Hi all, my latest release 'WWII Finnish ski trooper, 1944', it was special made for one of my best customer suggestion, hope you like it! Jeff

Superb concept, looks really good.

Awesome....

Never done a WW11 as most seem to be German, but this is tempting.

Will it or is it available in UK ?

Fantastic figure! imaginative and fresh! I may just break down and buy this.

Many moons ago there was a 54 mm German mountaintrooper on skies,rushing downhill,inspired by a figure called "The White Knight" from Adrian Bay.
A musthave for me.My late dad was a mountain trooper,too.He served in Mittenwald 1963/64,at the "Hochgebirgszug" and told me that they have to march in the mountains with the gasmask on !

Like your new sujets!

Cheers

That's certainly different. I was wondering why the gas mask until I saw the photo, off the top of my head I can't recall ever seeing Finnish troops wearing them during the Winter or Continuation War. Anyways, a lovely piece and good to see Finnish subjects, hopefully a few more winter themed ones in the future?

Kimmo

Remarkable work, Jeff! Great animation and drapery!

Kurt

Whey not offer two heads , one without the mask ,they also took the filters off as kradmelders do,a German gdrbergs jager would also rock

really unique!

Excellent!!!

Stalker
Just add a strange weapon to his back.
Love this one Jeff!!

Superb!

Oda.

I haven’t seen this either as I wasn’t around then, I expect it was because of the wind chill factor when skiing. I use a face mask and goggles when snowboarding and I’m not even at war!

http://jeffshiu.lsft.com/product81.html Shows the parts breakdown and the gas mask is a two part affair, so it would be possible to display with the filter off for a very different look.

The metal ski poles are a good touch. How long would those be?

Still a very beautiful realization of this company! Subject very little used and as usual a perfect realization! Superb work! Thanks for the news

It's clearly a training op photo, the masks would make breathing too difficult for prolonged use, so a scarf or old fashioned ski mask with eye and mouth holes would be used as needed. A gas mask is uncomfortable enough just walking around with one on, never mind trying to ski. The supply situation with Finland was never good to begin with so you don't see many photos of troops of any kind with gas mask pouches, regular units probably would have been issued with them pre-war but I doubt they were a priority item. The same goes for other "luxury" items such as snow capes, masks and what not. Sheets, scarves and home knit socks and sweaters were the rule rather than the exception. The poles would ideally come up to the armpits when standing upright, give or take a few centimetres.

Kimmo

Jeff, indeed again a super nice figure.

@ newtonk and Kimmo: " At the beginning of the 1980s I did my compulsory military service in Belgium. Sometimes we had to put the gas mask on during long marches, but the filter could be removed, this was done to teach us how difficult it was to walk with a gas mask in the cold winter but also in the summer at high temperatures. You have poor vision and breathing is difficult, sometimes we had to screw the filter onto the mask. But that was usually only for a few minutes. "

I found a picture of a German motorcyclist in Russia, they required protective clothing, he wears a sentry’s fur-lined overcoat, heavy mittens, the fur-lined cap of the reversible winter suit, which is no doubt being worn beneath the overcoat, and a gas-mask for face protection. The air filter canister has been removed from the gas-mask 38. Special extra eyepiece lens were issued for cold weather to prevent fogging by creating an airspace between the two lens.


I think that the picture is indeed an exercise, after all the Finnish troops fought with the Germans against the Russians under the command of Generalmajor Eduard Dietl.
In June 1941 Dietl took two mountain divisions accross the Finnish-Soviet border with the task of seizing the vital port of Murmansk with co-operation of the Finnish forces. By 19 September Dietl was forced to withdraw behind the Litsa river in front of Petsamo.
Here´s the picture of the German motorcyclist:

Awesome Jeff, very unique.

Cheers,
Brendon.

Corse, the major difference between being a despatch rider and skier is that the rider just sits there like a pilot in an open cockpit, the skier is moving and generating heat. You'd be amazed at how quickly you can break a sweat at -25 C, have a look at how little cross country skiers wear in competitions. Speaking of sweat, if you did ski with a gas mask (filter or not), your face would sweat and the instant you remove it in sub zero temperatures, real bad news for your skin. Finns are used to really cold temperatures and knew how to deal with it, the Germans never really did completely figure it out. You aren't very combat effective if you can barely move because of all the clothing you're wearing.

Kimmo