US Navy Raiders

Matchbox WWII US Army heads put on Matchbox WWII British Commandos.

My intention is to use these as US Navy landing parties.  The few figures with a square base are second edition Airfix British Commandos and rather rare.

I specifically selected figures with US weapons, the revolver was use by US troops in WWI and WWII, the M1917 .45 ACP revolver was common in both wars.

The US Navy did a lot of commando type operations in the Pacific particularly.

They destroyed Japanese navigational aids, light houses, and radio equipment.

They also did reconnaissance prior to amphibious landings to insure the beaches were suitable.

So here are a dozen US Navy figures, perfect to guard a naval base, or perform a commando raid.

I like having small units of unusual troops to supplement my larger collections.  It makes for interesting small scenarios or small parts of large scenarios.
 

Dewoitine 520 Iron Ace Airplane

Here is my Iron Ace single seat fighter plane, painted in the same metallic blue with gold wash as the Iron Ace himself.

In the comic the Iron Ace I don't think they specifically mention what kind of plane he uses.

But since the guy who gives him the plane is French and in France, a French plane seemed a good choice.

Since Iron Ace is British and by this time France had fallen to the Germans a plane in French markings seemed like a bad idea.

So I put British decals on it.

I don't normally do RAF planes but some of my USAAF plane models had RAF decal markings included in the model so here you go.

I always do my planes with wheels down so they can sit on a runway.
 

MPC Air Force

Decades ago, MPC made single piece airplane toys.

There were not to any particular scale, but the bigger aircraft did result in larger models.

Look carefully on the wings and you can see the markings and information about each plane.

On the underside and the top they have statistics about the aircraft.

Beautiful models, and educational too.

They came in big bags for less than a dollar!

I don't know how many different planes they made, but it was a lot.  Now I use them with my 1/72nd scale figures as air recognition models in Air Force and Luftwaffe buildings.

Soviet Anti-Aircraft Artillery

World War Two Soviet Union 37mm anti-aircraft guns.

Made by Zvezda in 1/72nd scale.

The barrels are very long and thin.

The model is flash free and goes together pretty well.

I built a couple of them and then mass built them.  Now they are being primer painted.

M4A6 Sherman Tank

Sherman M4A6 tank and US Army troops training in late 1944.

The M4A6 had a diesel engine and was more fuel efficient than the gasoline Shermans.

 They were relegated to training and testing.

Only 75 were made out of an initial contract for 775.

This one is made by Heiser Models, resin with plastic detail parts, easy to assemble.

I got it from Fidelis Models, Poway, California, owned by my friend Randy.

Pepsi Truck

This is a 1937 Pepsi Cola bottle truck.

It's very streamlined.

Military bases in World War Two, stateside, would have trucks like this deliver cool beverages to the troops.

It is an odd looking truck.

I think it was intended to represent a tractor cab with trailer as a one piece model.

It's long out of production, but you can still get them here:  https://www.fidelismodels.com/product/Golden_Wheel_18212_1937.html

Dutch East Indies

While the major basis of my collection is the US Army from the first muster of English speaking militia in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in December of 1637 to the near future and their enemies, I also do a few other things.

This is one of those things.  My collection of World War Two Dutch troops.

The Dutch East Indies was attacked by the Japanese not long after Pearl Harbor and lasted about as long as the Japanese conquest of the Philippine Islands.

American troops were sent there who were on their way to the Philippines and fought briefly alongside the Dutch.

The Americans were also supplying the Dutch with weapons before the war, many of which were not delivered in time to be used against the Japanese.

So far, all I have a a few troops, and some heavy infantry weapons.

There have been a few new Dutch figures and artillery pieces released in the last couple years so I will likely buy more to fill out my Dutch units.

Mystery Model

Here is a mystery model.

It's obviously a US 105mm towed howitzer.

It's a single piece.

I have no idea who made it or where it came from.

Shown here with a 1/72nd scale figure, so it's about 1/72nd scale.  If you know what it is, drop a note in the comments.