Expeditionary Force Pacific War British Update, we have from Scott the latest on the British figures.
Expeditionary Force Pacific War British Update
Dear All,
Greetings from Singapore!
Very pleased to inform you of the release of new sets for the “54mm WW2 Pacific War” range as follows:-
British at Far East (BFE)
54 BFE 04 British Mortar Section (MkIII Turtle Helmet, plain)
54 BFE 04-S Scots Mortars (Bonnet)
54 BFE 05 British Coy. HQ + Special Weapons (Beret)
54 AST 04 Australian Mortars (Bush Hat, pinned)
54 AST 05 Australian HQ + Special Weapons (Bush Hat, floppy)
54 IND 04 Indian Mortars (Sikh Turban)
54 IND 05 Indian HQ + Special Weapons (Sikh Turban)
Available for shipping by 31 March 2022, if not earlier.
The pandemic lockdown was lifted on 23 March and we are now resuming operations as per normal.
The toolings for the next release (IPG 04) Napoleonic Imperial Guard Artillery, etc. have commenced and we hope to get them released during April 2022.
The full range of the BFE series are as follows:-
BFE 01 Rifles Assault Section (MkIII Turtle Helmet, netted)
BFE 02 Rifles Defense Section (MkII Brodie Helmet, netted)
BFE 03 Machine Gun Section (MKII Brodie Helmet, plain)
BFE 04 Mortar Section (MkIII Turtle Helmet, plain)
BFE 05 HQ Section, including support weapons. (Beret and Bonnet)
There are parallel sets of the above for the Australian and Indian soldiers.
The heads and arms are interchangeable to permit a variety of combinations.
British Range Explained
The British series has 4 types of headwear: Brodie Helmet; Turtle Helmet; Beret; and Bonnet. The Brodie helmet was worn by almost all types of soldiers. The turtle helmet was a late design and only issued around 1944 and would have been worn only by the later British troops. The beret in various colors was worn proudly by various technical and special forces. As always, the British army has to have a Scottish presence, and hence the Bonnet.
The Australian option for the above sets (AST series) wears bush hats, and the Indian option (IND series) wears turbans. The Bush hat series can be used as Australian, Chindits, and other commonwealth troops.
We will be moving on to do the US Marines series in due course.
54mm Pacific War: 54 BFE 04 British Mortar Section (MkIII Turtle Helmet, plain)
The set contains 9 model soldiers comprising of 1 officer, 1 sergeant, 1 radio operator (with optional parts to be forward observer), and 3 teams of 1 gunner and 1 loader with a 3-inch mortar. The weapons, heads, and arms are interchangeable to enable the assembly of different postures.
54mm Pacific War: 54 BFE 04-S Scots Mortars (Bonnet)
This set is a thematic variation on the above set for those collectors like me who love the war comics from the UK such as Commando and Battle comics, where every now and then, there is the cover art of Scottish soldiers in Balmoral bonnets including the one-eye Sergeant wearing the Glengarry cap.
As above, the set contains 9 model soldiers comprising of 1 officer, 1 sergeant, 1 radio operator (option forward observer) and 3 teams of 1 gunner and 1 loader with a 3-inch mortar. The weapons, heads, and arms are interchangeable to enable the assembly of different postures.
54mm Pacific War: 54 BFE 05 British Coy. HQ + Special Weapons (Beret)
The set contains 9 model soldiers comprising of 1 officer, 1 radio operator, 1 sergeant, and three teams of special weapons and crew. There is a PIAT team; a 2-inch mortar team and a sniper team. The weapons, heads, and arms are interchangeable to enable the assembly of different postures.
The beret is a very exciting symbol of elite soldiers such as the Red Devils at Arnhem. I especially associate it with the movie, The Wild Geese. The PIAT is a late-war invention. PIAT is the acronym of Projectile, Infantry, Anti-Tank. Pure engineering faculty terminology.
More in Part Two
I like the pose with the officer with the Thompson instead of the usual pistol waving in the air.
I’m still waiting for exforce chain mail knights, but these look great nonetheless
Nice …some helmets looks a bit odd but passable ,the officer hat with Thompson looks very umbritish style .Another nice set overall.
Overall, I applaud the efforts from Scott and his team. I’m not as familiar with specific helmet styles and equipment issue dates as some collectors, but I recognize great sculpting/design when I see it.
Perhaps with an X-Acto knife and a malted-barley beverage, a hobbyist (and purist) could modify any exaggerations…
I like the idea of being able to re-arrange/swap components. Hmmm…reminds me of vintage Timpo figs…
The detail is also inviting for a figure painter. I hope some other posters will paint up these figures and share on this great web site.
I think they need a little more fine tuning on the MK III(Turtle) helmets,they almost look more like the 1940 Danish Army helmets but as most Collectors are probably not familiar with them in the first place doesn’t really matter.When my Buddies and I back in the day first saw pictures of them we had another name for them,hint think Male Anatomy.
I agree .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mk_III_helmet#/media/File:Snipercaen.jpg
The helmets look very much like the drawings in the Mollo / McGregor book of WW2
Uniforms. I think we’re just more unfamiliar with that design than the earlier style helmet.
The figures overall are great but lack realistic field detail .
By instance if are tropical war theater (hot and humid ) And the have shirt tunic sleeves rolled back up , their shirt should be depicted unbuttoned in first section least ,specially for mortar crews and machine gun seating and crouching positions .No quite logic realistic been fully buttoned in such environment and uniforms looks like coming out training base .The helmets looks very wider open ,the British officer hat have a pick rise not British style too much exaggerated .
Discarding this and that soldiers are always in steroid for EXF overall are great addition .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1923_helmet_(Denmark)
Reference to Brian’s observation: As the actor John Banner’s character Sergeant Schultz used to say on ‘Hogan’s Heroes’, “Jolly Jokers…Jolly Jokers…”.
But, yeah, I see wahtchya mean…