American Hats

As a kid I used to watch the TV show, Combat!  My parents got me this book based on the TV show.  My copy over the next 30 years disintegrated.  However, my best friend, Randy, found this copy and he got it for me for Christmas this year.

It's in great condition and I can hardly wait to read it!  Thank you Randy.

Airfix made US Army troops for World War One but they all had the Montana Peak Hat, the Smokey the Bear Hat.  The problem is, when they got to Europe most of them were re-cut into the side cap, and these were replaced with the British style or French style helmet.  However, the US Army continued to wear this hat until the present day in various units and for drill instructors.  

So I have been taking some of these American heads and putting them on the Airfix World War One British Army troops.  These are the figures made for HaT Industrie and they are all in the same butterscotch color plastic.

The American Army in World War One expanded so quickly that Americans wore British, French, and even, American uniforms and equipment depending on their assignment.  So I am making a few "British" troops with the "American" hat and I will use them as US troops in training.

I also intend to paint some of them red and use them as Royal Canadian Mounted Police, just a small unit of them to operate along the American border when there are Nazis, or Martians, or other problems to deal with.

The change over is amazing to me, having had these Airfix sets since probably 1963 it is very odd to see them look so different with a change of headgear.

These are the few I have done so far, but I continue to do one or two per day as I concentrate mostly on unpacking the collection.

What do I do with the left over British heads and American bodies?  Well, I match them up with each other and end up with figures that look like American troops from the 1920's and 1930's.  Post-World War One the Americans changed the standard hat and went with one that looked very much like the World War One British hat.  So these troops will become Interwar American Army troops.