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Tamiya French infantry
dioman13
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Indiana, United States
Joined: August 19, 2007
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Posted: Friday, May 02, 2008 - 04:26 PM UTC
Has anyone purchased these figures yet? Was wondering how they look and assemble. The ones that came with the armored carrier were pretty lame like the older Tamiya stuff and was hoping for some input one them.
NickZour
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Attica, Greece / Ελλάδα
Joined: May 01, 2008
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Posted: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 02:19 AM UTC
I'm a GREEK modeler,so if i buy this kit iwill change the weapons and the helmets to make them Greek infantry in the 1940,against the italians and later the germans in the mountains of albania and in thessaloniki,in the Metaxa Line!
Drader
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Wales, United Kingdom
Joined: July 20, 2004
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Posted: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 02:46 AM UTC
Sadly, they're equally lame

http://www.track-link.net/reviews/k1889

Disappointing figures, the personal equipment is good, but there isn't enough of it. Doesn't hold a candle to Nemrod's pair of French Infantry sparking up, which provide you with the opposite problem of working out where all the bits are hung.

http://www.historexagents.com/shop/hxproductdetail.php?ProductCode=N35-067

David
Drader
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Wales, United Kingdom
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Posted: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 - 02:48 AM UTC

Quoted Text

I'm a GREEK modeler,so if i buy this kit iwill change the weapons and the helmets to make them Greek infantry in the 1940,against the italians and later the germans in the mountains of albania and in thessaloniki,in the Metaxa Line!



My girlfriend's late father was there with the British Army. He served with an anti-aircraft unit at the airfield at Eleusis and other places during the retreat.

David
lespauljames
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England - South West, United Kingdom
Joined: January 06, 2007
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Posted: Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 09:34 AM UTC

Quoted Text

I'm a GREEK modeler,




calm down
NickZour
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Attica, Greece / Ελλάδα
Joined: May 01, 2008
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Posted: Saturday, May 17, 2008 - 08:08 PM UTC


(calm down)
[/quote]
Ok!!
NickZour
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Attica, Greece / Ελλάδα
Joined: May 01, 2008
KitMaker: 1,437 posts
Armorama: 168 posts
Posted: Sunday, May 18, 2008 - 01:23 AM UTC
Hello Neil!! I think you're right. The GREEK soldiers were Really brave!Read an article for the"Hill 731"!
dioman13
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Indiana, United States
Joined: August 19, 2007
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Posted: Sunday, May 18, 2008 - 01:58 PM UTC
David,Thanks for the info on this set. Will wait for something better. bob
GeraldOwens
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Florida, United States
Joined: March 30, 2006
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Posted: Sunday, May 18, 2008 - 04:54 PM UTC

Quoted Text


As Greek soldiers you can model them moving forwards and fighting, leaving them as French it would be too difficult to model them accurately running away...



Let's see, the British Army fled the continent entirely at a place called Dunkirk, leaving the French to fight alone, and didn't return to France for four years--and only then with American, Canadian, Polish, and yes, French troops, to support them. The pot shouldn't call the kettle black.
Childish insults aside, the French were facing virtually the entire German Army (over 200 divisions) in 1940. The Allies faced only sixty divisions in 1944, because two thirds of the German Army was in Russia.
jimbrae
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Provincia de Lugo, Spain / Espaņa
Joined: April 23, 2003
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Posted: Sunday, May 18, 2008 - 09:45 PM UTC

Quoted Text

leaving them as French it would be too difficult to model them accurately running away...



Following on from Gerald's comments, is it possible to leave the UNINFORMED comments (source is no doubt comic books) outside. They're offensive, pointless and suggest that the author should invest in some historical references.

There are a lot of French modelers on this site, who DON'T want to read this garbage every time the subject comes up....
Kinggeorges
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Barcelona, Spain / Espaņa
Joined: August 31, 2005
KitMaker: 1,380 posts
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Posted: Monday, May 19, 2008 - 06:58 AM UTC
Hi,

Thanks Gerald and Jim.
It save me to write everytime the same post following such dumb and ignorant comments.
As you say Jim it's funny to see how ignorance could be persistant for some minority.
Hey Neil, do you think Adolf Hitler was a great man because he eradicated unemployment in his country ?
Let the horseshit where it is...
Apart from that I transformed the Tamiya French infantry, and with some changes they could look great. I will post some pics as soon as I will have some time.

best regards,
Julien
Spiff
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Nevada, United States
Joined: September 07, 2002
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Posted: Monday, May 19, 2008 - 08:36 AM UTC
Just a suggestion for those of you who know little factual information on the Battle for France in 1940 might want to give these two books a read, very informative. There were many factors which led to the fall of France.

The first one deals with the Political, Economic and Social factors with some account of the battles themselves. There were some front line French units that fought very bravely against some pretty tough odds. The "stereotype" comes from B formations of reservists with little training, poorly equipped with low morale etc. who were simply overwhelmed by the speed with which the German war machine ran over them. I highly recommend this book to those who wish to see the big picture and includes a lot of information on foreign policy and the relationships between the allies leading up to WWII.

The Fall of France - The Nazi Invasion of 1940
by Julian Jackson
Published by Oxford


This book deals more with the military situation and is very informative.

Lightning War: Blitzkrieg in the West, 1940
by Ronald E. Powaski
Published by John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

I had up until recently only read things from the German perspective and knew very little about the French side of the story. My opinions have changed greatly after having read both of these books, and I'm sure these books would be a bit of an eye opener for some.

acav
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Auckland, New Zealand
Joined: May 09, 2002
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Posted: Monday, May 19, 2008 - 10:06 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

leaving them as French it would be too difficult to model them accurately running away...



Following on from Gerald's comments, is it possible to leave the UNINFORMED comments (source is no doubt comic books) outside. They're offensive, pointless and suggest that the author should invest in some historical references.

There are a lot of French modelers on this site, who DON'T want to read this garbage every time the subject comes up....



And can we add this as another uninformed comment --
"Let's see, the British Army fled the continent entirely at a place called Dunkirk, leaving the French to fight alone, and didn't return to France for four years--and only then with American, Canadian, Polish, and yes, French troops, to support them. The pot shouldn't call the kettle black."

That's just as offensive to the many brave men of the BEF (my late father was one of them) who were evacuated from Dunkirk after facing an onslaught for which the British Army was ill-equipped, while flanked by unreliable allies equally unsuited to the task at hand. (Belgium, we're looking at you.)

Truth is, if Britain and her Empire hadn't stood alone against the Nazis for over eighteen months, we wouldn't be making models of the Normandy campaign now would we..?

$0.02

PS Tamiya's French Infantry figures look pretty poor, as does the new German Infantry set for the same time period -- wooden, unimaginative, poor anatomy, clunky detailing...
Dragon?
I hear Trumpeter are getting into Blitzkrieg era stuff big time...
Finch
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New York, United States
Joined: August 03, 2005
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Posted: Monday, May 19, 2008 - 11:12 AM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text


As Greek soldiers you can model them moving forwards and fighting, leaving them as French it would be too difficult to model them accurately running away...



Let's see, the British Army fled the continent entirely at a place called Dunkirk, leaving the French to fight alone, and didn't return to France for four years--and only then with American, Canadian, Polish, and yes, French troops, to support them. The pot shouldn't call the kettle black.
Childish insults aside, the French were facing virtually the entire German Army (over 200 divisions) in 1940. The Allies faced only sixty divisions in 1944, because two thirds of the German Army was in Russia.



I believe the British navy also evacuated a great number of French troops at Dunkirk, at great risk to themselves. Certainly there were units of the French Army that fought ferociously in 1940, but it is also true that many units didn't - and the top leadership of France has little to be proud of.

Back to the subject Sadly the Tamiya figures are very weak - poorly sculpted with 1970s-type stiff poses, not very well detailed, and surprisingly badly proportioned. It's too bad because we really could use some good 1940 campaign allied figures. Even new heads will not save these figures.
GeraldOwens
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Florida, United States
Joined: March 30, 2006
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Posted: Monday, May 19, 2008 - 07:03 PM UTC

Quoted Text

And can we add this as another uninformed comment --
"Let's see, the British Army fled the continent entirely at a place called Dunkirk, leaving the French to fight alone, and didn't return to France for four years--and only then with American, Canadian, Polish, and yes, French troops, to support them. The pot shouldn't call the kettle black."

That's just as offensive to the many brave men of the BEF (my late father was one of them) who were evacuated from Dunkirk after facing an onslaught for which the British Army was ill-equipped, while flanked by unreliable allies equally unsuited to the task at hand.




Exactly the point I was making. Alas, some readers are irony-impaired. Nobody slanders the British for losing to that same German Army, but the French routinely get trashed for it. And many of the French troops evacuated at Dunkirk immediately re-embarked for France to continue the fight. The British forces did not, though Churchill cynically urged the French to continue to resist long after he had written off any hope of stopping the Germans.
jimbrae
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Provincia de Lugo, Spain / Espaņa
Joined: April 23, 2003
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Posted: Monday, May 19, 2008 - 08:19 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Tamiya's French Infantry figures look pretty poor, as does the new German Infantry set for the same time period -- wooden, unimaginative, poor anatomy, clunky detailing...



I saw them (the Germans) the other day and frankly, it seems as if Tamiya have their own personal time-machine. They may have caused a sensation in the 1970s, but with the technology (and sculptors) available nowadays they are TOTALLY unacceptable.

But hey!, the usual dumb alibis will be given for them (easy to build etc., etc. ) Just remember that there are several really good early war sets from Masterbox and DML.

I just hope that Tamiya doesn't screw up the Pz II (yes, it DOES have rubber-band tracks )...
jimbrae
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Provincia de Lugo, Spain / Espaņa
Joined: April 23, 2003
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Posted: Monday, May 19, 2008 - 09:01 PM UTC
Here are some good French Infantry in 1/35th:

http://www.adalbertus.com.pl/go/_category/?idc=%223_76%22&sess_id=60a7c000bd072838bac69123c55a5d7e



Kinggeorges
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Barcelona, Spain / Espaņa
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Posted: Monday, May 19, 2008 - 09:27 PM UTC
here are some good french infantry also:
http://www.mk35.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=19&keyword=&manufacturer_id=0&Itemid=1&orderby=product_name&limit=15&limitstart=15

http://www.phpshopxml.com/azimut.shop/CID/b942222b471238e94e5799022a82c8ae/function/itemSearchResultPageDisplay/shopSearchType/familySubFamilyCode/shopSearchData/KDF%7CADV/shopItemSearchLimit/0

http://www.phpshopxml.com/azimut.shop/CID/b942222b471238e94e5799022a82c8ae/function/itemSearchResultPageDisplay/shopSearchType/familySubFamilyCode/shopSearchData/KDF%7CNEM

Best,

julien
Drader
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Wales, United Kingdom
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Posted: Monday, May 19, 2008 - 09:42 PM UTC
Thanks Julien for reminding me about this set

http://www.phpshopxml.com/azimut.shop/CID/b942222b471238e94e5799022a82c8ae/function/itemPageDisplay/shopItemCode/ADV35571

David
dioman13
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Indiana, United States
Joined: August 19, 2007
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Posted: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - 06:22 AM UTC
Thanks for the replys on French figures everyone. Will help alot. The negative replys even if they were in jest are still negative. Some sencability would go alot farther.
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