GI Joe BAR

Each of my GI Joe squads gets one BAR.

Since Hasbro did not make a BAR I am using some from some other company, I am not even sure who made it.

The bipods are metal but I think the gun itself is resin.

I am also using these larger GI Joe ammo pouches as the BAR magazine pouches.

Often late in the war in Europe squads would have two BARs and frequently did not use the bipod.
 

GI Joe First Squad

I am building a US Army WWI rifle platoon.  Three squads of 12 men.  This is part of the first squad.

GI Joe 5 button shirt with two pockets, GI Joe backpack with entrenching tool, and cover.  GI Joe pistol belt with two ammo pouches, first aid pouch, canteen and canteen cover, two hand grenades, helmet, cap, two brown books and OD trousers.

Rifle if from 21st Century Toys.

 Not all of first squad have all this gear yet, boots, helmets, and rifles are good.  Still working some on a few of the belt accessories and the shirts.  But pretty close.  One good visit to a GI Joe show with a reasonable amount of cash to spend and I should be okay.

GI Joe and His GI Joe Gear

This is my GI Joe Action Solider plan.

I want a full size WWII US Army Rifle Platoon with this equipment.  Hat, helmet, brown boots all from GI Joe.  M1 rifle by 21st Century Toys.

Canteen, canteen cover, pistol belt, first aid pouch, and backpack with entrenching tool and cover.

All this by GI Joe or Coswald Collectables.

And a stand, painted in camouflage colors.
 

Betan Post WWII

Charging man, perhaps the most action packed figure in the line up.

I read someplace that these were released after WWII because of shortages of materials they could not upgrade the mold to the new helmet.  Radio man, so an improvement in communications.

A bazooka figure, firing would have been nice but since he is left foot forward just like the radio guy I suspect they are supposed to be in a parade.  Parades were common in WWII so kids may have wanted to play what they knew.  I liked being in parades better than watching them.

Drummer he as in the old set but I don't have all the poses in either the pre-war or post-war groups.

Nice color guard, two riflemen, identical, and a flag bearing pass a saluting man.

Just as before these came in both green and tan.  I only have a couple tan ones.

A perfect fit with the old Tim Mee marching figure in 60mm.
 

M1917 Helmet for M1 Helmet

Just as the US Army changed over from the M1917 helmet to the M1 helmet so too did Betan soldiers.  Essentially identical apart from the helmet.  I think the bases are due to different manufacturers rather than the helmet change.

Many old favorite poses are back, like this one.  He has no cheek weld on the rifle, it's like he is firing a flintlock.  Get that eye down close to the stock and used the sights!

The gas mask wearing man has returned.

And the guy with the Thompson ray gun also.

This one is a pretty good pose I think with pistol at waist level.  Note he as a gas mask.

Something new here, a parachutist.
 

Tim Mee Betan and Tan versus Green War

Betan figure on the left and Tim Mee 60mm figure on the right.

Tim Mee figure marching and Betan figure with Thompson submachine gun, or something.

As you can tell from the photos the Betan figures are a pretty good size match for the older Tim Mee figures.

Not content with the standing firing pose Betan doubled down on the odd weapon and did one in a kneeling pose.

This khaki color is the most common color apart from green.  Looks like the Tan vs Green war has gone on since the 1930s.
 

Back to Betan

 

This is one of the Reliable versions of the Betan figures.  Note the word Reliable in script font on his back.

Not a bad officer post, directing artillery fire no doubt.

American troops wore this helmet between 1947 and in some formations probably until the end of World War II but overseas essentially gone by the middle of 1942.

The figures are not exactly action packed, but they have their own charm.

And a reasonable assortment of weapons and poses.

The bases are nice and sturdy and big so they stand up well.

Betan Soldiers

There is a company called Beton that made metal figures in the 1930s and switched over to plastic just before World War Two.

They made basically the same figures in plastic as they did in metal.

They also helped out other companies by setting up production facilities for the.

So some of the figures go by the name Reliable and it's molded into the back of the figures.

So there are differences in the bases mostly that tell you which company made which figures or when they made them.

And the figures come in a lot of color variations.  I like the dark green and the olive green.

The figures are kind of chunky and about 60mm tall.  They fit well with the very old Tim Mee troops.

They come with the M1917 helmet and later they were modified to the M1 helmet.  This guy has a .30 caliber belt fed machine gun.  Or a Thompson submachine gun.  Or a ray gun.  Or something else.  So I use him for whatever I want at the time.
 

Projects in Progress

Roco Minitanks Lacrosse missile system trucks.  I got a number of the trucks in various collections I have purchased over the years but no missiles for most of them.  So I am trying to put together the trucks and find something for them to launch.  But what's that thing in the lower left corner?

It started life as a Roco Dodge weapons carrier but it had a hard life and is broken up.  I am converting it into a T5 unarmored halftrack used by the US Army in the pre-war era.  They made 24 of them to tow the light 75mm mountain howitzer.  Those howitzers were also used by horse cavalry units and that's where mine is likely to go.  My plan is to build four of them.  It's slow going and there are lots of pieces.

The Earth vs the Flying Saucers truck in the lower center.  The three yellow truck cabs will receive the tattered remains of three Roco Dodge trucks and become radio or maintenance vans for my 1938 US Army.  The large transport vans are being refurbished, many are missing wheels, or doors or other parts.  Some will go back to being standard cargo vans, but a few will be radar stations and other specialized communications or air traffic control vans trailers.

For the last ten years  or so, I have been buying up Hot Wheels 1966 Batmobiles.  Taking them apart and stripping off the paint.  Eventually they will be repainted for different purposes.

A few years ago I did one for US Army 1943 and I think it would be cool to do some more military versions.  According to some of the comic book and animated versions of Batman he did fight against the Germans at Normandy and perhaps elsewhere.

 I like these gold Batmobiles, I don't care for the purple windshields so they may get changed out.  We shall see.