This goes mainly to German and British members. Airfix had two set of then modern infantry, mid 1970´s. I have the crazy idea of giving them up-to-date weapons and use it with 1/35 scale models. A few questions remain:
Too tall? You want Germans, right? Seems legit.
The UK used the Mk IV helmet then.
Coat with PVA or CA. They take paint better and can be glued.
I didn’t use those then, but I did have experience with their OO/HO figures which used the same plastic. Back in those days they could not be glued, but I don’t know if there are modern adhesives that will work. They could only be trimmed or flash removed with a craft knife that had a sharp blade, and were not amenable to being drilled. For conversions we did not use adhesive but the “shish kebab” technique: parts were joined by having small dressmakers pins pushed through them which were trimmed to length.
Regards,
M
I remember these sets; I painted some up for my son when he was a nipper. The British set was very well done, the only deficiencies for infantry of the time were the omission of a bayonet on the LH ammo pouch and a respirator pouch on the LH side, and an entrenching tool fitted to the '58 pat webbing. This was either a small shovel or a small pick axe. They were fastened to the rear of the webbing vertically, secured by the strap combo at the top, passed down between the 2 x rear “kidney” pouches, and a strap at the bottom. The spade part of the “shovel” type often being covered in hessian for concealment purposes. The pick haft was secured in identical fashion, and the head was secured in a special compartment along the top of the poncho carrier, and fastened with a strap. I don’t know what the ratio of issue of both types was, say, within an infantry section.
And a shot of the complete fighting order webbing highlighting the respirator haversack, and the locations of the shovel/pick:
Presumably, superglue is your friend should you wish to add any of this, or modify the figures.
This perhaps makes things a little clearer - how the shovel or pick is fitted:
(filched from the excellent “Karkee Web” site)
No, they won’t work with 1/35th. I have a set of the Airfix “Multipose” WW2 German Infantry, bought for me by my wife when we visited the Hornby museum in Margate. I’ve assembled them, but they dwarf 1/35th scale figures, they are bigger all over, so you can’t pass them off as just tall people. All their kit will also be out of scale, which is why it doesn’t work. I also have a set of Academy German Tank Crew that are ostensibly 1/35th, but they also look monstrous and are unusable. The figures would be OK in a “stand alone” diorama obviously. I think I have the British Infantry set mentioned somewhere but never completed painting them. I did try one modification and Superglue seemed to work. IIRC the helmets were covered in hessian camo so the shape isn’t clear anyway.
I agree but I missed the bit about using them with 1/35; you’re right - one can mix scales up to a point - for instance when there’s no other option I’ll sometimes use 1/32 cars with 1/35 figures, but using 1/32 figures with say, 1/35 AFVs or similar, just won’t work.
However, I do hope my info re 1958 pattern webbing is received for the greater good(!)
Back in the dark ages (70’s) I made a diorama with the Tamiya Leopard 1 and the Arifix Germans. I don’t remember any problems with painting them (acrylics). To me they looked fine with the tank but I didn’t use the kits tank crew. I made it a “What if” battle scene because I warped the hull and I had to make it battle damaged. I learned not to set kit parts in the direct sun to dry
The “tall Germans” comment was meant to be tongue in cheek, however, you can mix the scale if done right. The mistake is when people try to mix different scaled vehicles and figures together. Usually it doesn’t work well. The trick is the forced perspective diorama. I remember seeing a mixed 1:72 and 1;87 diorama that was very convincing - provided you looked at it from the right perspective. There are several ways to achieve this, the shadow box being one of the easiest. Those scales are much further apart the 1/32 and 1/35.
Still on my list: A diorama using 1/35, 1/87, and 1/144 elements. I’ve convinced myself that it will work, which is usually the first step in doing anything no one else thinks is doable.
Ah yes! Good old “forced perspective”. There are some very good dioramas in the Royal Regiment of Scotland museum at Edinburgh, one IIRC of Dargai Heights, with 1/32 figures in the foreground and 1/72 in the background and it does work well.
