Mike is Collecting Troops

For the last couple years I have been sorting out my collection of US Army figures from the period 1898 to 1998.  I am doing American Army troops that work for that whole period with touch points at 1898, 1918, 1938, 1958, 1978, 1998.  These periods essentially conform to our involvement in several wars.

I got some trays from Dollar General stores and I am using them to help me sort the troops by one platoon per tray, four platoons per company.  Sadly, hundreds of my Esci, and Airfix troops went brittle and will have to be replaced.

The cost of getting replacement troops has slowed the project by years.  I am also arranging them into companies, battalions, regiments, with the over all plan to be able to field the combat elements of an infantry division.

I am very vaguely, basing these troops on actual units.  The little photos are paintings of actual US Army units from these eras showing their uniforms, headgear and personal equipment.

All these Esci Zulu Wars British Infantry figures went brittle and will need replacement.  It's at least 8 boxes of figures.  The Italeri version of these troops have about a dozen fewer troops per set than the Esci figures sets and fewer riflemen.  So I anticipate having to buy 10 to 12 Italeri sets.

I am using this book as a guide to uniforms and equipment at the small unit level for each era.  This book is a great resource.  The collection will include private, local, and state militias, organized guard units and other militarized groups.  The US Army actually used saucer caps, Montana Peak hats, garrison caps, M1917 helmets, M1 helmets, pith helmets, pickelhaube helmets, and several other types.

My plan includes Boy Scouts, and US Forest Service men.  The Boy Scouts often performed search and rescue, and other auxiliary duties in the World Wars.  The US Army guarded the US Forests in World War One because wood was a strategic asset in World War One for airplane building and light ships.  They were special units that were the only US Army Federal troops issued lever action units.
 

Six Inch Gun

The limber riders and tracktor driver are from the Hat WWI US Army French 75 Artillery set.

Tow set up for the US Army 6" gun.

These were in service for about 20 years from World War One to World War Two.

US sent them to Brazil for coast defense during WWII.

Still they make a good weapon for defense against Martian invaders in 1938.

Airfix Cavalry

I did one each of the riders from the Airfix American Civil War Cavalry set as Interwar US Army Cavalry.

The US Army used horse cavalry until 1943 and all during World War Two they improvised ad hoc units of cavalry as theater commanders asked for horse mounted troops.

Troops like this patrolled the border between the US and Mexico well in the 1940s.

Naturally, someone has to care for the horses, so I converted a few other figures to work in the stables.

The unit also needed a couple Military Police officers and a bugler.  Bugler is from the Imex Korean War Chinese Peoples Liberation Army set.  The MPs are from Airfix USAAF set.

Here is everyone together.  I will likely do more cavalry as it was an easy conversion.

Secrets of Bunker Talk Blog Photos

I like to set up a few figures and vehicles and take photos for the blog.

Get up close, many of these photos my lens is 50mm 2 inches from the figure or vehicle.

Use the focus to help you target specific parts of the scene.  Here the target is the soldier.

Without moving the camera, I focus on the truck and it changes the scene.

Using zoom can help you to get a single figure or vehicle in a larger vignette.  

This old Army shirt makes a nice bit of terrain without any real work, just lay it on a table.

Strelets WWI British Infantry in Gas Masks

Strelets WWI British Infantry in Gas Masks.

The US Army used British uniforms and equipment in much of World War One.

We also continued to use some of it until early World War Two.

So I use these guys as US Army.

I think they look just fine for the job.

Branch Colors

The light blue on this truck is Infantry blue.

So this truck belongs to an Infantry unit.

The Cobalt blue on this trucks indicates Chemical Corps.

Chemical Corps also gets a golden yellow piping, I used it on the GAS trailer.

Troops wear these colors as cords on their hats and sometimes in other uniform items.

Interwar Trucks

The US Army is divided into Branches, Infantry, Armor, Chemical Corps, and so on.

Each branch gets a color, red, dark blue, light blue, and so on.

I am working on making my 1938 US Army and using these little trucks as the primary vehicle for them.

The embossed letters are being painted in the Branch color.  They actually did paint the canvas frequently in the Interwar years and often in many colors and often with unit insignia.

I am also using several types of wheels and tires to indicate vehicles that are older or newer.  Old trucks often get upgrades as they approach the end of their service life or as technology improves.  With little money in the Interwar years the Army did all it could to keep the old vehicles running.  There was also a lot of improvement in tires in those years.

US Army Truck

This slush cast truck has a cast in driver and US ARMY on the canvas.  He is about 1/72nd scale.

I like to find small scale slush cast vehicles and use them for my 1938 US Army to fight Martian invasions.

Orson Wells War of the Worlds radio broadcast was in 1938.  The wheels on the cannon are replacement wheels, often the originals are missing or in poor shape.

I am using branch colors for the US ARMY on the trucks.  Here is light blue for infantry.  The Cannon got light blue because that was often used on vehicles before the Army went for white numbers.

These Strelets figures go well with the slush cast truck and gun.

Slush Cast

Slush cast is a technique for making hollow metal items.  It uses very little metal and so the items are light and inexpensive.  Like the technique for making chocolate Easter Bunnies.

The technique has gone out of favor with die casting replacing it, like Matchbox cars.

Still, slush cast toys were very popular in the 1930's, and 1940's in the USA.

I like to buy slush cast military items that are small and repair them.

Then I strip off the old paint, prime them, and repaint them.

Long Tom

This Tootsie Toy cannon is probably 50 years old.

It got it off eBay, in terrible condition.  It's supposed to be a US Army Long Tom, 155mm howitzer.

The US Army used them in the Coast Artillery and the Field Artillery.

Field Artillery towed them with trucks and the Coast Artillery with Caterpillar tractors.

I stripped off the paint, repaired it and replaced the wheels.

After years of testing these guns finally entered service in 1938.

In my alternate War of the Worlds based on Orson Wells radio show, the Martians invade in October of 1938.

That makes this one of the first of these gun into service and one of the first to fire in anger.  I use the Roco versions for World War Two.