The US Army maintained a HUGE presence in Germany from the end of World War II until well after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. For years there were well in excess of the equivalent of five Divisions, and all the support that goes with that.

I get the fact that this was not a "shooting" war and thus not nearly as "interesting" to model as actual combat.

But the fact remains that this represents millions of man-years of modelling possibilities.

So my question is: Why are there essentially NO 1/35 scale figures of US Cold war figures available? There are the 4 soldiers that come with the Tamiya M-577 kit and I think a couple that came with an M151, but that's just about it. If you're trying to model the period from say 1960 through about 1980 (the era of "steel pots" and fatigues") you're out of luck.

I will admit a HUGE bias here since I was stationed there from 1972-1977 (as well as being a dependent from 1962-1965), and while it's relatively easy to build and paint vehicles from that period, it's impossible to have a variety of figures with accurate uniforms to go with them. Kevlar and BDUs? Yeah you can do that, and there are a fair amount of Vietnam type uniforms, but you'd basically NEVER see those in the European theater.

Am I the ONLY modeler who'd like to see this huge gap filled??

BTW, if anybody knows of a source of Cold War US figures, I'd be MORE than happy to retract my comments and get some!

I believe the old old Tamiya 4.2 mortar crew could also be used?
J

Yeah, you're right those will work. Still seems unfortunate that those and the "Modern US Army Command Figure" set are the only ones available to work with covering that entire period.

What about these?
http://www.thebodi.eu/model/TB-35031/ciao-maria!

Totally agree. I like the late 70s and early 80s stuff. Now that more and more M60s and other cold war armor is coming out, maybe we'll get some troops to go with them. I have had to make mine from a mix match of conversions of the Tamiya M577 set, Tamiya 4.2 inch Mortar Crew, Dragon Vietnam Special Forces, Tamiya orignal Abrams commander, a couple of Dragon WW2 figures and the Tamiya Sherman figures. It is strange that there weren't any sets produced. Then again, it's like pulling teeth to get 2001 to present figures. At least Dragon tried with some figures from the late 80s and early 90s when they first came on the scene. It is about time the companies bring some out.

These are sort of close, but not quite. They'd work in a pinch I guess, but they're WW II.

The US uniforms during the Cold War period used the WW II style steel pot, but the fatigues were different, and there aren't any figures wearing stuff like parkas and some of the other winter gear from the period. And winter vignettes would be a BIG part of showing life in the field during that period!

http://www.valkyrie.co.kr/
VM35017
Modern US Army Tank Crew in Europe - 1970 Era
(2 Figures and 1 Bust)
Listed as Coming soon (TBA)

I have the Viet Nam crew set and they are fabulous. Still waiting for these figures to complete my M60A1 AOS.

Those Ciao gents would work for the 1950s-to early 1960s so you could have them with an M47, early M48/A1/A2 or M103 but really no later.


I keep suggesting a crew in field jackets. The field jacket design changed very little for over fifty years. (snaps, Velcro and metal or plastic zipper) Include a selection of different heads like M1 helmet, various tanker helmets from the WWII style with microphones to CVCs and you'd cover the whole era.


I keep recycling the Tamiya Command set from the M577 for guys in fatigues. The stances are good for guys in cupolas or hanging out in loader's hatches. I've also removed some pockets to change Vietnam figures into guys in fatigues. I've done an M47, M48A2, M41 and M7 Priest from the 1950s-60s. But outside of some pockets and fabrics fatigues changed very little from the mid 1950's to the 1980's.


There are also Israeli tankers 1950's-70's from various Tamiya and Academy kits and in resin.


And if you're adventurous and nostalgic the aged Monogram infantry figures as in the re-released M48A2 work with new heads and separate gear. They're the only guys around with M14's too.

Valkyrie has posted a pic of their modern US tank crew set 1970s on Facebook
https://scontent-ams2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpl1/v/t1.0-9/12391079_1055333604512995_968391918009540051_n.jpg?oh=e9ea02a89afa9b05a5c8f3e9c3cb43b4&oe=57126D01

Field jackets and cotton fatigue trousers which unlike the polyester permanent press fatigue pants did have thigh pockets. And were similar enough to BDU pants to pass muster so the inclusion of CVC heads is a nice touch.


Those guys would fit US tanks from the introduction of the bone dome to the mid 1990's. Put them in properly modified WWII tanker's helmets or M1 steel pots with chest mics and they could go back into the 1950's.

Ah! You beat me to it! I've been waiting for these since they were announced.



I love that they included the older style helmets and yeah, you could easily back date these to the 50's with a little ingenuity. I can see these figures being used a lot in the near future lol.

Same here. I'm glad they've been released. Having my eye set on the upcoming Dragon M60 ("A0")

Change out the head for one with a steel pot with a camo cover and these aren't too bad. And you'd need to lose the shoulder holster for the .45 for non-tankers. Looks like they're wearing what we used to call "Field Pants", which went over the fatigue pants, and had the cargo pockets.

I guess one question is "When is the Cold War" It would to me to be from the creation of the Berlin Wall to the end of the Soviet Union. So for overseas Americans you have I guess Europe, and then Korea (After the War), Japan/Okinawa.
As far as US Army uniforms you don't see real changes till BDUs come out (Unless you want to do the tests done with ERDL, DCU etc stuff) and the black boot. You have HBTs, fatigues, wools, Parka, field pants, Mickey Mouse boots, rain boots, trigger mittens, pile cap, cold weather mask. Light weight ruck, Alice pack, LC1 gear, 56 gear. Just think of the different body armor in a 1954 Korea model. There is a movie on Amazon and the other pay for view made in 1953 with real soldiers and I think they are wearing almost every type of flack vest worn in the Korean war-M12, M52, M1953A, M1953

I was an MP there from 79-82...had to buy my own BDUs as they were not issued yet. I don't think the Cold War era Army gets the respect it should. Those of us who served.....on both sides...could have been thrown into combat at a moments notice. It was called the cold war but it could have heated up very fast.

Jeff

I'd like to find those w garrison uniform - no cargo pockets, tucked in shirt - with the white name tape and yellow on black US army tape - maybe an m65 field jacket wi an attached hood.. Big rubber over boots, ball cap... Or that damn black beret. 7th army style. Ah the good old days.

How about an old duffle bag with the single strap, and steel pots with the reversible cover so only your head was camouflaged...

How about the goofy thing we used to do and just wear the liner of our field jacket.