Infanterie Britannique de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, 1944–1945

Revue de Figurines 25 mm de Valiant Miniatures

Valiant Miniatures et un fabricant britannique of hard plastic figurines for the popular RAPID FIRE! wargame rules published by Colin Rumford. Valiant’s first figurine set of Infanterie Britannique provides a scaled down bataillon d’infanterie of five companies, et several support elements for RAPID FIRE! The mix of poses, weapons, et accessories is perfect for wargame units in this scale. While Valiant Miniatures design their figurine sets specifically for RAPID FIRE!, these figurines may be used for any other wargame system using single figurines ou multi-figurine bases.

Each figurine set includes 68 figurines in 12 to 14 poses. Some of the miniatures are multi-pose figurines avec a selection of separate arms holding a variety of weapons et accessories. Separate heads, back packs, spare weapons, et other valuable items of equipment are liberally included on each sprue. The Valiant figurine boxes, too, provide wargaming accessories like sections of ruined buildings, period advertisement et road signs to be cut out. Clearly, Valiant Miniatures is a company of joueurs de guerre producing for their fellow joueurs de guerre, et for themselves, of course.

Contenu

68 figurines en 14 poses – 25 mm hauteur de corps
- Officier avec Binoculars (4)
- Officier avec Map, pointing (4)
- Officier/NCO Forward Observer, à genoux (4)
- Sous-officier avec pistolet mitrailleur Sten (4)
- Signaller avec pistolet mitrailleur Sten, à genoux (4)
  - Wireless Set WS-18 Mk.III (4)
- Machine-Gunner avec Vickers HMG (4)
- Pourvoyeur Mortier/Antichar (4)
- Pourvoyeur Mortier No. 1 avec Mortier de 50 mm (4)
- Pourvoyeur Mortier No. 2 avec Bomb Case (4)
- Fusilier (multi-pose), en genou (4)
  - Separate right Arm, tirant au PIAT (4)
  - Separate right Arm, tirant au mitrailleuse Bren (4)
  - Separate left Arm, supporting PIAT ou mitrailleuse Bren (4)
  - Stone Wall Section avec Bren Bipod (4)
  - Separate socles de figurines (4)
- Rifleman (multi-pose), avançant (4)
  - Separate right Arm, holding mitrailleuse Bren (4)
  - Separate right Arm, holding Lee Enfield Rifle (4)
  - Separate right Arm, holding Mortar Bomb Case (4)
- Rifleman, avançant (8)
- Rifleman, avançant (8)
- Rifleman running (8)
  - Separate Head avec Steel Helmet (8)
  - Separate Head avec Officer’s Cap (8)
  - Separate Head avec Beret (8)
  - Separate Head bareheaded (8)
Mortier de 3" (4)
Vickers .303 Heavy Machine-Gun (4)
Back Pack (40)
Paper Road Signs et Ruins of "CAFE NORMANDIE" on the Box Side

Évaluation

Choix de sujet excellent. Infanterie Britannique of the Normandy Campaign, Liberation of France et Belgium, et the Bataille d’Allemagne will be popular avec joueurs de guerre, dioramistes et collectionistes.

Excellent wargame poses. Valiant Miniatures are designed pour joueurs de guerre who want to raise sections, platoons, et companies avec the proper mix of support weapons. There are enough figurines et weapons in this box to recruit a complete bataillon d’infanterie, et supporting elements for RAPID FIRE! wargames. Every figurine in this set is useful, et peut être convertie to fill gaps in existing collections of 25 mm wargame figurines.

The figurines are relatively slender, et naturally posed. Joueurs de guerre will be happy to note that there are no wild poses in this set which would look ridiculous if used repeatedly in the same formation ou diorama. Instead, all of the figurines are either standing at ease, à genoux, ou avançant cautiously like real soldiers operating near the front lines.

Excellent casting quality, minimal flash et hardly any noticeable mould lines.

Les figurines multi-pose fit together perfectly et easily, without any fiddling around. Once the glue has set, les figurines multi-poses sont indifférenciable des moulages une pièce dans cette boîte. This is an area where manufacturers have often failed in the past, because their multi-part figurines continued to look like dress puppets avec mismatched arms glued on, even after they had been painted. Valiant Miniatures set a new industry standard in precision modelling of multi-pose small scale figurines.

The facial features are superb, these figurines look determined et in tune avec what they are doing. Unfortunately, the heads are nearly twice the size of a real human head in the proposed scale.

The separate heads included in this set may be used to add variety in poses. The instructions recommend cutting the head off et drilling the neck of the figurine to accept the locating pin of the new head, but this is not strictly necessary. Simply shorten the locating pin to the proper length, cutting it at an angle, et glue the new head onto the figurine. Turn the head into the desired direction et allow the glue to set over night.
While the eight bare heads may not be very suitable by themselves, they will provide the basis for several interesting conversion. Add tissue ou modelling wax bandages around the head to create a walking wounded, ou press a tiny ball of modelling putty into place to model a beret. The uncovered steel helmet is the pre-1944 model which may be used to draft some of these riflemen into platoons ou companies modelled for earlier campaigns in France, Afrique du Nord, Italie, ou Burma.

The signaller needs to have a sectional rod antenna attached to the left side of his WS-18 Mk.III wireless set. The antenna can be up to 3 m tall, particularly if the set is used in a defensive position.

Expert modélistes may want to add rifle slings made from thin plastic card ou paper strips.

ESCI - Valiant Miniatures – Revell scale comparison

Valiant Miniatures advertise the Infanterie Britannique figurine set as 1/72 scale, but the figurines, et the equipment they carry turned out much too big to be considered true to scale. The figurines’ heads are huge: 1/27 (twentyseven) scale; et the weapons range from 1/46 to 1/64 scale, we found none a l’échelle 1/72.

Le PIAT included in this set is 15,5 mm long, without the bomb, the equivalent of 1/64 scale.
The barrel of the Ordnance ML 3 inch mortar was 1370 mm long. The model du mortier de 3" included in this set turns out to be 1/60 scale, avec a barrel length of 23 mm.
La mitrailleuse Bren is 19,5 mm long, ou 1/59 scale.
Le revolver Webley is 5 mm long, ou 1/57 scale
Le pistolet mitrailleur Sten is 15 mm long, ou 1/51 scale.
Le fusil Lee-Enfield is 22,5 mm long, the equivalent of 1/50 scale.
Le mortier de 2" had an overall length of 533 mm, ou 7.4 mm a l’échelle 1/72. Again, the model in this set turned out much too long, 11,5 mm to be exact, which is the equivalent of 1/46 scale.

La casque Mk.III worn by these figurines is huge, 6 mm in diameter, it scales out to 17 inches. Les fantassins britanniques au 1/72 de chez Revell wear Mk.III helmets which are only 11.3 inches in diameter. Valiants’ Tommies need big helmet, because their heads are over 11 inches wide, nearly twice the size of an average human head which measures only 6.3 inches between the ears.

Tiny sink holes in the chest of the signaller et pourvoyeur de mortier de 3", as well as on the crown de la casquette d’officier need to be filled.

The kneeling multi-pose figurine might have been supplied avec a separate left arm to add more variety. Since there is no complete left arm in the set, this man can only be modelled as a firing Bren ou PIAT gunner. A left arm from the infanterie allemande set released by Valiant Miniatures may be used to correct this, provided that the sleeve of that arm is filed ou carved to a BDU pattern sleeve britannique avec cuff.

Separate bayonets would have been a valuable addition for dioramistes, who may want to display some of these figurines avec bayonets fixed. Joueurs de guerre, too, might have been tempted to fix bayonets, even if there is a greater risk of breakage when figurines are handled during games.

Incompatible avec ESCI, Hasegawa, Italeri, Revell, et other true 1/72 scale miniatures. While Valiant’s Tommies have the same height et shoulder width as the 1/72 scale Infanterie Britannique available from Revell, their huge 1/27 scale heads, et out of scale weapons make them incompatible. To deploy Valiant Miniatures Tommies alongside existing 1/72 scale platoons et companies, consider mounting them on thinner bases which will make them less conspicuous on the battlefield.

Emploi Historique

Infanterie Britannique, 1944–1945
Canadian Infantry, 1944–1945

Possibilités de Conversions

Commonwealth Infantry, en Slouch Hats ou Turbans
Commandos de l’Armée Britannique, en béret

Valiant Miniatures’ Tommies britanniques are a must-have for joueurs de guerre et dioramistes interested in modern warfare. The figurines are perfectly suited for RAPID FIRE! et other popular wargame rules using individual ou multi-figurine bases. While they are incompatible avec 1/72 scale miniatures, these troops may fit in well avec available 25 mm metal figurines from other manufacturers.

Sample from Valiant Miniatures

Questions Fréquents

Pour plus d’informations, veuillez contacter les éditeurs de la revue Military Miniatures Magazine au Miniatures Forum.

Figurines Britanniques de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale