British Infantry
Normandy 1944
Dragon Kit No. 6212
1/35th Scale
Review by Terry Ashley

We got a glimpse of Dragons new generation British figures with the two bonus figures included with the recent Firefly Vc (kit#6182) but they are different from the six in the new set, so they now have some mates.

The set contains 109 parts in light grey plastic to make six figures along with a selection of personal gear and weapons.

Three of the figures are standing/walking with one squatting with the Bren gunner and one other in a prone position for nicely animated figures.

The break-up of the figures sees the two legs, upper body, both arms and head as separate parts; this allows for excellent uniform details that include fine fabric seams on the arms and trouser legs as well as well defined pockets and other details.
There are some minor moulding seams to be removed but these don’t conflict with the fabric seams in most places and other that that there is no additional cleanup needed.

Each figure is wearing the standard British Khaki battledress and webbing with steel helmets with and without cam netting and four are armed with the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk.III, one with a Sten Gun Mk.II and one with the Bren Light Machine Gun.
A nice selection of personal equipment is included with the standard .303 ammo pouches, water bottles, trenching tool and light gas mask haversack as well three figures having the bandoleer often worn after D-Day; this is made up of two sections each to allow a better fit to the body.

A full sized colour sheet is included with illustrations by Ron Volstad of the assembled figures with the parts called out by number that will assist in assembling the figures as well as with the painting.

I have assembled one of the figures (No.3) to test the fit of parts and equipment and found the body parts to have excellent fit without the need for any trimming of filler even with this figure having both hands on his .303 which is often a problem area.
The .303 fits easily into the hands after assembly so can be left off for easier painting but it is advisable to leave the weapon in place until the glue on the arms has dried to ensure there is no movement to put off the fit.

The front of the tunics have indentations for the ammo pouches which makes for a good snug fit but I did have a few problems getting the bandoleer to ‘sit’ properly and a bit of minor trimming was needed. Also the fit of the gas mask haversack under the left arm required quite a bit of material to be trimmed from the haversack and regular test fitting will determine the best fit.

Other than that everything else fell into place for a very natural feel to the figure and with careful painting will look very good.

The Weapons:
These are from set #6055 “British Commonwealth Troops (NW Europe 1944)” and have four Lee-Enfields, two Bren Guns with alternate open and folded tripod and two Sten Mk.II (Second Pattern) as well there is a third new Sten Mk.II (Initial Pattern) with this new set. All that is required is to add the weapons slings from thin lead sheet, paper, masking tape or whatever you prefer?

Conclusion:
A very nice set of British figures with excellent uniform details, nice animation and natural sit of the weapons that along with the other recent US Normandy figure sets will be very welcomed by Allied fans and adds to the growing list of excellent Allied figure sets from Dragon.

Page created 4 October 2004