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Miniatures Adventure => The Second World War => Topic started by: David H on August 03, 2021, 09:45:06 AM

Title: US Airborne 28mm project - bazooka crew and medic added
Post by: David H on August 03, 2021, 09:45:06 AM
I have been wanting to put together a US Airborne platoon for a while now with a view to creating a Brecourt Manor scenario for CoC. However, I have not been particularly taken by the figures available, Artizan, Crusader, and Warlord metals. From what I have seen and heard of the Warlord plastics they did not seem appropriate either.

So the project had been on hold until I acquired a box of the Warlord plastics for a bargain price  ;)

The main problem with the Warlord plastic US Airborne set is that they are modelled wearing the M43 uniform which was issued some time after the D-Day landings, and the weapons are later variants than those used for D-Day.

Upon closer inspection I did not see too much of an issue in converting these figures by cutting away the puttees to create the iconic Corcoran jump boots. The other main difference is the pocket flaps which I thought could mostly be disguised by judiscious placement of equipment, leaving a few requiring some additional putty work.

And so I set to work trimming the 30 sets of legs that come in the box, and then carefully cutting 'laces' into the bare plastic at the front of the boot with the edge of a very file.

Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - part 1
Post by: David H on August 03, 2021, 10:52:42 AM
I like my squads to have a common 'theme', if possible - eg advancing, firing, etc. Plastics are great for doing this as with a little surgery it is usually possible to create poses that are unique.

The problem with the later Warlord sets is that they appear to have moved away from lots of separate arms and weapons to just a few fixed arm positions with weapons already attached. This makes for a lot less variety, particularly when combined with the rather static bodies provided.

The Airborne sprue contains 6 bodies, of these one is running, one is kneeling, one is prone and three are standing/lunging/leaning which does not allow for a very dynamic group. This, combined with the available arms, becomes even more restrictive. Of the 10 arm sets available, only 4 carry the Garand M1, of which one is shooting, one is being carried across the body, one is shouldered, and the other is kind of tucked under the right arm in a very casual position. 3 carry the Thompson SMG, 2 carry the Carbine, and one is shooting the BAR LMG. There is also a set of arms for shooting the .30 cal machine gun and for the accompanying loader. Unfortunately this is the later model with a butt and bipod rather than the earlier model that commonly used a tripod and was buttless  8)

As the airborne troops pretty much all carried the M1 Garand using the available options does not allow for great variety or very dynamic poses, so even more surgery was going to be required for what I wanted to achieve.



Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - part 1
Post by: Poiter50 on August 03, 2021, 02:46:49 PM
Having just assembled a number of Warlord USMC, it appears that they are using the same layout for all (at least) US sprues.
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - part 1
Post by: David H on August 03, 2021, 04:37:13 PM
Having just assembled a number of Warlord USMC, it appears that they are using the same layout for all (at least) US sprues.

You are right - the US Infantry and the Marines have the same format, and I believe the later war Germans are similar too. The Germans suffer a bad shortage of MG42's too.
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - part 2
Post by: David H on August 03, 2021, 05:12:42 PM
Before any major surgery I opted for something simple to start things off - a 30 cal. mg team.

I trimmed the stock from the gun arm and also cut and trimmed the gun hand to allow the gun to point straight forward, rather than the usual 45 degrees across the body. Why do all the firing poses have to be off to the left? Its OK for standing or kneeling figures, but not so useful for prone figures, and certainly not for an mg.

The barrel needed some trimming to get back to the earlier version - a fine needle drill was used to add the missing holes in the barrel.

The mg also needed a tripod, which was constructed from plastic card and some spare plastic spears. Its basic but acceptable.

Changing the angle at which the mg is being shot now meant the loader could not reach the gun at a sensible angle - he would be feeding the belt in at an angle guaranteed to result in a jam! I cut the ammo belt from one of the spare ammo boxes and glued it to the end of the belt being held by the loader.

The final team member is the ammo carrier. The ammo box previously relieved of its ammo belt also had the open lid removed. The top was filed flat and a 'handle' added from plastic card. I took one of the left arms supposed to be used for an officer and cut it at the wrist and elbow, re-positioned them, and then reattached them to give a more relaxed pose.

The heads are rather nicely done, quite realistic in fact, but the cavity the head sits in is really deep and they just look like turtles withdrawing into their shell. I cut a couple of mm off a thin round sprue, rounded one end off and stuck it in the cavity to create a bit of a neck. If you slice the rounded end of the bulge on the heads neck off you then have two flat surfaces to glue. By angling this slicing you can also change the angle of the head for a bit of variety.

The only items remaining were the back pack and other bits and pieces as required. However, the packs do not fit on a prone figure, in fact, as I was to discover, the packs are a pretty awful fit on all the figures. I have attached the individual packs that come on the sprue, but there are no water canteens so I will have to get them elsewhere.
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - part 1
Post by: Tommy20 on August 03, 2021, 05:35:42 PM
My biggest gripe with Warlord’s plastics is the lack of sufficient rifle options.  Three rifles on a six figure sprue is three rifles too few!
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - part 1
Post by: David H on August 03, 2021, 05:45:08 PM
My biggest gripe with Warlord’s plastics is the lack of sufficient rifle options.  Three rifles on a six figure sprue is three rifles too few!
Agreed, especially when they are already moulded to arms. The separate US weapons sprue has 8 rifles on it. The problem is that 4 of them are Springfields!
These had been pretty much phased out by the time the US army got into the war although it was still in some use early on, but not enough to warrant 50% of the total rifles on a weapons sprue.
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - part 1
Post by: Tom Dulski on August 04, 2021, 01:10:32 AM
I for one would LOVE if Warlord re-did the US Airborne plastic sprue like they did with the US Infantry. I think sculpting them all with the early war airborne uniform would be a much needed improvement.
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - part 1
Post by: voltan on August 04, 2021, 06:54:13 AM
Some lovely work you've done on the kits, I also agree about the weapon choices in the newer kits being a bit annoying at times, it's why I prefer the original ones for my commonwealth.
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - part 2
Post by: David H on August 04, 2021, 10:06:49 AM
Now the test figures were done I started work on the remainder.

Apart from a single running figure, the remaining poses are very static. With only 5 sprues in the box it meant I would have just 5 running figures against the 25 static figures. I like my squads to look like they are engaged in the same activity so I would need to do some conversion work if I was to have a squad advancing or charging into action.

The great thing about plastics is that conversion work is easier then with metals. You can chop off a whole leg and swap it with another figure. You can cut legs at the knee and ankle joints to create bends in the legs and have whole new poses.

Knee and ankle cuts are the easiest. To create a bended knee or ankle just cut out a 'V' at the joint and then re-attach the limb at the new angle.

To straighten a knee or ankle joint make a straight cut and gently straighten the leg to the position required. You should now have a 'V' shaped gap. I then cut a wedge of the required size from some old sprue and glue that into the joint. Once this has set it is as solid as any joint and can be carved to shape without the need for any wire or filler - see the photos below.

After a few hours work I had created a selection of running figures all in different positions.

Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - part 3: first squad completed
Post by: David H on August 04, 2021, 04:52:58 PM
With a lot more cutting, chopping and bending, borrowing bits from the US Infantry and Marines sprues, the first squad is pretty much complete. There is still a bit of filling and tidying up to be done, but I hope to start getting paint on them this weekend.

This is the rifle section and MG team, there is another squad to do, and a bazooka team, leaving 4 figures for the Platoon HQ and optional teams yet to be decided on.


Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - parts 1 and 2
Post by: FreakyFenton on August 04, 2021, 05:29:20 PM
Cracking work and I particularly like the last conversion with the blokes carrying the tripod and equipment on their shoulders!
I will follow this with interest, and will try the V cuts on some of my minis. So thanks for sharing your thought process!
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - parts 1 and 2
Post by: Tom Dulski on August 05, 2021, 10:51:57 AM
That is some fantastic work, keep the pics coming.
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - parts 1 and 2
Post by: Digits on August 05, 2021, 06:31:26 PM
Man after my own heart!  I spent years doing exactly this to GW imperial guard.  The ability to make unique looking poses, including prone ones enables you to put lots of personality into them.  Keep it coming, these are great!
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - parts 1 and 2
Post by: ARKOUDAKI on August 05, 2021, 11:35:57 PM
The joy of plastics...conversions are just so easy...and with a little putty here and there, convincing! Keep cutting it up!
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - parts 1 and 2
Post by: MaleGriffin on August 09, 2021, 11:37:45 PM
Superb conversion work!
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - second squad started
Post by: David H on August 10, 2021, 01:50:10 PM
Thanks for the kind comments, much appreciated.

It was a busy weekend with visiting family preventing too much being done, however I made a start on the second squad and painted a trial figure to sort out my palette.

There are not too many conversion here, they are all pretty much stock figures with their boots done - the guy running with a rifle in his right hand used an arm from another set and I had to carve away the M! from another arm, the shouldered one I think.

The test figure has turned out OK, although the colours are a bit washed out in these photos. Still a bit of work needed on his face and boots, but otherwise I think the colours work well.
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - second squad started
Post by: CapnJim on August 10, 2021, 03:41:08 PM
Like what you've done so far.  Like the paint job too.  Can I ask -- what color did you sue for the base of the uniform?
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - second squad started
Post by: David H on August 10, 2021, 04:58:31 PM
Like what you've done so far.  Like the paint job too.  Can I ask -- what color did you sue for the base of the uniform?

Glad you like them.
The main uniform uses Vallejo 873 US Field Drab as a base, with Vallejo 914 Green Ochre as the highlight. I lightened the Green Ochre with Deck Tan for final highlights. The dark green is German Camo Dark Green 979, lightened with Deck Tan again for highlights. Webbing is done in Khaki and Khaki Grey (all Vallejo).
This recipe was based on a guide by Tom Weiss.
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - medic and bazooka team added
Post by: David H on August 12, 2021, 07:51:44 AM
I have now added a bazooka team and a medic with a wounded man.

I changed the position of the man firing the bazooka based on a photo I found of marines in the Pacific - just so it was not another knelling position. The bazooka came from the US Infantry set as did the loaders arm holding the ammo. I have split the base so that it fits together whilst firing but they can both move individually or be removed.

The medic uses standard parts although the arm with cigarette and the 1st aid bag are from the US Infantry set. As he has no backpack I filed webbing into his tunic as this stops where it would meet the backpack - a lazy sculpting issue that creates unnecessary work if you want figures without packs.

The wounded soldier is made up of several parts - the torso is a prone figure with his leg cut off to be replaced in a sitting position. The leg with bent knee came from the US Marines sprue, as did the bandaged head.

I joined the parts together using blocks of sprue and wedges to get the angles I wanted, added a piece to build up the flattened toe of his boot, and will finish off with putty around all the joints and backside.

They will be based separately but on bases that slot together, similar to the bazooka crew.

The idea is of a little functional vignette of a medic having a smoke with a wounded buddy he has just treated.

Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - bazooka crew and medic added
Post by: tomrommel1 on August 12, 2021, 08:03:33 AM
nice conversions
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - bazooka crew and medic added
Post by: Tom Dulski on August 12, 2021, 10:25:42 AM
More great work, keep the pics coming
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - bazooka crew and medic added
Post by: cahrn on August 13, 2021, 12:59:31 AM
Great work with the conversions so far. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what else you do.
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - bazooka crew and medic added
Post by: Ash on August 13, 2021, 01:50:36 PM
Nice work, those boots have come out particularly well.
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - bazooka crew and medic added
Post by: CapnJim on August 13, 2021, 03:55:09 PM
The main uniform uses Vallejo 873 US Field Drab as a base, with Vallejo 914 Green Ochre as the highlight. I lightened the Green Ochre with Deck Tan for final highlights. The dark green is German Camo Dark Green 979, lightened with Deck Tan again for highlights. Webbing is done in Khaki and Khaki Grey (all Vallejo).

Thanks!  The ones I've painted are later war, with the M1943 greener uniforms.  I'll keep this in mind for any earlier war M1942-clad US airborne I paint up.  Again, thanks!
Title: Re: US Airborne 28mm project - bazooka crew and medic added
Post by: Silent Invader on August 13, 2021, 05:57:27 PM
This is a great thread - thanks for sharing