Hi guys,
At the local hoby shop i saw Tamiya's 1/35 British Infantry on Patrol (TAM35223)
kit.I was tempted to buy it but i'd thought i'd ask a few questions first.
1)Are the new Tamiya kits as bad as they used to be?
2)If they have improved,are the heads seperated from the bodies like DML's kits?The reason being that I already have a set of British Hornet heads they i would like to use.
It's been more than 10yrs. since i even dared buying Tamiyas figures...
Thanks in advance,Shay

Gday Shay
Well I haven't got the set in question, but IIRC Jimbrae did a review of them? There was some minor issue with the type of webbing or packs or something similar... But as for me I'm kinda drawn to this set, maybe because they are suitably relaxed and have smiles almost... Can't tell you about detachable heads, but hey, if you have hornet ones, it could be worth any extra trouble to make them fit...
On Missing-linx there is a figure review comparing this set to the DML set, which are in action poses... Both had pros and cons...
HTH
Cheers
Brad

Hi,
I got that set in my stash so I dug it out for evaluation.



Yes, Tamiya figures were quite horrible in the past, but in the 90's they started to shape up. This set is from 1998 and it's very nice.



Yes, the figures have improved and feature have separate heads, so swapping them with resin ones should be easy. The plastic heads aren't bad, either. i would say they're as good as in dragon's "normal" figure sets a few of years ago.

Add resin heads and rifle slings and you got some nice figures.

The British Infantry on Patrol box from Tamiya is a delightful reproduction of 1/35 British soldiers! They are very well moulded and very well proportined figures! Detail is very good considering they are plastic figures! I recommend the box! Oh, and you can easily swap the heads with Hornet ones! Buy it! You won't regret it!
Cheers and happy modelling!
Prato

Hi guys;
Wow,i thought i was going to get my head bitten off about wanting to buy Tamiya figures :-)...
Emeritus and Prato,thanks for the replies,my mind is at rest now that i know i can replace the heads .
Brad,i did check out the review yesterday on ML over the various British troops etc. but the code nr. for the kit provided was not correct.I've busy today doing searches thinking that there was an elusive Tamiya kit out there !
Cheers,Shay

Replacing the heads is a good idea as the plastic ones are a little caricatured (and don't have much in the way of necks eiither). You'll have to drill holes for the Hornet heads as the Tamiya ones stop at the collar.

The only real problems are that the additional webbing pouches on one of the figures should be larger than the standard ones and that the figures have the scabbards for the longer sword bayonet when they have No 4 rifles which only fitted the short 'pig sticker' type.

Hi Shay

An excellent set of figures (except for the points made by Drader - but you can shave the long bayonet off of the entrenching tool and I used some old Dragon 'spike' bayonets from the spares box). I found the standard of moulding and reproduction of the kit items to be far superior to any of the Dragon British Infantry available and used the Tamiya stuff to update the more action oriented Dragon figures!

Post up some progress pics when you can, everybody here will be more than helpful with advice etc.

Cheers mate

Accurate Armour and Resicast both have sets that correct that flaw! Just check their sites and look for British Infantry Equipment or Accessory set! I'm pretty sure you'll like what you see! Accurate Armour's one even brings the big commando backpacks! Have a go at them!
Cheers and happy modelling!
Prato

Hi Shay,

Just before you go rushing off to buy or change anything, decide what period of the war you want to use them in. If it is earlier then change the rifles, you can get the early ones from the Italeria accessories set. If you want to use them say from 43 onwards then just change the bayonets.

I've built a couple of sets and they are not bad at all. Hornet heads will help and if you have them, use them. Considering they are plastic and from a few years ago they still stand up well and give a good representation of British/Commonwealth Infantry.

Don't spend the money on the AA set unless you want to show them as Commandos or in a early just landed type situation.

For the price and period they are still good, and like the Dragon sets, one of the only games in town as far as plastic injection figures go.

Cheers

Al

There's a good article over on missing-lynx by Peter Brown on the pros and cons of the various British Infantry sets
http://www.missing-lynx.com/articles/figures/pb-brit.htm
Hornet as well as doing heads do sets of the mk 3 and mk 4 lee enfield rifle
http://www.greenwichgateway.com/hornetandwolf/hornet_lists/access_list.htm

I bought this set when it first appeared, simply for "nostalgia" purposes as I usually model German stuff. I quite liked it, I wouldn't agree that you "have" to replace the heads, I thought the faces were quite good, & somehow looked quite "British" (I can't explain this, they just looked like people you might meet in the street). However the part I liked least were the helmets. I'd have preferred some netting & "scrim" on them. The bayonets are too long, as mentioned above. I thought they caught the "look" of a WW2 Tommy quite well. That was before I bought the Dragon sets. IMHO the two Dragon sets, one of 4 "Commonwealth" troops & a later one of 6 figures are excellent, with the reservation that they are not Gen2 quality. Despite the "inaccuracies" listed above, they capture the look of the British soldier in NWE extremely well vis-a-vis photos. I can't recommend them too highly. The poses won't suit everyone, however, as some are lying down. The Bren gunner in the jerkin is my personal favourite, I only wish there were some more figures so attired. Very typically British.
It should be noted that the '37 & 40 pattern BD were worn at the same time in the same unit, dependant on availability. Infantry in particular, needed to "get underground" as fast as possible in Normandy, so acquired extra entrenching tools anywhere they could; especially prized were the bigger vehicle spades. The parts in the Tamiya kit are meant to depict these. What none of the sets depict is the "smachete", a large edged weapon similar to a straight kukri, which was issued usually to the gun group commander, & intended to cut brush to clear a field of fire. It also made for a vicious close quarter fighting weapon.

Hi,

I have to agree with Alan and Steve on this. The Tamiya figures heads are ok but with Hornet you can have bare heads and heads with berets. if you lok on the IWM site it has pictures of units with all types of headgear mixed together. the Hornet set also has (I think) two heads with the tortoise (sp?) helmet. The Dragon set has helmets with scrim attached as well. get both and mix and match.

Cheers

Craig

Thanks for all of the replies guys!
I really wanted to do model something else other than German figures etc.,so i'm going to give the Tamiya figures a go.Once painted they will go on this dio here.
Dio is a W.I.P.Again,all of your advice was appreciated!! Shay

It is a very nice kit and definately worth the money. I would recommend that you pick up the Brit INF in normandy set from Dragon. You get 12 helmets in that set, 6 plain jane and 6 with netting and camo. That way if you don't like the helmets you can mix and match.

Hi Shay,
just to add a few lines, pics of tams british infrantry have been shown on big A made painted and displayed by if I rember right british paint box Bob
they look real good so much so I decided to invest in some my self.
cheers Phil

Shay, they're pretty nice figures. Nice and clean moulding. I've been using a few boxes of them for a Normandy project and with a bit of changing arms and heads you'll get a lot of variety. My only real criticism (apart from the wrong bayonet scabbards) is the heads. The moulding is nice enough but they have tiny heads which makes them all look about 14 years old! I've replaced them with Hornet/ Ultracast and Resicast heads so they are somewhat varied now. Plus the Tamiya helmets are all without netting which if you look at photos of Normandy most have netting or scrim. I would wholehaertedly reccomend these figures as they are versatile and the detail is very good. One of the things I do like especially is the open collars as that does give them more of a combat feel rather than parade ground smartness.

Hi all,
Once again,thanks for all of the replies.I actually found the kit on the net for a few €'s cheaper than at my LHS,and it arrived yesterday on my birthday!I was quite surprised,not a heck of alot of molding seams,bodies well detailed,however just as Karl(erichvon) mentioned the heads are a real let down.I have some Hornet heads here without netted helmets,but i'll put those aside as i have ordered some Warriors heads with netted helmets.
All the best,Shay

Shay, one thing I have tried which worked quite well was using surgical gauze on some of the Tamiya lids to attach to the packs if I used bare heads or heads with berets. You'll probably get into a mess with the superglue as I did :-) but its worth using the helmets for that. It doesn't matter too much about the underside as this will be hidden once they're attached to the pack and they do turn out quite nicely. Ultracast do a nice set of Briish lids (minus netting) but they've got the liner so look pretty good if being carried in one hand.

Shay, I've been doing an internet search and I found Resicast's UK infantry equipment in Historex's site by 7.50 pounds! type Resicast and go to number 35528 and you will find it!
Cheers and happy modelling!
Prato