Fanteria Britannica, 1944–1945

Recensione dei Figurini Valiant Miniatures di 25 mm

Valiant Miniatures is a manufacturer britannico of hard soldatini plastici for the popular regolamento di wargame RAPID FIRE! published by Colin Rumford. Valiant’s first figure set of Fanteria Britannica provides a scaled down battaglione di fanteria of cinque compagnie, e several support elements for RAPID FIRE! The mix of poses, weapons, ed accessories is perfect for wargame units in this scale. While Valiant Miniatures design their figure sets specifically for RAPID FIRE!, these soldatini may be used for any other wargame system using single soldatini o multi-figure bases.

Each figure set includes 68 soldatini in 12 to 14 poses. Some of the miniatures are multi-pose soldatini con a selection of separate arms holding a variety of armi ed accessories. Separate heads, back packs, spare weapons, ed other valuable oggetti dell’equipaggiamento are liberally included on each sprue. The Valiant figure boxes, too, provide wargaming accessories like sections of ruined buildings, period advertisement e road signs to be cut out. Clearly, Valiant Miniatures is a company of giocatori wargame producing for their fellow giocatori wargame, e for themselves, of course.

Contenuto

68 soldatini in 14 Poses – 25 mm Height
- Ufficiale con Binoculars (4)
- Ufficiale con Map, pointing (4)
- Ufficiale/NCO Forward Observer, kneeling (4)
- NCO con Sten SMG (4)
- Signaller con Sten SMG, kneeling (4)
  - Wireless Set WS-18 Mk.III (4)
- Mitragliere con mitragliatrice pesante Vickers (4)
- Mortarman/Anti-Tank Gunner (4)
- Mortarman No. 1 con 2" Mortar (4)
- Mortarman No. 2 con with Bomb Case (4)
- Rifleman (multi-pose), kneeling (4)
  - Separate right Arm, tirante PIAT (4)
  - Separate right Arm, tirante mitragliatrice leggera Bren (4)
  - Separate left Arm, supporting PIAT o mitragliatrice leggera Bren (4)
  - Stone Wall Section con Bren Bipod (4)
  - Separate Figure Base (4)
- Rifleman (multi-pose), advancing (4)
  - Separate right Arm, holding mitragliatrice leggera Bren (4)
  - Separate right Arm, holding Lee Enfield Rifle (4)
  - Separate right Arm, holding Mortar Bomb Case (4)
- Rifleman advancing (8)
- Rifleman advancing (8)
- Rifleman running (8)
  - Separate Head con elmetto d’acciaio (8)
  - Separate Head con Officer’s Cap (8)
  - Separate Head con Beret (8)
  - Separate Head bareheaded (8)
3" Mortar (4)
Mitragliatrice pesante Vickers da .303 (4)
Back Pack (40)
Paper Road Signs e Ruins of "CAFE NORMANDIE" on the Box Side

Valutazione

Excellent choice of subject. Fanteria britannica della campagna di Normandia, Liberation of Francia e Belgio, e the Battle for Germania will be popular con giocatori wargame, dioramisti e collezionisti.

Excellent wargame poses. Valiant Miniatures are designed per giocatori wargame who want to raise sections, platoons, e companies con the proper mix of support weapons. There are enough soldatini ed armi in questa scatola to recruit a complete fanteria battalion, e supporting elements for RAPID FIRE! wargames. Every figure in this set is useful, ed it may be converted to fill gaps in existing collections of 25 mm wargame soldatini.

The soldatini are relatively slender, e naturally posed. Giocatori di wargame will be happy to note that there are no wild poses in this set which would look ridiculous if used repeatedly in the same formation o diorama. Instead, all of the soldatini are either standing at ease, kneeling, o advancing cautiously like real soldiers operating near the front lines.

Excellent casting quality, minimal flash e hardly any noticeable mould lines.

The multi-pose soldatini fit together perfectly ed easily, without any fiddling around. Once the glue has set, the multi-pose soldatini are indistinguishable from the one-piece casting in this set. This is an area where manufacturers have often failed in the past, because their multi-part soldatini continued to look like dress puppets con mismatched arms glued on, even after they had been painted. Valiant Miniatures set a new industry standard in precision modelling of multi-pose small scale soldatini.

The facial features are superb, these soldatini look determined ed in tune con what they are doing. Unfortunately, the heads are nearly twice the size of a real human head in the proposed scale.

The separate heads included in this set may be used to add variety in poses. The instructions recommend cutting the head off e drilling the neck of the figure to accept the locating pin of the new head, but this is not strictly necessary. Simply shorten the locating pin to the proper length, cutting it at an angle, e glue the new head onto the figure. Turn the head into the desired direction ed allow the glue to set over night.
While the eight bare heads may not be very suitable by themselves, they will provide the basis for several interesting conversion. Add tissue o modelling wax bandages around the head to create a walking wounded, o press a tiny ball of modelling putty into place to model a beret. The uncovered elmetto d’acciaio is the pre-1944 model which may be used to draft some of these riflemen into plotoni o companies modelled for earlier campaigns in Francia, North Africa, Italia, o Burma.

The signaller needs to have a sectional rod antenna attached to the left side of his WS-18 Mk.III wireless set. The antenna can be up to 3 m tall, particularly if the set is used in a defensive position.

Expert modellers may want to add rifle slings made from thin plastic card o paper strips.

ESCI - Valiant Miniatures – Revell scale comparison

Valiant Miniatures advertise the Fanteria Britannica figure set as 1:72 scale, but the soldatini, e l’equipaggiamento they carry turned out much too big to be considered true to scale. The heads dei soldatini are huge: scala 1:27 (twentyseven); e le armi range from scala 1:46 to 1:64, we found none in scala 1:72.

The PIAT included in this set is 15.5 mm long, without the bomb, the equivalent of 1:64 scale.
The barrel of the Ordnance ML 3 inch mortar was 1370 mm long. The model of the 3" mortar included in this set turns out to be 1:60 scale, con a barrel length of 23 mm.
La mitragliatrice leggera Bren is 19.5 mm long, o 1:59 scale.
The Webley Revolver is 5 mm long, o 1:57 scale
The Sten SMG is 15 mm long, o 1:51 scale.
The Lee-Enfield Rifle is 22.5 mm long, the equivalent of 1:50 scale.
The 2" Mortar had an overall length of 533 mm, o 7.4 mm in scala 1:72. Again, the model in this set turned out much too long, 11.5 mm to be exact, which is the equivalent of 1:46 scale.

The elmetto d’acciaio Mk.III worn by these soldatini is huge, 6 mm in diameter, it scales out to 17 inches. Revell’s 1:72 scale fanti britannici wear elmetti Mk.III which are only 11.3 inches in diameter. Valiants’ Tommies need big elmetti, because their heads are over 11 inches wide, nearly twice the size of an average human head which measures only 6.3 inches between the ears.

Tiny sink holes in the chest of the signaller e 3" mortarman, as well as on the crown of the officer’s cap need to be filled.

The kneeling multi-pose figure might have been supplied con a separate left arm to add more variety. Since there is no complete left arm in the set, this man can only be modelled as a firing Bren o PIAT gunner. A left arm from the German fanteria set released by Valiant Miniatures may be used to correct this, provided that the sleeve of that arm is filed o carved to a BDU pattern sleeve britannico con cuff.

Separate bayonets would have been a valuable addition for dioramisti, who may want to display some of these soldatini con bayonets fixed. Giocatori di wargame, too, might have been tempted to fix bayonets, even if there is a greater risk of breakage when soldatini are handled during games.

Incompatible con ESCI, Hasegawa, Italeri, Revell, ed other true 1:72 scale miniatures. While Valiant’s Tommies have the same height e shoulder width as the 1:72 scale Fanteria Britannica available from Revell, their huge 1:27 scale heads, ed out of scale weapons make them incompatible. To deploy Valiant Miniatures Tommies alongside existing 1:72 scale plotoni e companies, consider mounting them on thinner bases which will make them less conspicuous on the battlefield.

Utilizzo Storico

Fanteria Britannica, 1944–1945
Canadian Fanteria, 1944–1945

Conversione

Fanteria del Commonwealth britannico, wearing Slouch Hats o Turbans
Commandos dell’esercito britannico, wearing Beret

Valiant Miniatures’ Tommies Britannici are a must-have for giocatori wargame e dioramisti interested in modern warfare. The soldatini are perfectly suited for RAPID FIRE! ed other popular regolamenti di wargame using individual o multi-figure bases. While they are incompatibile con 1:72 scale miniatures, these troops may fit in well con available 25 mm metal soldatini from other manufacturers.

Sample from Valiant Miniatures

Domande più frequenti

Per ulteriori informazioni, per favore contatta la redazione di Rivista Military Miniatures nel Miniatures Forum.

Ritorna al Catalog