The Modelling News: Alpine's new 1/35th scale GI's & 4 sets of spare heads...

Alpine Miniatures bring us two new figures set in Northern Europe's cold climate. One a medic, the other with grease gun. Four sets of heads in 35th & 16th also feature as new releases. We look at them & the gear they carry in our preview...

Alpine's new 1/35th scale GI's & 4 sets of spare heads...

Two new US infantrymen from the Northern European theatre in a cold climate during World War Two are the subjects of Alpine Miniatures releases this month. Sold as a pair or a set, these GIs look very detailed. To add to this we have four new head sets in 16th & 35th to add to your kit box We look at them in our preview...

US Infantry M3 Grease Gun

From Alpine Miniatures

1/35th scale

Kit No #35312

Sculpture by Taesung Harmms / Box Art by Dr. Jin Kim

The figure comes with two different head choices.

This GI from late WWII is seen in colder weather gear. He comes with the choice of two headgears (like all of Alpine's figures), and is sculpted by Taesung Harmms and cast in light grey resin. The box art for this figure is painted by Dr. Jin Kim

The figure is seen in a fairly neutral pose, with wrinkles in the back of his jacket that is pinched by the straps of his M4 Gas Mask bag. Many (likely most) soldier's simply "lost" the gas mask, cut off the leg strap and used the bag for carrying miscellaneous "junk". They are a perfect size to carry on your side- smaller than a musette bag and bigger than a German bread bag. He also carries his flask attached ot the right hip with a cloth cover.

Here are some images of the soldier with M3 Grease gun in light grey resin. Though the figure comes assembled, here, they are put together prior to painting.

The painted figure from the front, sides and rear with the bare M1 Helmet choice of headgear. Grenades strapped to his webbing, with the M1 ammunition bag on his left hip.

He carries the short M3/M3A1 “Grease Gun”. The trademark of motorized troops in the ETO in late WWII, the M3 .45-caliber submachine gun. The M3 was chambered for the same .45 round fired by the Thompson submachine gun, but was cheaper to produce, and lighter, although contrary to popular belief, it was far less accurate. This myth stems from a US army training film portraying the M3 as more accurate than its counterparts. The M3 was commonly referred to as the "Grease Gun" or simply "the Greaser," owing to its visual similarity to the mechanic's tool.

Intended as a replacement for the .45-caliber Thompson series of submachine guns, the M3 began to replace the Thompson in first-line service in mid-1944. Due to delays caused by production issues and approved specification changes, the M3 saw limited combat use in World War II.

The M1 Helmet with netting s the second choice, with the same facial features. The soldier's trousers are straight, with his boots underneath.

The mesh/net helmet and the bare M1 below...

US Combat Medic

From Alpine Miniatures

1/35th scale

Kit No #35313

Sculpture by Taesung Harmms / Box Art by Dr. Jin Kim

The figure comes with two different head choices.

The medic in this pairing is also sculpted, then cast in light grey resin in 1/35th scale. Again, Taesung Harmms sculpted him, and this box art version is painted by Dr. Jin Kim

Yesterday we saw this figure assembled and unpainted so you can pick out the bare detail of the figure. You can see the interesting body language of this medic, seen tugging on his glove as he leans slightly to the right. His medical and flasks on his back and red cross arm patches pick him out clearly as a medic here.

Both head choices are the venerable M1 helmet, but one of these is the well known bare version with the red cross painted into it to mark the owner as a medic non-combatant.

This M1 helmet is like those used during World War Two and is painted for use by US Army combat medics with the white circle and Geneva red cross. Medics and corpsmen in the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO) often times did NOT paint their helmets; medical personnel were targeted by Japanese forces. The practice of painting medic helmets in the US military ended with the end of WWII.

The second helmet choice is that of a net covered M1 helmet. The same as the previous choice, but just with a net cover. IT is always great to have that second option.

His pants are of the same material as his field jacket, these are tucked in to the US Army double buckle boots, seen clearly here with the twin straps to tuck the trousers into. Below are a pair of the boots from apparently a real pair on sale on Ebay.

When you look from behind you can see this medics harness, as worn by Army infantry and airborne units, with two water flasks covered with cloth covers, and a medic's pouch worn on each side of his hips, attached to that harness.