G'Day Folks,

Any Argentine/British figures around (apart from Black Dog's offering) that would suit a diorama featuring Takom's AML-90?

TIA,
Israel

Hi , you could try Accurate Armour , they may have some specific figures from this period , also if memory serves me correctly Kirin did some British figures , you could also try some of the early Verlinden figures ,hope this helps , Birchy UK

And Kirin, remember them, also did a pair. Good luck finding those.

Another option is Firing Line, not sure if still in production, who did a pair of British Army soldiers.

A neglected conflict long over due for recognition in modelling terms.

I totally agree ... I focus on small-scale models (1/72 and 1/76), and have a similar problem sourcing suitable figures for the Falklands conflict.

Firing Line can be found at https://www.djparkins.com/home.php

Good luck

Thanks guys. I've also found this one (unfortunately unavailable):
http://eshop.friendshipmodels.org.uk/WF35039-1/35th-scale

I think I'm gonna settle on Black Dog's offerings as these figures seem to be widely available. Any advice on painting British Marines/Argentine POW's?

British Marines wore British DPM camouflage; some were seen later in the war with plain green 'denims' (trousers) as their combat trousers wore out.

The Argentinians wore mainly plain OD green, although some of their SF (marines) wore US DPM Camouflage. I believe a lot of their kit was surplus US equipment.

Thanks, Ian. how about ammo belts and bergens? What color were they?

Brit stuff was plain green - not sure about Argentinian stuff.

SAS/Para bergans were a brownish colour while Bergans used by RM Commandoes were iether the long framed bergans (issue) where they were made of the same material as the Para bergans and the doss bag was stowed underneath or civvy jobs. Preferred bergans however were civvy Berghaus Crusaders which were excellent bergans(I used one- no comparison to the SAS/Para one which I'd used as well. That was just heavy and stayed wet). The Crusader was a mid green. The current PLCE bergan's based on it. You'll be able to find loads of pictures on the net if you google them to use as a paint reference.

One thing to bear in mind when you're doing the DPM is the colouration was a lot different to the DPM seen over the last 35 years. The standard combat suit worn during the Falklands was the 68 pattern which was a lighter colour. SAS smocks and RM windproof smocks were the same. Check your colour references online as that's going to be the best way of getting the shades right. The pattern was altered very slightly when they brought out the 85 pattern uniform which was complete and utter dog S**t. Single stitched. unlined and fell to pieces if you so much as sneezed hence a lot of infantry wore SAS smocks, RM arctic windproofs, trop trousers instead but that's another subject.

I have read that one battalion was short of packs when warned off for deployment so sent a delegation to a nearby outdoor shop and bought up their stock of large civvy rucksacks in a variety of colours. Never seen any colour photos though. Not sure which unit but I'd rather expect the RMs already had a decent supply, so may have been one of the 5 Bde units.

I have a Crusader (70l plus two detachable 15l side pockets) and it is good, although less comfortable than my AB65. Can provide some pics and dims if required, although not for a couple of weeks as it and I will be in different locations.

Many years ago I accumulated a decent stock of British and Argentinian troops in 20mm scale from Platoon 20 in N Ireland. They were intended as wargames figures but could certainly form the basis of a decent 1982 figure.

Robert, you could well be right there about a shortage of bergans and having to stock up on civvy ones. Most of the photos I've seen of the Guards, Gurkhas they're using the 58 pattern rucksack. The very thought of using one makes me shudder remembering just how impractical and how bad they were. The one good thing you can say about the SAS/Para bergan is it is pretty much indestructable. If someone were to be hit by a shell, all that would be left would be the bergan,untouched and smoking but still wet lol.

Israel, I don't know what your conversion skills are like but you could use WW2 British paras as your base figure. The para lid's not really changed a lot since it's conception apart from material )plastic rather than metal now and the lining's different so the helmets would be okay for the Para battalions who were on Corporate. The same with the Denison smock although they have knitted cuffs now they're easy to create. You'd have to scrape off/sand off the webbing and create the H shape of a 58 pattern yoke which is simple enough. Gaiters you'd simply take off the straps and buckles and create a new gaiter which were the wraparound type. Boots no change as the DMS boots in service were a short leg with toecap like the ammo boot. You'd have to fashion some kidney pouches out of putty or similar. If doing line infantry you could still use the same figures but take off the bumflap. Converting figures is probably the best way to go as that way you get them in poses that you want. Not a difficult conversion by any means just takes a bit of thought how you're going to do it. Your only problem as far as I can see is weapons. Italeri used to do a modern weapons set with SLR's and Sterlings in, Dragon have got a couple of SLR's in their Vietnam set and also silenced Sterlings which I believe were used by the SBS for some jobs in the Falklands. There may be resin ones around these days I don't know as I only do WW2 so am not up on post war kits available these days. Hope that's of some help.

Hope these help:

Also check these links:

https://www.pinterest.com.mx/pin/547046685975895585/

http://www.taringa.net/posts/imagenes/14994494/Uniformes-de-la-guerra-de-Malvinas.html

http://z15.invisionfree.com/smallwarsairsoft/ar/t224.htm

If you want to find more stuff from the Argentine side search in google using the word Malvinas.
Good luck.

Israel, I've just had another look at the Black Dog figures and remember the discussions about them when they came out. They're not straightforward Bootnecks. Looking at their dress and webbing they're one of the Spec Ops groups down there. They could be either SAS, SBS or RM Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre. The one holding the M16 on the Argie appears to be wearing a civvy jacket and if you look at his ammo pouches (which are wrong) they are of the drop down type. The SAS had drop down pouches ie they were attached to the belt by a webbing loop so they sat lower than the bergan. The SAS bergan sits low and is very uncomfortable with a standard 58 pattern set up hence the pouches being lower. The drop down ammo pouches were a double pouch for M16 mags whereas the one they've produced is a single one. Wrong!The pouches all look a bit small to me. Using an M16 would be okay for any of the three units as they carried M16's as well as SLR's. The bloke carrying the Gimpy is comical. Even Arnold Schwarzenneger would struggle to hold it like that for more than a couple of minutes. If you get these swap his weapon for a rifle of some type. Normal carriage for a GPMG is with the sling across the back of your neck with the MG across your front. If you come under fire there's a quick release tab on the sling so you don't have to faff about unslinging it to get into a firing position. Looking at these I'm definitely more inclined to say do a conversion instead as you're going to have to do some work to get these right!

If you are really adventurous you could use the old Tamiya British Stretcher party figures from their Land Rover Ambulance kit. Once upon a time they were sold separately and should still be around. They have the right webbing and even include the 56 pattern canteen.

Back in the day I converted the 1/25 Tamiya British figures to go with the Esci Paratrooper Land Rover. I scratchbuilt the uniforms changing the battledress to postwar smocks and one figure had full DPM uniform all with 1956 pattern gear and scratchbuilt Sterling smg and Lee Enfield sniper rifle. It's a lot of work but not impossible.

Argentine troops are simply made from US figures in the M44 style uniform with field jackets or even US airborne figures. Dragon made a set of Korean War Marines from Chosin in the parkas who might be useful.
World War 2 Germans in the winter suits also make a good basis for the heavily garbed troops in the Falklands. Some of the odd three quarter German winter jackets might work for bergens. I think they're the Wiking division figures by Academy?

I actually have the 1982 Rose 54mm figures and a NHD 75mm metal figure that came out back in the day.

Thanks all of you guys, you've been very helpful!

Hey Marco,where are the newer/clearer illustrations from please? I think the others are from the Men at Arms series?