that I overlooked him. He is actually not so bad and considering that I did not have 100 unique poses when I painted the GIs, he should have been included. I actually like how he is leaning back a bit. The fourth guy got cut simply because I already had enough prone guys (10 per company), so he was not needed and he was not the most 'active' pose. He could be useful however for a scene at Omaha beach when they are using the bangalore torpedoes to open a gap in the wire in order to exit the beach. Maybe later I'll get to him.

MPC US Infantry

The prone guy got cut also because I already had enough prone guys and he was on the skinny side. The other two are poses that I did not have at the time I painted the rest. Had I had them at the time they would have been included. Although notice how the guy on the right has an uncanny resemblance to one of the Marx figures in the post with the painted figures.

Reproductions of Marx 6" Figure

Sold as a SWTS figure, this guy is the sixth in the set. I actually find him acceptable when I look at him. Not quite sure why I left him out. I believe at the time I thought he looked short next to the other guys.

Marx US Infantry - Part 1

At the time that I painted the other Marx guys I only had the dark one. I left him out because he is leaning forward too much, with his feet too close to each other. A bit unrealistic in my opinion. The other two guys are old Marx figures from the Battleground set that I found at a large bin in a local Toy Soldier Show. The two battleground guys will definitely get the paint treatment at some point.

Marx US Infantry - Part 2

A nice set of casualty figures. The guy carrying the wounded buddy resembles the figure in the Atlantic British Infantry set. I wonder who produced it first. Definitely a nice pose. The guy on the right is one of the most realistic wounded guys out there. He reminds me a of that famous picture by Robert Capa of the guy being hit during the Spanish Civil War. Lastly, the wounded guy who is crawling impacts me due to its realism. You can almost feel this guy's pain.

Marx US Infantry - Part 3

Another 3 good poses. The stretcher bearer is missing the stretcher, but that should be easy to manufacture. Of course he will need another guy to help him but I have a few of these already. The wounded guy will go on the stretcher. The crawling guy is a nice variation to the prone poses who are entirely on the ground. All these guys will need to be painted and added to the company.

Marx US Infantry - Part 4

Here is another less common Marx pose. I actually found the raft a few years back without knowing what set it belonged to, and it was only recently that I found the rower. I have to say though that the raft feels quite a bit underscale. The man is actually pretty nicely done. 

Marx US Infantry - Part 5

Here is the larger version of the Marx raft. It comes with two rowers. Feels better proportioned relative to the size of the crew, although the raft still feels a bit brittle to have to go into combat on it.

Marx US Infantry - Part 6

These are some marching GIs. The flag bearer was apparently sculpted by a different hand as the marching guys, but they are still close enough in scale and detail that they can be combined into a scene together. Now I just need to find an actual flag for the guy in the middle. 

Marx Gallant Men US Infantry

The Gallant Men, were 5 figures modeled after the characters in a TV series. They were released in 1963 as part of a 'Gallant Men' playset. They are a bit hard to get and there seems to be a strong emotional attachment to them which makes them a bit pricey. From left to right they are Lt. Kimbro, Pvt. D'Angelo, Sgt. McKenna, Conley Wright (the war correspondent) and Capt. Benedict. All very well sculpted, probably better than the rest of the Marx GI figures, although unfortunately, they are not in the most active poses. The Gallant Men were notable for being able to take on large number of enemy forces and defeat them with minimum casualties, the Gallant Men obviously not among them.

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 the post with the painted GIs

Click here to see a post about additional GIs, not yet painted or factory painted

Click here to see even more GIs.

German Infantry - Part III

In a previous post I described all the German Infantry poses that I have already painted. That post left out some poses that I decided not to paint. At the time I was aiming to paint 100 different poses with the goal of using them for war-gaming, so I left out the poses that were least appealing and those that were the least useful in a war-game. This blog however would be inclomplete if I were to leave them out from the catalog of figures that I have been assembling. This post is meant to remedy that. So without further ado, I present to you the German guys who did not make the 'paint cut'.  

MPC German Infantry

The prone guy was left out because I had set myself a limit of 10 prone figures, and he was on the longer/taller side. The guy on the left did not seem like he would fit well on a war-game. He would fit better in a football game asking for the ball to be thrown at him. The guy on the right got disqualified because of his sculpting. He looks like a 2-D figure.

Marx German Infantry Marching Soldier

This guy did not make it simply because he would not be of much use in a war-game where you want more action/fighting poses. But I do like him. I actually plan on painting him and about 49 other marching guys that I have been collecting to make a nice parade scene at some point.

BMC German Infantry MG Team

This machine gun team was cut because of similiar reasons as the MPC prone guy. I already had 10 prone figures and these were the least well sculpted of them all. Even to take this picture I had to find an angle that would make them look a bit better.

BMC Dead German

At the time I painted all the other German figures I thought that there was not much use for a dead guy on a war-game. Since I started working on this blog however, I have come to realize that these poses would make the posts with battle scenes more realistic, so now I wish I had painted them. I guess I will get to it at some point.

Conte Dead German

Same story here. Good sculpting by Conte. Even their dead guys look good.

Marx Dead German

The last of the three casualties.

Click here to see the German guys who did make the 'paint cut'

Another post  about German figures, factory painted and some yet to be painted

Introducing the German Reconnaissance Vehicles

This post covers a variety of German reconnaissance vehicles. These vehicles were important within the German military as even before the war, the military planners already envisioned the upcoming conflict as a new kind of warfare in which high and fast mobility would play a key role. Most of these vehicles were designed before the war and they did not require many subsequent models. Their original designs met their requirements well from the beginning. Let's take a look.

Forces of Valor Kubelwagen Type 82 - 21st Panzer Division

The  Kübelwagen, short for Kübelsitzwagen or 'bucket seat car', was a scout vehicle designed by Ferdinand Porsche and built by Volkswagen. The prototypes were tested during the invasion of Poland and by early 1940 it went into production and continued to be built until the end of the war. Over 50,000 of them were built. Even though it was a 2-wheel drive vehicle, its flat underbelly allowed it to slide over snow, mud or sand, allowing to go where only tracked vehicles or all-wheel drive vehicles could. Being 300 kg lighter than the American Jeeps, it could travel up to 50mph using an engine comparable to that of a VW Beetle. In general this was a very reliable and rugged reconnaissance car. This model comes to us from Forces of Valor. Very nicely detailed and painted. It comes with a crew of three. Not included in the picture is the top which can be removed.

Forces of Valor Kubelwagen Type 82 - Africa

Same vehicle, different finish. This one is missing the spare tire on the front, but when you buy it new, it is included. Note that the front doors are hinged at the back. Since I got this one second hand I am not 100% sure if the three passengers were included with this model.

Forces of Valor Kubelwagen Tye 82 - Normandy

Third variation of this vehicle from FOV. This one is shown with the top on. Note also that the shovel on the side of the car is present, although I did not mount it right. The spade is supposed to face the back of the vehicle and the handle is supposed to point forward, resting above the headlight.

Forces of Valor Kubelwagen Tye 82 - Holland 1944

Here is another variation of the Kubelwagen. It's different in two respects. One is the cammo pattern, and the second one, which is the one I found ost interesting and appealing is the fact that it belongs to a field hospital unit. It also comes with the second top, to enclose it if that's how you like it, but in that case, the man on the side won't be able to sit on the edge and I prefer to display the figure. 

Britains Deetail Kubelwagen - Part I

This is a nice model by Britains. It's not so easy to come by so it took me a while to find one. As you can see, the vehicle comes with a driver and a machine gunner. The only thing that I don't quite like is that they chose to paint the fenders and the tire rims green.

Britains Deetail Kubelwagen - Part II

From this angle you can see the mounted machine gun a bit better. Also note the corrugated detail on the body of the car. Gives it a nice, realistic look. Also, depending on the condition of the vehicle, they might still have the wehrmacht stickers on the doors.

Britains Deetail Afrika Korps Kubelwagen

This is also essentially the same Kubelwagen as the one made for the regular German Infantry figures, but in a desert sand color scheme and with the two men in Afrika Korps gear. Note that instead of a Wehrmacht sticker on the door, it actually has the AK symbol painted on to it. The man on the back is also just holding the MG, instead of aiming. A bit of a hard to find item, particualrly for a reasonable price.

Forces of Valor Schwimmwagen Type 166

The VW Schimmwagen Type 66 was the most successful amphibian car in history in terms of numbers built. Between 1941 and 1944 over 15,500 were produced. Many of its components were adopted from the Kübelwagen, with the 'bodytub' and the propelling mechanism on the back being the main innovations. One 'funny' aspect of this vehicle was that it could not use its propeller to travel in reverse, so paddles had to be used or they had to let the wheels spin in the water in reverse to move in that direction. It was also designed by Porsche's firm and manufactured by Volkswagen. This model was produced by Forces of Valor, with its customary nice level of detail. It must have been a popular item because it was released in about 4 or 5 other color schemes.

Forces of Valor Schwimmwagen Type 166  - view from behind

Here you can see the propeller. It can be lowered or lifted according to where the vehicle finds itself. You can also see how the vehicle looks with the top on.

Forces of Valor Schwimmwagen Type 166 - Normandy 1944

This is the same vehicle as the previous Schwimmwagen, with a different and, in my opinion, much inferior paint job. Part of it is that the cammo pattern does not seem very realistic, and partly that the paint job looks too clean. It would have been nice if they had given the vehicle a bit of weathering. One small improvement over the prior model, is that it also comes with an oar which I suppose might have come handy if the vehicle ever lost power while crossing a body of water. 

21st Century Toys Sd Kfz 222

The Sd Kfz 22 was a light armored scout vehicle based on the Sd Kfz 221, but instead of a machine gun, it carried a 20mm KwK38 Flak Cannon as its main weapon -and a MG as secondary armament. It was built between 1936 and to mid 1943. During this time almost 1000 vehicles were manufactured. It was phased out of production by the Sd Kfz 234. The Sd Kfz 222 could travle up to 85 mph, despite a weight of almost 5 tons. It was operated by a crew of 3. This model was one of the first to be produced by 21C Toys, along with the Tiger I and the Hanomag. They were truly revolutionary when they came out, with a level of realism not seen previously. The vehicles comes with one figure and a top that opens. It was also released in a tan cammo paint scheme.

Forces of Valor Zündapp KS 750

The Zündapp KS 750 was a heavy duty sidecar motorcycle that was nearly as effective off-road as it was on roads. From 1940 onwards until the factory was bombed in 1944 over 18,000 of them were built. Capable of carrying 500kg or 3 fully armed men plus ammo, it could travel as fast as 60mph. When going X-Country, it would be able to travel in mud up to its axels, thanks to its muffler which was installed higher than usual. A very interesting feature of this bike is that the driver could control whether to shift power to the side wheel when traveing off-road. This very nice model comes to us courtesy of Forces of Valor. The mud paint is very realistic, the figures very well sculpted. It even comes with a small trailer.

Forces of Valor Zündapp KS 750

Here is another view from the side. The only inconvenience is that those luggage bags on the sides of the sidecar easily come off when you handle it, so you often have to put them back in place. The other thing is that the machine gun mount is a bit brittle and mine broke when I was trying to get the gunner to hold it.

Marx German Motorcycle with Sidecar

This is Marx's representation of a Zundapp I suppose. For the 60's this was probably a highlight of the Battleground set, and I am sure that once it is painted it looks fairly decent. The only thing that I find amusing is that the feet of the man riding on the sidecar actually reach the ground. It reminds me of the Flintstones!

Atlantic German BMW with Sidecar

This is a nice model from Atlantic. It comes in multiple pieces that easily snap together. The level of detail is quite nice, for a platstic set. If you compare it to the Marx motorcycle with sidecar, there is actually no comparison. The only thing I wich they had done better is to have the passenger hold/operate the machine gun to give it more of an action feeling.

Britains Deetail Africa Corps Dispatch Rider

Britains Deetail also produced a nice set of motorcycles. This one has some similarities with the Zündapp, but I believe it is actually a BMW. Notice how they gave the driver goggles, which would obviously come very handy in the desert.

Britains Deetail Afrika Korps Motorcycle w/sidecar

This is essentially the same as the stand-alone motrocycle, with an attached sidecar. Notice how the caps on the two men are painted in different colors. That was not the case in all of these sets. I've seen it before with both men wearing the field grey cap, so I think these two guys are a bit of an oddity. Other than that, this model is not much different from the one made for the regular German Infantry.

Britains Deetail German BMW w/sidecar

 There are also a couple other German motorcycles from Britains Deetail. This is one of them. It is supposed to be a BMW.  The driver normally has a rifle across his back, but this one came without it. The other model is a standalone bike.

Britains Deetail German BMW - Part I

Here is the motorcycle by itself. It took me a while to find one that was in good shape and fairly priced, but it was worth the wait. The only funny thing is that the factory paint gave the rider a silver nose!

Britains Deetail German BMW - Part II

Here is another view. You can see the rifle on the back and how it is attached. Most models nowadays are missing it as it comes off relatively easily.

Britains Deetail German Motorcycle - Early model

I recently ran across this version of the Deetail German BMW bike. According to the seller, this was an earlier and apparently less common version than the dark grey model. There are a few other differences in the design of the bike, like the muffler for instance and the fact that the engine is a different color. The rider seems to be the same.

Britians Deetail Kettenkrad

This one was an elusive one to obtain. They are usually priced beyond what I want to pay for something this size, or they have some damage. In this case I got lucky and was able to pick up the Kettenkrad with a towed PAK 40 for a bit less than what a good Kettenkrad usually sells for. If you watched Saving Private Ryan, you might recall the prominent role that one of these vehicles plays in that movie. 

Britians Deetail PAK40 towed by Kettenkrad

The Kettenkrad comes with a hook where you can attach the PAK40. I've actually seen real pictures of Kettenkrads being used for this purpose. One nice feature of this PAK is that it can actually fire. It has a small lever that you can pull to compress a spring and when released it could fire a round. I don't have the ammo that came with it either, but it should not be hard to improvise some rounds.

LFL German Motorcycle w/sidecar Part I

This is a 1/32 motorcycle that I came across on eBay. the listing did not state the manufacturer and the vehicle does not have much in terms of branding to help identify its maker. All it says is: "2008 LFL Made in China". The level of detail is good, so it would be good to be able to know more about LFL and what other vehicles they have released.

LFL German Motorcycle w/sidecar Part II

Here is another angle, from where the side car and its unit insignia can be seen better. As you can see the sidecar has the piece to rest the MG. I don't know if the vehicle came with figures originally, but I suppose it might have. If you happen to know more about it please leave a comment. 

Click here to check out more German Vehicles

Click here to see a post about German Cargo Trucks

Click here to see a post about German Self-Propelled Guns

Click here to see a post about American Reconnaissance Vehicles