Two new sets from Master Box, British Commandos at Dieppe, 1942 and Buffalo Clan To catch a Thief-2
This is partial text from the full article (usually with photos) at https://armorama.com/news/master-box-british-commandos-and-post-apocalyptic-set
This is partial text from the full article (usually with photos) at https://armorama.com/news/master-box-british-commandos-and-post-apocalyptic-set
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Finally a full four figure set of British Commandos! Now if they could do a D-Day full set.
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Nice! The Commandos look great. Hope they follow up with another set in different poses.
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Well, the poses are all well and good I suppose. It’s the kit’s details that concern me. For the purported timescale I’m not sure that the Commandos would have been issued the Airborne Denison smocks, but let’s be charitable, they might have. In fact, looking at the moulding, they might be more representative of the windproof smock, although illustrated as the Denison by the box-top artists. Hmmm. Also the Sten gun shown is a fairly late mark and again, I suspect not really appropriate for the Dieppe raid, though I’m no expert on that particular debacle. I’m a little confused as to why the trousers have become untucked, but again, let’s be charitable. The problems with depicting 37 Pat webbing seems to be present - as with so many other manufacturers - and the small pack, on the standing pointing figure, is bereft, as far as I can discern of the “L straps” that secured it. There is a complete absence of water bottles which is a bit strange. One would think that fighting would be thirsty work, and are also integral to the webbing.
This sounds like I’m carping for the sake of it; I’m not but accurately depicting personal kit seems to be far too difficult for some sculptors/manufacturers.
I’m sure these figures will find a home; I might even get some myself not least for the Bergen rucksacks provided, which at first glance, do seem OK.
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You’re right about the jackets and Sten. Didn’t clock those. Enfield No.4’s too. Ok for me as I was thinking of grabbing them to go with the Italeri Buffalo I’ve had for years.
I’d put it to a marketing gimmick. The sculptors probably used a late war set of photos for reference and then the box artists stuck Dieppe on it, because it’s more well known.
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Thinking about it, they’d probably work well with a Buffalo, set, say at Walcheren. Good call!
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The Green beret is also a bit iffy for the Dieppe time frame.
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The webbing thing drives me up the wall; I’m thinking of investing in a set and then publish a tutorial on the site!
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Would probably go down well.
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yeah - I’d be around 200 quid lighter though!
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He knelt there, on the ocean floor, until his lungs were aching for air…
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It costs that much now? When I was a kid that stuff was dirt cheap at a local surplus store. Maybe $5 for larger items, and a $1 or $2 for the smaller pieces.
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A brief survey would put it at around that - probably a bit more in some instances. But dear God I’m beginning to feel it needs doing!
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The kit does have decals for one of the late war ops, can’t remember which off top of my head. Pretty I’ve got Bisons decals for it too.
I’ll keep a lookout out for these when they hit the shelves and probably do a build here.
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Yes it does. Along with examples of other webbing gear and the various packs. How many times do you see a build on here with sacks and packs of the wrong nationality or era placed on the build as stowage?
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Yep, I’d agree with the comments here. In fact I’d go so far as to say these commando figures could NOT represent Dieppe. Photos from published works on Operation Jubilee, especially the well known one showing “Shimi” Lovat and members of 4 Commando quite clearly show No 3 SMLE’s and the men all appear to be wearing Denims. No berets, the cap comforter standard wear. Lovat himself carried a civilian hunting rifle on the raid. The other thing is that I believe Special Forces were always allowed some latitude on personal weapons choice and the Thompson SMG was much preferred to the Sten.
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A good point. The Sten wasn’t great. The SAS and LRDG wouldn’t touch them. Although I don’t think any were ever issued to British and Commonwealth forces in North Africa (but that’s a different topic for another place). Thompsons were much better in comparison.
I don’t see that being a difficult thing to replace in this kit. They’re not hard to source in 1/35.
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I don’t quite get why people seem to have so much trouble with 37 pattern webbing. I’ve always thought it was a pretty simple and logical set, but then I’m British and wore it in the cadets, so I’m sort of used to it, even though we’re talking more than 50 years ago! I’ve still got an old 37 pattern small pack that I used to bungee on the back of the bike. There are plenty of books around showing it both in use and even broken down into components: “The British Soldier” volumes 1 and 2 by Jean Bouchery are good, also “The World War II Tommy” by Martin Brayley and Richard Ingram and finally “Uniforms of the WWII Tommy”, by David Gordon. All these books are lavishly illustrated, in the case of the Brayley/Ingram book, all in colour. (Hopefully this will save you £200 Brian!)
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I find Karkee Web a great resource too- plus it has webbing from other periods as well.
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