US Infantry - Part I

If you read the post about the 100 unique poses, you know that when it comes to painting figures I like to have as many unique poses as possible. At the time that I painted these guys, I almost had 100 unique GIs, but not quite. In the end, I did not stick 100% to the unique poses criteria and I ended up dropping 6 guys in favor of some duplicates that I liked better. So this post only shows 94 unique poses which are painted, plus the 6 unpainted guys that almost made the cut. Since the time I finished this paint job, I have found 50 additonal GI poses (not counting the upcoming second release of CTS) which would allow me to paint another 4 squads. They include Atlantic, CTS, Dunlop, and some vintage TimMee guys (which I must admit are 60mm) but these will be the subject of future posts. For now please join me in the review of the GIs.

Airfix US Infantry

Nice solid sculpting. A classic set.

BMC US Infantry - Part 1

Not my favorite figures, but when you need unique poses you can't be very selective. Their most annoying feature are the helmets which sit very high on their heads.

BMC US Infantry - Part 2

The prone guy with the flame thrower is a good addition. The mortar guy without a mortar seems kind of lost. Here you can see the BMC GIs who did not make the 'paint cut'.

Conte Collectibles US Infantry - Part 1

Very nice, dynamic poses. Great facial expressions.

Conte Collectibles US Infantry - Part 2

The guy holding his helmet adds a lot of intensity to any scene where he is featured. The bazooka team is also a nice combo.

Conte Collectibles US Infantry - Part 3

A collection of prone guys with my favorite Sgt.

Conte Collectibles US Infantry - Part 4

More solid guys.

Conte Collectibles US Infantry - Part 5

The last five. You've got to love a manufacturer that comes out with 25 poses in one release!

What was not so cool was that you had to buy 9 or 10 sets to get all the different poses, but it's not hard to understand when you consider that they had plenty of sculpting and mold costs to recover.  

Marx US Infantry - Part 1

Marching guys are not usually 'called up' into my formations, but again, I couldn't be highly selective.

Marx US Infantry - Part 2

The best one in this lot is probably the mine-sweeper.

Marx US Infantry - Part 3

Nice radio guy. Another guy with a missing mortar.

Here you can see other Marx figures that did not get painted.

Matchbox US Infantry - Part 1

The bazooka guy is actually a clone, but I've never seen the original figure that it's been copied from.

Matchbox US Infantry - Part 2

Another good, solid set.

MPC US Infantry

As far as MPC figures go, I think this is one of their better sets.

Click here to see other MPC guys who did not get painted.

Reproductions of Marx 6" Figures

The manufacturer of these guys is unclear to me. I bought them advertised as SWTS figures (Steve Weston Toy Soldiers), but I have not been able to comfirm that claim. He does not mention them on his web site.

Here you can see the sixth pose which did not get painted.

Toy Soldiers of San Diego US Infantry

Another nice set of GIs. The scuplting is as good as Conte's. Note how they also came up with their own version of the gutsy Sgt. The medic defending himself is a nice touch, although probably more appropriate for the Pacific Theater of Operations where no quarter was given, even to medics.

Toy Soldiers of San Diego Winter Troops

It was a tricky decision to include the winter guys, but since the Matchbox officer already comes with a long coat, I decided to accept them into the unit.

Toy Soldiers of San Diego Heavy Weapons

The heavy weapons squad. Nice two piece MG and finally, a mortar guy that actually has a mortar.

Here are the 6 that did not make the cut already primed. From L to R:

A reproduction of the Marx 6" figures, 3 BMC men, prone MPC MG guy, and some clone of a matchbox-looking figure.

Click here to see the Company of GIs in action.

Here are some shots of more GIs.

River Mission Part II - German Pioneers

Here is another scouting party trying to negotiate the river. These guys are Revell German Pioneers, which is how they called their combat engineers. These guys actually have to rely on muscle power to move upstream and don't even have their weapons at the ready. And who knows what's just around the next bend of the river. Let's just hope they don't run into any enemy patrols.

Bunkers on a budget

If you ever feel like setting up your own Siegfried or Maginot Line or an Atlantic Wall to storm from the Normandy beaches, or simply find yourself in need of bunkers, one solution which I have come across which is both cost-effective and produces structures of acceptable realism is to use the styrofoam that comes as protection with TVs, computers, printers, etc. It often comes with round corners and colum-looking shapes which resemble a concrete structure. With a little bit of spray paint and cutting a couple of firing slots you can have a fairly decent-looking bunker in very little time and for almost no cost (other than the new TV!). Here are a few examples that I built a few years back.

Sometimes the challenge is finding something to cover the openings in the front that looks acceptable and provides protection to the defending troops.

Some of them also have pits on top which make great observation posts.

This one has some nice lines and shapes.

They are also fairly sturdy. This one shows quite a few marble impact marks from all the attempts in past battles to knock out the guys inside.

This one is not the prettiest, but one day I found myselft with eight of these and well, they got pressed into service.

This one had a hole on top which got filled with an observation tower, or perhaps it's a chimney stack? This building has also played the part of a factory at Stalingrad. Note that a small piece of cardboard acts as a platform for the firing slots on the second level. 

Click here to see shots of Waffen SS troops defending some bunkers.

Making a stand at the Siegfried Line - German Waffen-SS in Action

As the pressure on the Western front builds up, the German Army falls back to the pepared positions at the Siegfried Line or Westwall, as the Germans used to call it, where its unbreachability will be put to the test. These are the gates to the Fatherland, so the defenders will be putting up a stiff fight.

The setup is a primarily a combination of Conte Collectibles bunkers & dragon's teeth with Forces of Valor accessories. The defenders are a mix of Conte and Toy Soldiers of San Diego.  

Firing from behind whatever cover is available.

A man with a panzerfaust waiting for the right moment to spring the trap.

A Forces of Valor elephant providing some anti-tank support at this roadblock. The real roadblock gates at the Siegfried line looked like this.

Urging the men forward.

MG 42 team pinning down the supporting infantry.

Scanning the battlefield for his next target or just being cautions moving up? The heavy caliber guns loom menacing inside the bunkers in the background. Those will be a tougher nut to crack.

It will require some combat engineers to blow up these obstacles to allow any wide vehicles through.

This Airfix tower is not the place where you would want to have to fight from, but it provides a better vantage point, and it might force the opponent to take it out early, revealing that the attack is coming.   

A slightly wider view of the action.  

Click here to see close ups of the Waffen SS troops.

Here are some shots of Waffen SS troops in action against the British.

Featured figures: Conte Collectibles Waffen SS, Conte Collectibles German Infantry, Toy Soldiers of San Diego Waffen SS, TSSD Waffen SS, TSSD Elite Troops. Featured Vehicle: Forces of Valor Elephant.

US Armor: The Priest

The Priest, also known as the 105 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7, was a self propelled artillery piece manufactured by the US and put into service on the allied side. The Priest saw action starting in North Africa with the British, and later on with the Americans in Italy and the Normandy campaigns. It was the British that apparently gave it its nickname because of the machine gunner's 'pulpit'. Eventually the British developed their own self-propelled artillery which was compatible with their ammunition and they transformed their Priests into gunless Armored Personnel Carriers, which they referred to as Kangaroos. A Kangaroo could fit 20 men plus a two-man crew. Somehow I don't think 20 of my guys would fit in there, even if I were to remove the gun. One thing I wonder about self propelled artillery is how hard it is to aim and make adjustments, since to aim left or right, they probably have to drive with one track slightly backwards or forwards. This Priest was made by 21st Century Toys, and even though the box was branded as 'die cast', it is pretty much made out of plastic. Even so, it is a nice vehicle. I've actually seen it in a different paint scheme with slightly smaller stars that have a circle around them, and the name Annamae written on the side. This vehicle comes with two figures: a driver and a gunner.

Click here to check out other US Vehicles

Click here to see pictures of more US Armor.

Click here to see some shots of GIs in action in Normandy.