Henk
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2018
- Messages
- 1,536
So as not to highjack Steve Ski's outstanding work on this set (here: https://www.planetfigure.com/threads/advance-to-arnhem-1-16-scale.281137/ ), I'll start my own now, even though I'm not quite ready to start on the set. There are however a number of things I like to expand on, so I'm getting in here early.
To start, as Steve has already shown in his thread, this is a fantastic set, depicting a very well know photo of the first day of the Battle of Arnhem. So far three of the four soldiers in the photo have been identified, one positive (cpl Alfred Reynolds), one is indentified by his daughter, but not verified as far as I know (Pvt. Eric Witherford) , and the Bren gunner on the left, is identified by his Grand son as Private George James, and he is also identified as 'Private John George James of the Anti-Tank Group, 2nd South Staffordshire's ' on the Pegasus Archive website. The South Staffs did land on Sept. 17, and did attempt to get to Arnhem via the same route as 1 Para, so it would be possible that he was present. I intent to try and contact the grandson (I believe he lives reasonably local to me) to try and find out more.
There is however a Lance Corporal Alfred C Young, who was actually in the 1st platoon, R company, 1st Battalion. He joined in 1942, and saw action in Africa, Sicily, and Italy, before returning to Britain for the preparation of operations in NW Europe. There is a resemblance, but its hard to tell. According to the ParaData website, Young jumped at Renkum, and was taken prisoner and demobbed in 1946.
The set copies the photo very well, there are a few minor niggles, but none of those take away from the great quality of this kit. The figures have been sculpted very well, all the detail is fine and sharp, and the casting is equally good. A bit of clean up required, but for single molds like these, nothing you would not expect. I particularly like that all the hands are moulded to the rifles, and thse are very finely done. The fit of all the various arms and equipment is flawless, apart from the left arm of the Bren gunner, which will require some filler, to make everything fit and sit on the base nicely. I will discuss all the figures individualy in detail when I start to work on them.
Now, having looked closely at the figures in the set, and comparing them to the photo, something that has been bugging me for the best part of 4 decades has jumped out at me again.
If you look closely at the photo, I've always found Cpl Reynolds (as I now know he is) legs a bit of a conundrum. His legs don't seem to line up with his body. It could be the angle of the photograph, and him leaning back for balance, whilst trying to keep his shoulders low, but I always wondered if he's sitting on/leaning against a body. That 'right' leg looks, as if the knee is back to front. Now, I know that the folds of the trouser leg may make it look like that, it's just that it looks a bit odd. But the other thing that makes we wonder, is the pocket on 'his' leg. Para trousers don't have a large pocket on the right leg. I know that soldiers often altered their uniform, like sowing sock tops into the arm of the Mk2 Denison, but were these kind of pockets added? Can anybody point me in the direction of images of such? Also, he seems to be carrying something under his right arm, a larger pouch with a smaller (lighter) pouch on top of it. The smaller pouch looks like a compass pouch.
To start, as Steve has already shown in his thread, this is a fantastic set, depicting a very well know photo of the first day of the Battle of Arnhem. So far three of the four soldiers in the photo have been identified, one positive (cpl Alfred Reynolds), one is indentified by his daughter, but not verified as far as I know (Pvt. Eric Witherford) , and the Bren gunner on the left, is identified by his Grand son as Private George James, and he is also identified as 'Private John George James of the Anti-Tank Group, 2nd South Staffordshire's ' on the Pegasus Archive website. The South Staffs did land on Sept. 17, and did attempt to get to Arnhem via the same route as 1 Para, so it would be possible that he was present. I intent to try and contact the grandson (I believe he lives reasonably local to me) to try and find out more.
There is however a Lance Corporal Alfred C Young, who was actually in the 1st platoon, R company, 1st Battalion. He joined in 1942, and saw action in Africa, Sicily, and Italy, before returning to Britain for the preparation of operations in NW Europe. There is a resemblance, but its hard to tell. According to the ParaData website, Young jumped at Renkum, and was taken prisoner and demobbed in 1946.
The set copies the photo very well, there are a few minor niggles, but none of those take away from the great quality of this kit. The figures have been sculpted very well, all the detail is fine and sharp, and the casting is equally good. A bit of clean up required, but for single molds like these, nothing you would not expect. I particularly like that all the hands are moulded to the rifles, and thse are very finely done. The fit of all the various arms and equipment is flawless, apart from the left arm of the Bren gunner, which will require some filler, to make everything fit and sit on the base nicely. I will discuss all the figures individualy in detail when I start to work on them.
Now, having looked closely at the figures in the set, and comparing them to the photo, something that has been bugging me for the best part of 4 decades has jumped out at me again.
If you look closely at the photo, I've always found Cpl Reynolds (as I now know he is) legs a bit of a conundrum. His legs don't seem to line up with his body. It could be the angle of the photograph, and him leaning back for balance, whilst trying to keep his shoulders low, but I always wondered if he's sitting on/leaning against a body. That 'right' leg looks, as if the knee is back to front. Now, I know that the folds of the trouser leg may make it look like that, it's just that it looks a bit odd. But the other thing that makes we wonder, is the pocket on 'his' leg. Para trousers don't have a large pocket on the right leg. I know that soldiers often altered their uniform, like sowing sock tops into the arm of the Mk2 Denison, but were these kind of pockets added? Can anybody point me in the direction of images of such? Also, he seems to be carrying something under his right arm, a larger pouch with a smaller (lighter) pouch on top of it. The smaller pouch looks like a compass pouch.
