Hi,

I was hoping to do a small BEF diorama set in France shortly before Dunkirk. From what I understand there was a 1937 and 1940 pattern battle dress, so I was wondering if the following figures would be applicable.

http://www.dragonmodelsltd.com/html/6212-1.html

I'm planning on changing the heads to resin ones with MK1 helmets. I'm not a huge stickler, but I'd like things as accurate as is reasonably possible.

Thanks for your time and I defer to your expertise.

Take care,

Jeff

Hi Jeff,

The troops have the 37/40 Pattern BD with the pleated pockets so the uniform is fine for the early period too.

You would need to lose the respirators, rifles and small bayonets, and small digging tools. There currently aren't any early style Gas Mask Haversacks available.

You can get SMLE rifles from Ultracast and they come with the long bayonet worn at the time. Mk I Helmets and you'd have most of the basics needed. You can add the bandoliers they were common throughout the war and hide or remove the extrat strap for the later style gas mask.

Hope that helps.

Al

Thanks very much, that was exactly what I was looking for.

Cheers

Jeff

What about the ones in the Miniart British tank Riders

Hi Pat,

Ah yes, forgot about those .

Al

Hi Jeff,

I did a similar conversion a while back using the Tamiya Infantry.















Al

Hi Jeff

Al’s right about the Battle Dress Serge these are ok for BEF figures. Change the rifles to SMLE but I think the Ultracast ones are undersized although they look fine on the Tamiya figures; I have used them together and they look ok. Dragon figures being larger may look wrong with the smaller Ultracast rifles. Dragon SMLE’s are more in scale. Italeri did some in a weapons set ages ago if you can get this

Lose the Sten in 1940 it was rifles and Brens, and Boy’s AT rifles. There were a few Thompson M1928 but these were rare and probably on trials. Not appropriate for infantry.

If you can get a Boys AT rifle it will need to be the MkI. Italeri did one in the set with the SMLE but this was a MkI with MkII bipod. Easy to do it just needs a monopod.

Hornet’s headset with the Brodie helmet is ok for the MkI the only difference was the liner.

The anti gas cape can be represented by German rolled poncho. Tristar’s are pretty much spot on, maybe a tad too thick. These were tied to the top of the webbing on the back of the shoulder, or above the small pack.

The Miniart gas mask case for the small box respirator (mark VI) is ok but you need to remove the tube on the top. This was only visible when the case was open. MiniArt’s is closed.

1939 pattern entrenching tool and carrier…from Zvezda I used the ETool from the Dushka crew and reversed it. They’re very similar. Other Russian figures may have the same ETool. These weren’t used after 1940 so were rarely seen but were worn by the BEF.

1907 pattern bayonet for SMLE…Ultracast. The bayonet can be fitted to the ET carrier or not although there are two schools of thought on this.

Have you considered this set from Dragon all you need to do is use the heads with plain helmet, no Kukri’s, and add the gas mask case and 1939 Etool http://www.dragon-models.com/html/6515poster.htm

Martyn

Thanks for all the replies.

I was considering the Monte Cassino set after digesting the information Alan and Pat provided me. I think the two figures on the left of the 6515 might be perfect for my needs.

Thanks once again for everyone's time and expertise.

Cheers

Jeff

Do not forget that the pouches are fix lower to the belt.

Hi Jeff,

if you're looking for something more accurate and unusual you could check out the Resicast Set for the Universal Carrier with the Belgian Soldier





There is a review on them here:

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/review/6447

Al

....thats correct. The MkI sat 1'' lower down. Not sure when the MkI (modified) started being worn but the ACI for this was dated 1940. I suspect after the Fall of France...lessons learned maybe? The MKI was lower and rubbed the thighs. Oddly enough the '58 pattern did the same so we didn't learn that much LOL

Martyn

My quick comment, wouldnt the brens be the earlier mark with the rear grip in the butt? Italeri produced this as part of its weapons set.

Jason; good point.

The BEF used the MkI Bren with the rear drum sight and butt handle. This is in the Italeri set which is OOP( I wish they'd re-release it its a very useful set). There other differances but not worth discussing its 1/35 after all.

Dragon give us the MkIm without the butt handle. Tamiya the MkII which is no good at all for BEF.

A simple solution is to use the Dragon Bren canabalising a spare to make the MkI;removing the carrying handle to use on another Bren as the butt handle.

Martyn

Hi Jason,

i can send you the Mk 1 Bren and a Boys anti tank rifle if you need them.

Martyn,

I thought the rear handle was more often than not removed as it got in the way?

Al

Hi Al

A possibility and I initially thought so too but I've checked all my reference photos and in all the BEF ones the rear butt handle is fitted. I would say there are probably loads of photos that contradict this out there somewhere and I'm going to dig around a bit. Technically the MkI had this feature although I wouldn't see it as a fault if a model was presented without it .

You'll probably know what mods soldiers carry out to make their jobs easier...anything goes ;-)

I think its Jeff not Jason that would benefit from your kind offer of the Bren and Boys

Martyn

Thanks Martyn,

I'll keep an eye out for them in the future.

Al