Introduction

These 2 figures have been available for sometime and this set depicts 2 wounded Commonwealth soldiers in the lying position. There are only a few examples of wounded Commonwealth soldiers available, mores the pity, but this set goes someway to address this gap for Commonwealth and Axis builders.

Wounded or dead infantry/civilians tend to cause some debate. It is the darker reality of the result of war, so whilst not a subject everyone may wish to model it is nevertheless a very important element that should not be ignored. The lack of British/Commonwealth wounded troops/medics is a constant thorn in the side of Commonwealth dio builders and figure makers.

The Set

The set comes in the standard zip bag with a good colour picture insert to aid painting. Each figure is contained in its own zip bag. The figures are cast in a light grey resin with excellent detail. The down side is that these were made at a time when perhaps casting wasn’t so advanced and both figures therefore have a fairly large base plug that will need removed. A sharp knife and razor saw are therefore essential tools.

Figure 1:
This depicts a wounded Commonwealth soldier in the lying position. The figures is cast as one piece with only the right arm a separate part. The soldier is shown in open necked battle dress with his left arm resting on his stomach and his right arm raised in the act of smoking a cigarette.

His right trouser leg is ripped open from the knee, exposing his wound on the lower leg which has been dress in a bandage. His right boot is undone showing his sock top exposed. His left leg is raised slightly at the knee and is complete with anklet and boot.The soles of the boots are smooth so you may wish to add some studs and paint in the steel toe cap and heel.

His head is resting on a rolled up blanket and shows the face of a fairly young man. He has a certain look of relief on his face as one might expect, possibly counting his luck whilst he relives the stress with a smoke. The facial details are well defined and he has a nice crop of hair parted to the left hand side.

From the look of the uniform he is wearing the economy issue 1940 pattern battledress. The detail on the uniform is excellent with the left hand shoulder strap being shown undone and the battle dress open to about mid chest. Underneath the DB he is wearing a flannel shirt which appears to be of the first pattern type without the collar. His cigarette packet is clearly visible in his top right BD pocket.

Figure 2:
The second figure in the set depicts a wounded Commonwealth soldier, again in the prone position but this time covered to chest height with a blanket, his boots protruding from underneath the cloth. His left arm is across his stomach and enclosed in a sling and his right arm is straight down by his side.

His head also rests on a folded blanket and this time supports a bandage around his forehead. By his left ear and under the bandage is a field dressing pad covering his head wound. His head is tilted slightly to the right and in the picture he is clearly eyeing the cigarette his comrade is smoking lol, lol. Facial details are well defined showing that of a youngish man, and the expression one of controlled resignation to his wounds. A good crop of hair sits above and hangs slightly over his head bandage.

Again he appears to be wearing the later 1940 pattern battledress suitably opened to allow the application of the sling and then placed back around his left shoulder and hanging loose at his left side.

The blanket covering the lower portion of his legs is very well depicted, sagging appropriately between his legs and sitting naturally at each side. The upper half of the blanket is folded appropriately as is the lower fold over and around his boots. The boots again lack a little detail on the soles.

Conclusion

On inspection these are two cracking figures, containing 1st class detail and sharpness of casting. Both figures would be appropriate for almost any battle scene and could be used by Allied and Axis modellers alike.

I believe these may have been modelled to fit in with Resicast’s 53.1148 Airborne RAMC jeep conversion set, but they would work equally well as standard wounded infantry.
The down side is the clean up of the pour bases but once removed you should have two very user friendly wounded troops to add to vehicles or battlefield scenes.

No webbing is present on either figure which is fine, but you may wish to add a little personal kit beside each depending on usage.

These 2 figures tie in nicely with to other British Paratrooper figures, 35.543 paratrooper with stretcher and 35.513 a set of 4 paratroopers carrying a wounded casualty (who may be the chap under the blanket).

Medical staff and wounded soldiers are not that plentiful and I would love to see a couple more figures to join this set, either sitting or standing and at this level of detail. Similarly whilst both of the above British Paratrooper sets look great similar in standard DB would add a lot of scope for Commonwealth modellers/
Normal precautions should be taken when working with resin.