Airfix British Paratroopers

I got a couple boxes of these guys the other day.

I am using them for conversions to other stuff.

They were rust color.  When did that seem like a good idea?

They will end up as American Football players, Royal Navy, Danish Army 1950s, and henchmen for SPECTRE and THRUSH.

But probably none of them will be British WWII Paratroopers.
 

Support

British troops are on the offensive.

The officer and his radio man have a good observation point.

They can see the Germans coming.

So get on the radio.

Call for some artillery, aircraft ground support, or even naval gunfire.
 

Panzerfaust and PIAT

The main British force is at the base of the clock tower.

The Germans are mostly at the edge of town near the church.

Just steps away from the woods.

Panzerfaust man moves forward.

His counterpart with a PIAT waits for the Jagdpanther to come close.  Very close.
 

Movement and a Lull

Long range fire support.

Infantryman with assault rifle.

The British return fire.

The Tommys redeploy.

A short lull in the fighting.
 

Moving Forward

The British troops have just arrived.

They are setting up roadblocks.

And consolidating their position.

Waiting for the anti-tank guns, and the rest of the battalion to catch up.

Meanwhile, Germans including a flamethrower are moving forward.
 

Counter Attack Begins

Moving inland from Normandy...

The British infantry have pushed out the few German defenders from the town.

As they move forward and check for hold outs....

The Germans begin a counter attack.

Re-enforced with heavy tank destroyers.
 

Normandy Town

Welcome to Bunker Talk blog.  Today is the 5,000th post.  I hope you enjoy.

A quick set up of British troops entering a village in Normandy.

Germans are preparing a counter attack.

I have a small wire table on my gravel porch area.

So I threw down a few pieces of wood and grabbed some buildings.

And set up a little town.
 

Not Quite Useless Figures

 

Heller / Airfix WWII British Paratroopers.  Some people, including me, consider this to be one of the worst Airfix sets, after the Infantry Combat Group and the first edition German Infantry.  Still, they did include a drop box and a couple guys gathering their parachutes.

I have recently re-evaluated this set and purchased several more of them.  The mortar is pretty good and gets a crew of two kneeling guys.  I add the guy looking at his watch to the crew, giving a crew of three, and the radio man goes with four mortars so they have a battery with communication.  After having watched the science fiction monster movie Reptilicus for the 117th time I decided to do a Cold War Danish Army.  In the movie some of the troops seem to be wearing the British Paratrooper helmet.  So a few of these guys will graciously donate their heads for that project.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptilicus

Someone on my Facebook Airfix figures group posted a group of American football players he converted from several Airfix sets, many of them from this set.  So I decided that I would use many of these to create at least two football teams of 12 men.  There are 11 on the field at a time but I wanted each side to have a guy with the ball.  The grenade thrower will fill that niche.  Other figures from the Airfix Tarzan, WWI British Infantry, and Robin Hood sets will also join my Army, Navy, and maybe Air Force or Notre Dame or perhaps USC football teams.  The British paratrooper helmet looks a lot like an old fashioned football helmet and so more of these figures will donate heads to the project.

The guy shooting his gun up into the air seems a very ironic pose for a paratrooper.  It's like he is a traitor to the other guys in his group. Of course he could be firing at a sniper in a tree, or a German in a second story window, but we don't get this pose in any other Airfix set.

Mr. Bending Over guy will likely end up as another mortar crewman.  The guys being wounded will be the first to volunteer to donate their heads to either football players or the 1961 Danish Army. 

Some of the other figures in the set will become henchmen for various nefarious organizations like Thrush, or SPECTRE in my James Bond / Espionage games.  After they get a suitable painting in a blue or gray uniform.  They may also get a head swap with figures wearing Ridgeway Hats or berets as is often worn by henchmen.  There will also be a few used as Royal Navy.  In the James Bond movie Dr. No, a British patrol boat picks up Bond at sea, with a Bond Girl and they are wearing these helmets and web gear, in their light blue shirts and dark blue pants.  So while I won't use them for WWII British Paratroopers, I am getting a lot of use out of them.

British Paratroopers

Back in olden times Airfix was known for their awesome box art.  The Heller kits did not maintain that high standard.

The back of the box was blank.  Cheap.

This British Paratrooper looks Italian.  Nice 5 o'clock shadow.

This guy must be a British paratrooper from Hong Kong.

Nice drawing of an open parachute, too bad one does not come in the set!

 I think this is a Sten MK V which was not developed for 1944.

WWII British Commandos

Caesar Miniatures British Commandos, rear view.

 

Shooting.

Throwing and running.

Kneeling.

Very nice set, no flash, excellent poses.

One of each pose, only 27 figures in the set which is not very many.