WW2 Winter Brits in 1/35 Scale

[Cadman]

Seeing as there's quite a few, (okay - a lot of), WW2 Winter German and Russian military figure sets on the market, I was wondering if there might be any demand for, or interest in, 1/35 scale WW2 Winter British figure sets from the likes of Tamiya, Masterbox, MiniArt, etc?

Gecko do a few sets wearing the leather jerkins that might be useful (or adapted) for Winter settings, but I'm thinking more along the lines of Brit figures wearing greatcoats.

These would work for multiple theaters throughout WW2. I.e. Phony War, Norway, North Africa (Libya/Tunisia), Italy, Northern France/Belgium, immediately spring to mind.

There may well be resin examples available out there, but if Miniart can offer a really nice set of US figures in rainwear/poncho's then a similar set of British figures in greatcoats would be an equally nice option.

Comments?

 

Obviously we all have our personal wish-lists, and my next desperate pleas would be for more Italian troops, or Free French Moroccan/Algerian Indigènes, or even East African Askari's, although that's me definitely pushing my luck ... ☺️

 

 

 

Edited April 29, 2023 by Cadman

[Slackbladder]

I know what you mean. There does seem to be an abundant amount of options to create any scene you like if going for a German wartime topic. US is not far behind but when it comes to British there are limited options. Don't get me started on trying to find some contemporary civilians in a kit instead of paying twice as much for one resin figure. Hence my safari figures are a hotch potch of skull clan females and African insurgents, largely chopped about and manipulated.

[Cadman]

3 hours ago, Slackbladder said:

I know what you mean. There does seem to be an abundant amount of options to create any scene you like if going for a German wartime topic. US is not far behind but when it comes to British there are limited options. Don't get me started on trying to find some contemporary civilians in a kit instead of paying twice as much for one resin figure. Hence my safari figures are a hotch potch of skull clan females and African insurgents, largely chopped about and manipulated.

I don't know of any contemporary civilians in plastic kit form. Could be it's another of those that perhaps the manufacturers deem to have limited appeal? 

As for Brits, the Tamiya British Patrol set must be getting on for its 60th anniversary! Good for providing a basis for conversions of course, but I do wish they'd release an update with a few different poses.

I've often wondered how difficult it might be to convert Winter Germans wearing greatcoats to the British equivalents, but reckon it just wouldn't work, or to be more honest - that's probably well above my ability to pull it off.

🙃

[Circloy]

14 hours ago, Cadman said:

I don't know of any contemporary civilians in plastic kit form. Could be it's another of those that perhaps the manufacturers deem to have limited appeal?

 

Both Mini Art and Master Box offer sets of 1930's/40's civilian figure

 

https://miniart-models.com/?s=civilian

 

https://www.mbltd.info/figures/1-35-scale.html

 

easy enough to find online

[Cadman]

12 minutes ago, Circloy said:

 

Both Mini Art and Master Box offer sets of 1930's/40's civilian figure

 

https://miniart-models.com/?s=civilian

 

https://www.mbltd.info/figures/1-35-scale.html

 

easy enough to find online

Thanks for contributing to the discussion.

These are nice figures which would certainly be useful in their given timeframe, but the key words in the OP's wish-list are "contemporary civilians", which pretty much rules out the MiniArt sets. Some of the Masterbox figures might be good as a basis for conversions or even straight out of the box, depending on what is to be depicted, (Ukrainian refugees for example).

Having said that, I might try and get some of those 1930's/1940's sets to use in my WW2 dioramas -- so thanks again for pointing these out.

Cheers

[Slackbladder]

Yes, as Cadman says I was looking for something more T-shirt and shorts or polo shirt and jeans / cargo trousers rather than 1940s men in slacks, ties and chequered tank-top cardigans, and for the women too rather than matching twin-sets and hats. I did look at the refugee sets Cadman but puffa jackets and winter coats probably not good on an African safari.

[Circloy]

Sorry but the OP plastered WW2 throughout the post !!

 

On 29/04/2023 at 00:45, Cadman said:

Seeing as there's quite a few, (okay - a lot of), WW2 Winter German and Russian military figure sets on the market, I was wondering if there might be any demand for, or interest in, 1/35 scale WW2 Winter British figure sets from the likes of Tamiya, Masterbox, MiniArt, etc?

Gecko do a few sets wearing the leather jerkins that might be useful (or adapted) for Winter settings, but I'm thinking more along the lines of Brit figures wearing greatcoats.

These would work for multiple theaters throughout WW2. I.e. Phony War, Norway, North Africa (Libya/Tunisia), Italy, Northern France/Belgium, immediately spring to mind.

There may well be resin examples available out there, but if Miniart can offer a really nice set of US figures in rainwear/poncho's then a similar set of British figures in greatcoats would be an equally nice option.

Comments?

 

Obviously we all have our personal wish-lists, and my next desperate pleas would be for more Italian troops, or Free French Moroccan/Algerian Indigènes, or even East African Askari's, although that's me definitely pushing my luck ... ☺️

 

 

 

 

[Slackbladder]

Yeah, getting a bit confused. Cadman was the OP and was originally talking about WW2 British soldiers and wanting to find some in winter clothing (greatcoats etc) like some of the German and Russian figures have. I had just compared his search to trying to find contemporary (modern) civilian figures or the lack thereof.

[Cadman]

8 hours ago, Circloy said:

Sorry but the OP plastered WW2 throughout the post !!

 

 

 

8 hours ago, Slackbladder said:

Yeah, getting a bit confused. Cadman was the OP and was originally talking about WW2 British soldiers and wanting to find some in winter clothing (greatcoats etc) like some of the German and Russian figures have. I had just compared his search to trying to find contemporary (modern) civilian figures or the lack thereof.

Any confusion is my fault because I mistakenly used the "OP" acronym, so apologies for that. I should've clarified that my responses were with regard to Slackbladder's comments on contemporary civilian figures .

Still, no harm done and hopefully the issue has now been suitably addressed, and resolved.

Edited May 1, 2023 by Cadman

[Johnny Tip]

ICM have one set of 1986 civilians, but that's not contemporary (any more). 

Miniart"s British officers have some colder outfits... and if one finds a set of germans in very late uniforms and coats, the reworking should be minimal. All depending on how close you look at the details, of course. 

[Cadman]

4 hours ago, Slackbladder said:

Yes, as Cadman says I was looking for something more T-shirt and shorts or polo shirt and jeans / cargo trousers rather than 1940s men in slacks, ties and chequered tank-top cardigans, and for the women too rather than matching twin-sets and hats. I did look at the refugee sets Cadman but puffa jackets and winter coats probably not good on an African safari.

Hmm, point taken, unless they're going on safari up Mount Kilimanjaro ... ☺️

[Cadman]

3 minutes ago, Johnny Tip said:

ICM have one set of 1986 civilians, but that's not contemporary (any more). 

Miniart"s British officers have some colder outfits... and if one finds a set of germans in very late uniforms and coats, the reworking should be minimal. All depending on how close you look at the details, of course. 

Thanks for the tip Johnny ... 😀

I'm unaware of the ICM sets and 1986 is too modern for anything I tend to work on at the present time, but Slackbladder might be interested.

I used the MiniArt British officers set in my "Germany 1945" diorama. Wouldn't rule out buying a 2nd set of them as the guy wearing the duffle coat would certainly be useful.

Yeah, I've been considering what might be involved with converting late-War Winter Germans to Brits. This might well be an option, although depicting the correct webbing could be problematic.

Cheers 

[Johnny Tip]

sometimes a bit of scalpel scratching will work wonders (and the sound will irritate my wife)... but after all I of course agree that there are too few choices for commonwealth troops. If the model kits would represent actual numbers of army strengths, you'd all be speaking/writing to me in german. (hats off to Miniart for producing hungarian or finnish tank crews...) 

good luck

 

PS there is a british tank crew in winter uniforms... but overalls of course. 

[593jones]

Figures of British soldiers in greatcoats are pretty sparse, the only ones I'm aware of are the Dragon machine gun crew, BEF 1940, three members of the gun crew in greatcoats with an officer in a raincoat.

 

 

Not really much use unless you want to do a diorama of a machine gun crew!

[Cadman]

3 hours ago, 593jones said:

Figures of British soldiers in greatcoats are pretty sparse, the only ones I'm aware of are the Dragon machine gun crew, BEF 1940, three members of the gun crew in greatcoats with an officer in a raincoat.

 

 

Not really much use unless you want to do a diorama of a machine gun crew!

Thanks for pointing this set out.

Had to go look it up as my ISP won't display the photo you posted.

Found it on the Armorama website though;

 

These are good for France 1939/1940 and Norway 1940. Anything later wouldn't need the gas mask cases -- I think, (might be wrong).

Actually, now I think on it, doing a Norway vignette using these does appeal to me; maybe along with a couple of the leather jerkin clad guys that are available from other mfr's. 

[Cadman]

18 hours ago, Johnny Tip said:

sometimes a bit of scalpel scratching will work wonders (and the sound will irritate my wife)... but after all I of course agree that there are too few choices for commonwealth troops. If the model kits would represent actual numbers of army strengths, you'd all be speaking/writing to me in german. (hats off to Miniart for producing hungarian or finnish tank crews...) 

good luck

 

PS there is a british tank crew in winter uniforms... but overalls of course. 

 

I've been watching a bunch of WW2 documentaries over the past several days and one thing that leaps out at you is the lack of uniformity and variations of clothing among the troops of all nationalities, especially from around 1941 onwards; Western Desert, Tunisia, Italy, Normandy, and so on. (This is a feature I already try to include in my approach to painting WW2 figures, but it's worth highlighting). So on reflection, conversions from Winter German sets to Winter British troops may not be as difficult as I initially anticipated. As long as the correct equipment is used for the nationality that's being depicted, then a bit of scalpel and sanding work might well end up providing acceptable enough results.

 

PS. Yes, MiniArt are to be lauded for offering relatively unusual and hitherto unavailable options. MiniArt, Masterbox and Tamiya 1:35 scale figures are the easiest for me to get my hands on locally, but Dragon and ICM are far more scarce. It is what it is. 

Cheers

Edited May 2, 2023 by Cadman

[Cadman]

On 5/1/2023 at 5:07 PM, Johnny Tip said:

 

PS there is a british tank crew in winter uniforms... but overalls of course. 

 I guess you mean these guys?

I used some of them in my "Korea 1951" diorama. See this link;

 

[593jones]

You can see some surprising pictures, such as soldiers of the BEF in the Phoney War wearing First World War pattern service dress with Pattern 38 webbing equipment, clearly the issue of battledress uniform was not as fast as the webbing equipment!

 

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205195122

 

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205195114

 

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205205023

 

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=Ez0xvPbY&id=6F24741910311D2EE69BCE920E323BCA2DA98F96&thid=OIP.Ez0xvPbYev2JPcKFGaSx8gHaFv&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fth.bing.com%2fth%2fid%2fR.133d31bcf6d87afd893dc28519a4b1f2%3frik%3dlo%2bpLco7Mg6Szg%26riu%3dhttp%3a%2f%2fmedia.iwm.org.uk%2fciim5%2f47%2f836%2flarge_000000.jpg%26ehk%3dGw70kWSq6nepvsWxNu%2bTj%2bz8Q3PnNo69FROawMP3t8M%3d%26risl%3d%26pid%3dImgRaw%26r%3d0&exph=620&expw=800&q=british+army+france+1940&simid=607996528698878374&FORM=IRPRST&ck=FD990CAA84656E8798C2D651B31CB757&selectedIndex=2&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0

[Johnny Tip]

3 hours ago, Cadman said:

 I used some of them in my "Korea 1951" diorama. See this link;

 

I saw, and I found some of the tankers (yep, those are the ones), but I can't say that I understood all the references😔 I might be too young after all, and too german.

[Cadman]

On 5/3/2023 at 1:57 AM, Johnny Tip said:

I saw, and I found some of the tankers (yep, those are the ones), but I can't say that I understood all the references😔 I might be too young after all, and too german.

 

All the dreadful puns are quite deliberate.

In addition, there's a lot of wicked infantile humour that probably doesn't translate too well. 

Edited May 7, 2023 by Cadman

[Cadman]

8 hours ago, 593jones said:

You can see some surprising pictures, such as soldiers of the BEF in the Phoney War wearing First World War pattern service dress with Pattern 38 webbing equipment, clearly the issue of battledress uniform was not as fast as the webbing equipment!

 

Those links are extremely useful -- Thanks for that.

Just as an aside, what has increased my interest in WW2 Winter British figures is the movie in this link which I picked up at the local DVD shop a couple of weeks ago. I haven't had time to watch it yet but it got me thinking about doing a "Brits In Norway" scenario. (Not sure how prominent the Brits are in the movie though).

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9737876/?ref_=tt_urv

 

Looks like "cold weather" WW1 British figures could be used for winter 1939/1940 as long as the puttees and webbing are changed out/updated - and if I can get my hands on that Dragon BEF set and then carry out a few conversions to Germans wearing greatcoats, plus find out some details on Norwegian uniforms from the era, I could be in good shape for creating a diorama featuring the Allied action around Narvik sometime later this year.

 

Also think I'll now have a look for suitable WW2 resin Brits in greatcoats as well. If I can find some, especially late-War examples, then mixing them with a few leather jerkin clad figures could provide enough to depict a British "Bulge 1944/1945" winter scenario, an idea which has been bouncing around in the back of my mind since the year dot.

Cheers for all the ideas and info chaps.

😊

[Slackbladder]

Just looking www.exter-company.com/en site Cadman and in the 1/35 miniatures there are a number of resin Italian offerings under the Model Victoria brand. Whether there are any in stock that you might consider is another matter as they have a lot of 'Sold Out' stock listed.