Hi all. As my interest for military modelling deepens I have been getting ideas of new things I want to try. So I have decided to try 1/35 figures for the first time and I have an idea to start, an MG42 position. I think this simple vignette will be a good start to both terrain and figure modelling. But now the difficulties arise, I have looked at the machine gun teams available and have found that DML, Tamiya and Verliden produce them. The DML and Tamiya kits are more suitable for previously set up defensive positions (MG42 on tripod, observer, loader, gunner) and the Verlinden kit has 2 figures prone on the ground, a more casual thing (like "Get down! Americans!"). What makes it harder to decide the setting is lack of reviews of such kits, haven't found any on the net, and lack of reference material for German machine gun nests (should I just put some sandbags and barb wire around it and it's all good?). I would greatly appreciate sources of information on both these aspects. Thanks in advance.

Fernando

If you're just getting started and want to try a vignette of your idea, I'd recommend going with either the Tamiya or Dragon figures first. Reason is they're cheap and a good cheap way to experiment, when you're comfortable and ready to go for more detail and a better look, go with Verlinden, Warriors, Platoon, Alpine etc. They're much higher than the cheaper DML and Tamiya kits for a figure or two compared to a box full but you're getting a higher quality figure. Start off and experiment cheap and mvoe up from there.

And as far as sand bags and barbed wire go, it depends on the situation and where its takeing place. If a tripod fixed postion, there are almost always sandbags of some form of cover there.

I think I agree with others, I am working on a small vignette myself (when I should be finishing my large diorama haha), anyways.I think the machine gun crew would be surrounded by more protection if it was a fixed position, however if it was not fixed then it could be like an mg42 gunner positioned in a window opening. My grandfather who was a machine gunner for a while in the Italy campaign often said that he had to basically find any debris near him and use that as cover, and most times they had no sandbag cover,unless prepared ahead of time to hold an area. So I'm not sure if this would apply to your idea but I think the barbed wire and sandbags would still be fine , just think of how long they've been in this position, hope this helped

Hi Fernando, some good prone mg groups about ,thinking particulary about Dragons Desperate defence kit you could position them in a built up area senario eg a doorway,a street corner maybe with someone standing aback spotting just a few ideas that might help or as an alternative to sand bags and wire.