Hi Rob,

This one is probably way off but I thought I'd mention it for my Ship Mates over on Shipwrights.

Multi Purpose Sailors, in Jumpers, Sea Boots, Oilies and Duffel coats, for the range of Italeri Boats that exist and beach dios. There are some American Crews around but no RN or other Naval personnel and Italeri seem to be planning the 1/35 ELCO Boat for release this year.

With a change of hat/helmet/head again these figures could fit any war time craft or 1/35 boat, and could also be used as fishermen, civilians etc. If one or two were in uniform then they could be used as a beach landing party.

The Italeri LCM 3 that was marketed with the DML Infantry to the best of my knowledge far outsold the Trumpeter one, so there might be other possible combinations as well.

Thanks again

Al

Well then with all the different Shermans coming out from Dragon, US tank riders should not be that much of a stretch. However with all the Fireflies and M4A4s released in the past it didn't get us any Brit tank riders.

I would buy ANY set of British figures that Dragon would release.

Especially if its Gen2

A mixed set of 6, tankers & infantry stood around having a mug of tea would be lovely for diorama purposes and is quintessentialy British

That would be great but since there is only the Sherman III coming out I doubt they'll make a British set now if they didn't when they released 4 other British Shermans earlier

I'd like to see some US tank-vehicle crews in somewhat lighter combat clothing, seems most are dressed for the cooler climates, a lot are dressed more for winter than summer. Some for the Pacific, and North Africa, southern Italy would be nice. More US Marines (Yes an old swab jockey is calling for more leathernecks!) would be nice also.
I know that many are available in resin, but resin figures can run into higher expenses for "Joe Average Modeller supporting a family".
I prefer the more casual poses, but would be happy with some combat poses as well.
Just my wishful thinking list, I'll survive without them though.

If Dragon were to release more British (I'll use British rather than have to type British/Commonwealth everytime and hope I don't offend any Aussies/ Kiwis or Cannucks but I think that would be unlikely seeing as they probably feel the same about this subject) sets that were generic, a way around speciality troops would be Quartermaster sets but different to last time. The quartermaster sets were fantastic and they change hands these days for about £10 each on e-bay. Last one I bough was about £3 years ago from my LHS.

Set one...British weapons..Stens (various mks including Patchetts), Lee Enfields (III, IV and jungle carbine + III's and IV's with scopes), pistols with holsters, PIAT's & additional rounds, Mills bombs, hawkins mines and gammon bombs.

Set two.......British equipment...ammo pouches, Bren wallets, early war respirator cases etc but stuff like smachettes, kukris, 2" mortar and bomb cases, man portable radios, ammo carriers for the Vickers etc..

Set three... headgear/bergans...Berets, an assortment of helmets (infantry and para), slouch hats, Commando bergans but mix some funky bits in that shouldn't really be there but no one can do without like a Vickers.

By doing the quartermaster series like this any generic British figure could be easily converted into a member of the BEF, a Gurkha in Italy, an Aussie in the Pacific. If there were even two new infantry sets. One for NWE and one for the 8th Army it would be possible to model N.Africa, Greece, Crete, Italy, The Burma campaign, The Pacific Campaign. If each set had one support weapon in it ie. Vickers, 3" mortar with rounds etc it would sell on the one item alone. I think its about £8 for a Resicast Vickers. If Dragon started knocking out their set with the Vickers in at that price people would snap it up, not only on the basis that it's easier to get hold of from an LHS but they'd have a pile of other stuff to use

Ron, firstly thanks for the great job you’re doing.

The suggestion I have is for; Shirtless troops (in vests or bare-chest), here even German troops would be welcome, performing duties, serving a gun etc. At least the torsos & arms could be used with other legs.

Hi Ron,

Following on from Karls post about equipment sets. If such a thing were possible enginering equipment would be nice, mine detectors, and that type of thing.

Also his point on the earlt style of gas masks, the chest worn type would be very useful for early war settings.

Thanks again for the opportunity to post.

Cheers

Al

My suggestion would be for more generic figures, that could be adapted to fit broader situations eg, WW2 British troops in desert kit would be usable for north africa and italy, and with a little modification in the far east too. By including choices of different helmets, webbing etc the set would offer more variety.

Another thing that really suprises me is the complete lack of modern allied troops, particularly given the fact that a lot of their vehicles are available in plastic. Op Telic/OIF figures could sell well based on the fact the vehicles seem to.

With regards to the above point Ron, should you think this is a possibility i can provide pretty much all of the info/photos/measurements you would need about current British uniforms, weapons and kit a figure might need. PM me if you would like any details.

Regards

Joe

Hi Ron,

First many thanks for what you do. Really thank you !

Second, regarding economic and profit you mentionned, I think what will sell is US paras on Dday, Brit Arhnem paras, and French early war troops to go along with the B1 bis and DML early war germans, in surrending poses.

Third, what the others said about multiposes, multihelmet equipement etc, is for me agood idea, allowing modellers to reproduce with a same kit many war theatre, armies etc..

Fourth, The key sucess, for me is original poses, situations...
You could do Aussies or Gurkha suffering from the heat in Pacific, or struggling to make their mule advance. You could do Brit soldiers diggind trench and hole in Cassino.

To continue with originality, why not mixing exterior element (2 nationality(ennemies) or civilians) in your kit.

For example in Cassino, you could represent Free French north African troop ("Goumiers") giving the assault on german paras position. Same could be done in Russian theatre. This could be the occasion for DML to try more "action poses", in movement , which lack a bit in your series.

Exterior element could be civilians : Free french "fusiliers marins" (with marine Beret, usually serving M10) along with an officer (wearing a képi) welcomed by civilians with flowers, flags etc, or asking their way to French resistants.

Best and thanks again

Julien

Hi Ron,

I know this is a figures post but as the idea of support weapons has already come up, as well as Mtrs and MGs British Infantry Bns were issued with the 6prd AT gun. 6 per Bn if I remember correctly. There is a very old Tamiya one around and Resicast have recently released an extrenely accurate kit in resin but a new affordable plastic one with a new crew would be great.

Useable in any theatre of war, if was a popular weapon with both RA AT Units and Inf Bns.

Cheers

Al

Eric, that's a good idea. If they're bare chested they are even more generic. You could use the torsoes for any army.

Hi Ron,

I know this may be out of topic but since this a kind of market research how about some Nam gen2 figures. It would be nice to see some VC (without AK but more of the common weapons they used), some Aussies, some koreans, some early Nam marines (with M14), a sniper set (with maybe a mix of NVA and american snipers if it is not possible one set of each one) and some americans. Maybe some NVA and VC prisioners, in a workshop or getting laid an ambush (making a punji trap or getting ready a booby trap) would be nice. Some of the Nam figures are quite old and their qualities are very bad.

Thanks,
Angel

Hey Ron,
I'm going to start out with some butt kissin'! You have provided us with...by far... some of the best box art ever . Thanks!

In my humble opinion Dragon should include crew figures with their vehicles...Axis as well as Allied...as they did in the Firefly Vc. Those are incredible figures.

Here are my picks:
US Army and British tank crews of the European and African Theaters.
British 8th Army Desert Rats figures.
Other Commonwealth troops Aussies,Indians, etc.
Free French, Vichy French, Early War French, French Foreign Legion.

When I look for injected molded plastic figures I usually go for the most "exotic" set. Indian turbans, Aussie bush hats, and French uniforms are indeed exotic and would be excellent sellers.

Some Gen2 US Army and other Allied figures (in any part) of the ETO,Italy and Africa. For the life of me I can't understand why Dragon released a set of Gen2 Pacific Marines when there is such an outcry for ETO Allied subject matter. The Marine set is excellent...but who are they fighting...a virtually non-existant (in kit form) Japanese enemy!

I love the Dragon figures and look forward to virually every new release. BTW the Stalingrad Inferno set looks COOL! (I'm a geek of course.)

And for us Axis fans..some German tank crews from all stages of the war (from Poland to the fall of Berlin). All we really have are the Tank Aces ,LSSAH crew, and the Achtung Jabo..but considering the amount of vehicles being released...there is a need for more variety.

Thanks for lending us your ear!

Jeff

Civilian sets for Europe woud be nice too. If you could make it generic enough to represent early Europe "welcoming" German troops and late enough to welcome liberating Allied forces that would be perfect.

Alan, the only thing that changes between those two dates for civilian was their weight...collaborators were fater, but they didn't welcomed Allies....

Best,

Julien

I would love to see tank crew sets but am getting tired of the relaxed poses. I would love an M 10 tank crew "in action" pointing, yelling, manning the 50 cal or just doing something other than loading ammo or sitting around. BUt thats just my two cents

I think the French/Dutch Resistance figures in sabotage posistions etc would be great, as well as the Normandy & Varsity Airborne troops redone in 2nd Gen, and maybe some Pathfinders with their special equipment?
Some US Airborne in crouched & shooting posistions for Bastogne foxholes would be a great supplement for the Bastogne figures already out.
The Quatermaster series looked very good, re-released to todays standards would be fantastic - accessories, weapons (Springfield sniper rifle, Demo packs) etc.
Thanks,
Harry

How great would a 101st 30 Cal group be shooting from their foxhole along with a bazzoka team? It would be a great accesory to all the German armor out there storming the forests around Bastogne

Hi Ron,

Before this post disappears, here's a link to a picture of a Mtr Crew from the West Kents. They say a picture paints a 1000 words.

http://photos.kitmaker.net/showphoto.php/photo/156204/cat/16657

Not the parade ground look, but very much 'in the field'. These were the sort of interesting figures with varied dress I was trying to describe. Take away the mtr and change a pair of legs and I think they would make an interesting and varied set that would have flexible use, although as a mtr crew they pose the most interesting crew I've seen for a while.

Thanks again for giving us the opportunity to post our thoughts and ideas.

Cheers

Al