Jim Ripley

The pictures I’ve saved show both flat and grouser track in the BEF and N. Africa  ( IRC the “lowered” running gear was only used by one unit in the BEF ? ) . My main Matila interest is East , and my Russian pictures show a both flat and grouser ( maybe different factory shipments ? ) I’ve only found one picture in the 150 odd I’ve got that show…[Read more]

As Nigel says , parts 14 are the arms for the AT rifle . The right holds the pistol style grip and the left is braced on the ground . I found all the rifle arms work with the LMG as it’s the same length as the rifles so the hands are in the right places .  Personally the Russians are my favorite plastic set as the kit bash potential is  f…[Read more]

Very nice .

A cheap way to get an extra weapon sprue , is to buy the plastic Warlord KV I/II kit  ( or the JS II ) as it comes with a sprue of Soviet troops and weapons to use as tank riders . If you don’t want the figures , sell them or convert them  to make Artillery crews

Hopefully some company will release 1/56 scale  weapon and personal equipment sets in plastic , like you can get in 1/35 from Dragon ,  MiniArt  & Tamiya . That way you can toss the under / over scale bits and get all your figures looking pretty good . The other plastic  1/56 company  who shall not be named , has personal gear for various armi…[Read more]

I love the Bandi 1/48 tank kits , I had 30 or so back in the 70s . Like a fool I gave them away when I got into building 1/35 . Warlord’s  newer weapons are probably a little larger to look good with the heroic type troops . The 1st plastic  German troop kit has smaller size rifles  ( on the separate sprue ) than the weapons on the newer German tr…[Read more]

It has always confused me why they call our war game figures  28mm scale . They’re not 28mm scale , they are 28mm in height , now weather its from the bottom of the foot to the top of the head or the eye line depends on  the company that makes them . Scale is a size ratio , ie : 1 inch equals 2 feet , so that’s 1/24 scale . The scale of Bolt A…[Read more]

Yes super glue does mess up clear plastic , as does tube model , just ask anyone who built car models as a kid . There must be some product out there , I see a lot of sci fi type figures on clear bases , never really thought to ask what glue they used … I wonder if there is a Gorilla type glue that dries clear , I know  a lot of white glues li…[Read more]

I mostly use the supplied round plastic base for single figures . I have made my own plastic bases from Evergreen sheet for 2 & 3 man teams ( MG ) , sometimes with odd shapes that suit the figure poses .  I have been thinking about clear plastic bases for a while now , they would let your troops “work” on any game mat or terrain piece . Looks a…[Read more]

The problem isn’t the figures being different in size , people are different . Its the personal gear and weapons whose sizes are set . While there were 2 or 3 sizes of helmets in most armies ( we  all have a buddy with a really big  head, lol ) , and rifles have different lengths of stocks ( the Enfield for example ) , gas mask cases , canteens ,…[Read more]

Nice looking figures , though the poses IMO , are rather blah . I’m more for the action style pose of some of the BA plastics  , and  while it looks good in a squad madly dashing across a field under fire , does look out of place having every 5th or 6th figure posed off balance on one foot in a trench or behind a hedge . The scale creep we see i…[Read more]

While Perry & Rubicon have more true scale figures , they are not in dynamic poses that catch the eye when built and painted , in fact IMO they , for the most part , look pretty bland . I’m all for having toy soldiers looking like figures in the old Lion & Action comics . I have to admit that some BA figures  really look weird when placed beside…[Read more]

I tend to like the older sets with the separate weapons sprue . While I know that some people have trouble getting the arms and weapons glued together in a natural manner , I’ve never had that problem . The amount of loose arms in the Russian set gives you variations of poses only limited by your imagination and modelling skill . I would like to…[Read more]