Painting Wargaming Figures – Allied Forces in Northwest Europe 1944-1945 covers British and Commonwealth, United States and Free French uniforms for this period.

The book covers 8 chapters to include topics on Tips and Tools, Skin Tones, display Bases, Allied Webbing, Equipment and Weapons for the service(s) combat uniforms cited above. Topics also include glues, fillers, types of paint/primers, brushes and care, painting techniques and weathering with washes. The author also gives historical background reference for colors used for the 1944-1945 time period for various units.

With 270 pictures to illustrate the steps suggested for the allied military services described for small scale figure painting it is very easy to follow along with a quite simple process to paint figures.

This book is fascinating both from the historical point of view and for the military figure modeler point of view.

It consists of a series of watercolor copies of the original lithographs depicting military uniforms of the Napoleonic era. It should be pointed out that the original collection was completed after Napoleon’s death and during a period where anything related to Napoleon was -politically- out of favor. Moreover, the original collection is considered a milestone document as not only images are included, but each depiction also has accompanying text describing details of the uniform or the unit.

This particular edition also has 5 illustrations that are not part of the original collection but fit the era and scope of the edition, so they were included to provide an even rounder documentation of military uniforms of the French Imperial Army in the 1798-1814 period.

Publisher’s Notes

“A comprehensive, accurate, and academically-supported reference of all of the major military and paramilitary camouflage patterns that have been in use around the world from the end of World War Two to today.

This book will be a one-stop, generalized reference illustrating as many patterns as have been researched into the present time period. It will surpass all previous efforts. In addition to color tiles illustrating camouflage patterns it will include photographs of the designs actually being worn by military and paramilitary personnel, something few other references have done in suitable combination.”

Firefighting has a long and noble history in the United States, dating back to the 17th century following the burning of Boston in 1631. The first volunteer fire company was established by Benjamin Franklin in 1736 in Philadelphia, and became a model for other colonial cities to follow. 1853 saw the establishment of the first professional fire department in Cincinnati, and thus the modern, fully-paid and professional firefighting force was created.

Originally, most firefighting equipment was horse drawn, but the advent of cheap, readily available gasoline-driven vehicles changed that. Enter the ubiquitous Model T, a simple, robust and affordable machine capable of carrying at least rudimentary firefighting equipment and personnel to emergency locations quickly and easily.

ICM has once again offered a very nice combo kit, featuring both the 1914 Model Firefighting Truck and their terrific figure set featuring four firefighters in natural poses.

Tamiya’s new 1/35th scale figure kit “U.S. Infantry Scout Set” includes plastic parts for making five U.S. army WWII infantry figures. The kit comes in a 10” by 6” by 1 1/2” top-opening box. The box contains four sprues of plastic parts, a double-sided instruction sheet, and water-slide decals. Sprue CA and sprue CB provide the weapons and accessories. The weapons included are: an M1918 BAR with choice of open or closed bipod, an M1 carbine, two M1 garand rifles, an M1A1 thompson, two bayonets, three knives, and six hand grenades. There are enough entrenching tools, canteens, and helmets for each figure. The helmets are molded with the straps pulled up over the brims. Two of the helmets have mesh coverings molded on. Sprues X and Z provide the parts for the meaty bits and figure-specific accessories. The instructions provide a list of recommended Tamiya paints, assembly instructions, and a description of the ranks depicted by the markings on the decal sheet.