Miniatures News

Plastic Soldier Company - U.S. WWII Soldiers (Late War)

Posted by Bluefalchion on 18 Mar 2013, 17:49

These are shipping. There is a picture of the sprue at this link:

http://www.michtoy.com/item-PSC%20WW2%2 ... 44_45.html
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Bluefalchion  United States of America
 
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Posted by dutchboyinohio on 19 Mar 2013, 04:33

Here is the actual image

Image

More info and sprue pictures here: http://theplasticsoldiercompany.co.uk/i ... d87d704179

Look like fairly standard poses...
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Posted by Bluefalchion on 19 Mar 2013, 14:33

I like the advancing poses. It is difficult to see on the photos of the sprue what, if anything, sets these soldiers as "late war."

And, like all figs from this manufacturer, the heads seem too big.
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Posted by David O'Brien on 21 Mar 2013, 22:45

Bluefalchion wrote:I like the advancing poses. It is difficult to see on the photos of the sprue what, if anything, sets these soldiers as "late war."

And, like all figs from this manufacturer, the heads seem too big.


Some these figures are worse than others for out of scale heads.
They look straight from the boat or repple depples.
The standing pose with BAR,the kneelers etc are useless to me and remind me of 1950s toy soldiers but some of the others could be a basis for conversions. The casualty and a correct two man radio team are a plus.
Not a big priority for me to buy this set though if Caesar did some US WWII kit figures then these would be far more useful.

David

BTW if you can't see the bottom row at the left of the pic just download the jpeg then it makes sense of the diagram to see that their arms and weapons and another kneeling figure are there
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Posted by Bluefalchion on 22 Mar 2013, 15:35

If you swapped the heads out on the BAR gunner it might not be too bad. I certainly prefer the crouch-advance-keep-head-down pose to the traditional standing up perfectly straight and firing the rifle like you are in the American Civil War or something...
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Posted by PDA on 22 Mar 2013, 18:09

Bluefalchion wrote: ... It is difficult to see on the photos of the sprue what, if anything, sets these soldiers as "late war."...


They are American, therefore it's "late war". :lol:
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PDA  England
 
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Posted by Bluefalchion on 22 Mar 2013, 22:55

That's...that's actually a pretty good point.
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Posted by MikeRC97 on 23 Mar 2013, 00:44

PDA wrote:They are American, therefore it's "late war". :lol:


I believe you meant "They are American ETO infantry, therefore it's 'late war'"

Unless you consider the landings on Guadalcanal (August 1942) and Operation Torch (November 1942) "late war,"

I'm just sayin'
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Posted by Bluefalchion on 24 Mar 2013, 02:16

PSR has some better pics of this set up now:

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Fir ... px?id=2195

Now that I can see them better, about half are just standing upright and aiming.
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Posted by peterh on 02 Apr 2013, 02:35

"if Caesar did some US WWII kit figures" - they do David, two different sets, but unfortunately their heads can be too small !!!
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Posted by Bluefalchion on 02 Apr 2013, 03:46

I am pretty sure he was referring to Caesar assembly kits like the recent assembly series of Germans. You know, the ones on sprues in multi parts.
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Posted by David O'Brien on 06 Apr 2013, 22:27

peterh wrote:"if Caesar did some US WWII kit figures" - they do David, two different sets, but unfortunately their heads can be too small !!!

Peter H
News to me . The devil is in the detail. Kits are those figures in parts ie 4 limbs, torso and head and lots of bits to glue on (ie glueable plastic... polystyrene) - the others are sets. I am unaware that Caesar have done any US troops like this.

Heads being small or large gets into the realms of subjectivity which it shouldn't be. The Plastic Soldier Co heads are a little too big but not as big as the Valiant ones which are ridiculous. When you use a computer 3D modelling program (which I have on and off for about 15 years) you divide the dimensions (xyz) by 72 if the figure is life size. The main error is the front of head to back of head or chin to nape dimension often gets neglected in the computer "sculpting" process.
Some Caesar heads are badly proportioned (not really worth three!!! marks) but this is often the result of the tooling process and loss in tool when they get it right they are usually spot on. In proper sculpting sculptors use calipers or proportional calipers to take measurements off a real head. Doing this regularly helps to get all the dimensions right so need for subjectivity.

David
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Posted by PWalmsley on 25 May 2013, 10:47

I like the attempt at helmet netting but agree with the comments on size.
Other issue is (like all of this company's figures) the necks are non existant!

Also there are serious issues with equipment.

US infantry did not get issued suspender straps (unless officer /NCO,motorized or airborne.) They received the old style pack with integral straps. These figures seem to have some sort of y strap !!! ( not accurate for motorised troops who had X straps. ) this could be hidden by addition of packs but the set doesn't come with them!

Other difficult problem is : Rifle men ( majority of the infantry) had the rifle ammunition belts with integral rifle pouches. These figures seem to be only issued with pistol belts . Only carbine and pistol armed troops ( officers and Senior NCO's ) had the pistol belt with removable pistol and carbine pouches. (Plus heavy weapons crews also) This problem will be difficult to fix on these figures.

The jackets seem too short to be " late war " , ie the M43 field jacket . Seems like they are wearing the M41 Parsons jacket . ( issued in 1941onwards). This makes them suitable for most 1942-44 battles, (except maybe Ardennes where the M43 seems to be the most common issue). They could also represent the lightweight HBT jacket .
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