Thomas Gunn Miniatures: February Releases

Dear All

Welcome to our first release notes of 2013, there being no release in January due to our factory relocating amongst other issues. However we are slowly gearing up our production with some very exciting products due to appear on the horizon in 2013. So without further ado let's see what is available for this month!

GW011/012 A7 Tank

The A7 tank was the only operational tank used the Germans in WW1 with a total of 20 being used on frontline duties. The A7 was a large machine for its time being 24ft long, 11ft high and nearly 10 ft wide. There was a crew of 18, with most of these being utilised to man the 6 machine guns and the 57mm Nordenfeldt cannon

Up to 300 rounds for the Nordenfeldt could be carried, which made this a truly mobile fortress albeit with only a top speed of 3 MPH cross country.  The A7 had 24 wheels which were individually sprung; this gave it an advantage over British tanks which had no sprung suspension. However because of this type of suspension and the fact that the armoured body overhung the chassis, the tank was prone to wobbling as it lurched along!

Ropes were provided internally for the crew to hang onto but the whole experience must have been very uncomfortable for all concerned. British troops coined the phrase 'Wibble Wobble' for tanks and this would have been a very apt description for the A7.

The armour for the A7 was up to 30mm thick, which made the tank invulnerable to machine gun fire but because hardened armour plate was not used the A7 was vulnerable to large calibre artillery weapons

The first tank versus tank battle in the world action took place at Villers Brettoneux, between the British and Germans in 1918. The Germans lost one A7 tank (later recovered) to Lt Mitchell in a British Male tank, however Lt Mitchell’s tank lost a track due to mortar fire and had to be abandoned. The 2 British Female tanks accompanying Mitchell had already departed the battle as their machine guns could not penetrate the A7 armour. However the arrival of 7 British Whippet tanks forced the rest of the German infantry and tanks to abandon the battle.  Although a minor battle in itself both forces gained valuable experience, which would help shape armoured warfare in the future

We have released 2 versions of our A7: GW0011 'Cyclops' with a 2 tone camouflage pattern and 'Deaths Head' insignia painted on the front. Cyclops saw action in various battles and survived WW1 only to be scrapped in 1919

GW012 'Schnuck' comes in a 3 tone camouflage pattern with Balkan crosses on the side. This tank was captured by New Zealand troops at Fremicourt in August 1918. Schnuck was put on display at the Imperial War Museum in London after the war but was later scrapped, with only the main cannon being retained

This model weighs nearly 2 kilos and is therefore a hefty collector's piece. Priced at $155, and with a limited edition of 100 each being made this is an iconic piece for every serious WW1 collector

In addition to this wonderful tank TGM are also releasing two British 2 inch mortar teams for their WW2 series, one manned by Commandos and the other by 'Red Devils'. Both sets will have a limited production run of 100 pieces and are priced at $69 each

Happy hunting!

JJD: February Releases

Hello again, and a happy new year to all our Chinese brethren. So, what does February have in store for those of you who are fans of John's productions? Read on and enjoy!

January Releases – Now on their way

Thank you for bearing with us during the extended wait for the January Releases. They have now arrived and orders have started to go out

 

February Releases

The selection of February releases reinforces the old saying that great things really do come in small packages. They are available for Pre-Order now at JJD UK.

 

A surprise entry for the Knights of the Skies sees a 1914 Royal Naval Air Service Rolls Royce Armoured Car rumbling onto the airfield. An armoured car crewman, a wounded pilot and accessories are also on their way

 

Also for Knights of the Skies a Royal Flying Corps Sergeant, dressed in the1914 ‘lancer’ pattern, often referred to as a ‘Maternity’, Jacket

 

The Spanish Guerrillas can now march to the beat of their own Spanish Guerrilla Drummer.

 

Musket smoke fills the air at the Battle of Leuthen with the introduction of the first two Prussian Grenadiers firing.

  

In the Sudan, a new British Naval Brigade, Naval Officer, sidearm in hand, heroically leads the Naval Brigade against the local Beja warriors

 

The US Marines Sergeant and Corporal add flavour to the rank and file of what promises to be a fantastic new series depicting the U.S. Marines during the American Civil War

 

Last, but by no means least, the baggage train at the Monongahela officially becomes an equine convoy as pack horse number five delivers more supplies and equipment. As with the previous Monongahela pack horses, the baggage is interchangeable with other packhorses, allowing for considerable variety

 

Please note: The February Releases will be shipping to JJD UK from Mid-March.

John has sent his apologies (we are all eager to get our hands on the new items) but due to circumstances outside of his control the releases schedule has been impacted

 

JJD UK can ship all current in-stock items before then, special order items and new releases will be subject to delays. If you have any questions regarding how this might affect an order placed, or one you would like to place, please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

Release Delays

As previously stated LEUT-10 Leuthen Churchyard Gateway and PSG-05 Spanish Guerrillas, Two Monks Loading and Firing were unable to be shipped with the January releases, these two sets will be available from mid-March 2013, with the February and March releases

 

Club Set Releases

JJCLUBSET-12 Lieutenant Francis James Buchanan and Light Coehorn Mortar and JJCLUBSET-14 Mortar Wagon are in production. Delivery of these limited edition sets is expected in April 2013

 

JJCLUBSET-15 Roger’s Servant and JJCLUBSET-16 English Travelling Blacksmith’s Forge are in pre-order status until 4^th March 2013. If you have not already confirmed your pre-order, please let us know if you want to secure either of these limited edition sets

 

To recap, then, the list of February releases reads as follows:

BGC-03 Knights of the Skies, Rolls Royce Armoured Car, Royal Naval Air Service 1914

BGC-08 Knights of the Skies, Sergeant, Royal Flying Corps

PSG-04 The Peninsular War, Spanish Guerillas, Drummer

LEUT-08 The Battle of Leuthen, Prussian Grenadiers Firing

SRN-05 The Sudan, British Naval Brigade, Naval Officer

ACWM-02 The American Civil War, U.S. Marines, Seargeant and Corporal

BAL-09 The Battle on the Monongahela, Pack Horse #5

The pictures below will give you some idea of how they will look. As ever, further details are available via the JJDUK website

  Happy hunting!

Airsoft: Arms and Equipment

I've been toying with the idea for quite some time and the other day I finally succumbed to temptation and purchased the item pictured below

I've been looking for a gun that's well built, reliable, with good range and a fairly rapid rate of fire. Whilst surfing the net for a suitable weapon I happened to come across this and set about finding out to get hold of one in the UK

I eventually found a dealer prepared to let the package I wanted [the gun and 8 additional hi-cap magazines] go for just over £520, including next day delivery. Not cheap, I know, but I was working on the premise that I ought to be getting what I was prepared to pay for!

I know it's not always the case, but the first thing that hits you when you tear through the brown paper is the quality of the packaging which is reassuringly expensive looking and suggestive of the fact that on this occasion it just might be

Inside the box you will find a gun, a high-cap magazine, a few BBs, a red plastic barrel cover, a cleaning rod tucked away underneath the gun and an instruction booklet, together with a few paper targets, cleverly secreted away in the lid of the box, which also has a couple of polystyrene blocks strategically stuck onto it for added protection

The magazines are predominantly made of metal, so are reassuringly weighty, very easy to fill with the 500 rounds they comfortably hold, and are absolutely solid as a rock when slipped into the mag well of the gun

The gun itself, being a TM, is unsurprisingly made of a mixture of ABS and metal making it fairly light, but by no means flimsy. The adjustable stock is easy to operate and pretty solid with very little movement even when fully extended

The fire selector and magazine release catches are all comfortably positioned, as they are on the real steel version, and access to the incredibly easy to use hop adjustment is achieved via the cocking handle on the front left hand side of the gun

Access to the battery compartment is a little trickier but by no means complicated or even fiddly once you've practiced it once or twice. Remove the flash hider at the front, release a small catch on the front of the cover whilst at the same time holding the cover, and simply slide it forward. The compartment is designed for 8.4V mini batteries but, as you can see from the photos below, it will easily accommodate a 7.4V Lipo

Other fixtures and fittings include a standard adjustable iron sight at the rear, a single rear steel sling point on the left hand side, and threaded holes on either side of the battery housing ready to take RIS rails should you wish to pimp it up some!

So. How does it shoot? Well, firstly let me qualify this by saying that I haven't yet taken it out into the field but shooting it in the garden the other day was a blast. TM weapons have a reputation for the quality of their hop units, giving the guns consistently good range without the need for excessive power

According to the sticker on the end of the box, put on by the dealer who tested it before it was shipped, the gun is shooting at around 275FPS out of the box, so universally site friendly and convenient from the customer's point of view since there's absolutely no need to mess around with any of the internals

Standing on the decking just outside my patio windows it easily reached the fencing at the bottom of the garden approximately 100 feet away, that's about 30 metres for all you youngsters that might be reading this, and the rate of fire on full auto was, well, grin-inducingly good! Watching the following short clip won't be anything approaching the fun of getting to hold one of these in your sweaty paws and then unleashing hell when you pull the trigger, but it might just give you an inkling of an idea!

Happy hunting!

King and Country: Dispatches

It's that time of the month again and so I bring you, this month on time, news of some of the latest releases and retirements from K&C

As always, further details are available on the K&C website

“On Parade in Copenhagen”

To any visitor to Denmark’s capital city the soldiers of the Royal Life Guards are an “iconic” sight. Everyday they parade from their barracks in central Copenhagen to the Royal Palace to perform Guard Duties protecting the sovereign.


Usually they wear their dark blue dress uniforms…On very special royal and state occasions they change to their red tunics.


CE010 “Marching Guardsman w/Rifle”

CE016-1, CE016-2, CE016-3 “Standing-At-Ease Guardsman”

 

 

“Battling Johnny Turk!”

As K&C dealers and collectors already know we have produced a large number of Australian Light Horse figures as part of our depiction of the Battle of Beersheba in 1917. With the great success of that range we’ve decided to expand and develop more units that also fought in the campaigns in the Middle East during the 1914/18 War. This first new release focuses on the British infantry…


ME001 “Officer w/Pistol & Whistle”

ME002 “Kneeling Firing Rifle”

ME003 “Standing Firing Rifle”

ME004 “Charging”

ME005 “Attacking”

ME006 “Lying Prone Lewis Gunner”

       

Special Uniform Details: All of our new infantry figures belong to the 8th.Btn Lancashire Fusiliers who fought in Egypt, Gallipoli and Palestine during the war. They are all wearing the tropical solar “topi” sun helmet with the regimental flash on the left side.

The men are wearing a mix of heavy wool tunics (more suitable for the Western Front) and KD (khaki drill) shorts with long socks and puttees.

The officer wears a complete set of KD (tunic and trousers) in contrast to his men.

 “COMING IN ON A WING AND A PRAYER!”

Our latest United States Army Air Force figures, aircraft and vehicle make a contrast to our soldiers of the Middle East and are a nice little bonus for our “Warbird” collectors…

AF019 “Flight Commander”

AF020 “Pilot w/Map”

AF021 “Synchronize Your Watches!”

AF022 “Kneeling Pilot”

THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN

The story of the first African American pilots in the U.S. Army Air Force has been told in books, documentaries and movies…Rarely, if at all, have they appeared in miniature…Until now…K&C have produced four separate items that pay tribute to the officers and men who had to overcome many obstacles just to be allowed to fly and fight for their country during WW2.

AF023 “Capt. Lee ‘Buddy’ Archer”

AF028 “Colonel Benjamin O.Davis”
The commander of the all-black 332nd Fighter Group.

AF029 “The ‘Follow-Me’ Jeep”

AF030 “ North American P.51D Mustang”

Of all the Mustangs that flew it was the “D” model that was the most famous….and most numerous with over 8,100 built and flown.

Easily recognized by the bubble-top canopy it was the perfect escort fighter for the USAAF’s B17’s and B24’s bombing Hitler’s Third Reich.

Our latest K&C warbird belongs to the all black 332nd Fighter Group, the famous “Red Tails” and is one of the 301st. Fighter Squadron’s P51’s. Nicknamed “Creamer’s Dream” it’s in typical late war natural metal finish except for the red nose and tail plus yellow wing stripes.

Just 250 have been produced

“KEEP ‘EM FLYING!”

Finally we introduce two more groundcrew figures that help bring any aircraft or airfield display alive….

AF026 “Standing Mechanic”

AF027 “Sitting Mechanic”

“WITH LAWRENCE IN THE DESERT”
Following the success of our first two “Lawrence” figures we are adding two more….

LoA003 “Sheik Auda Abu Tayi”

LoA004 “Arab Flagbearer”

VITAL TRANSPORT
Although an army marches on its feet…it’s nice to get a lift now and then.
Here are two more new versions of our very popular Morris CS8 15cwt. trucks.

FOB091 “Morris CS8 Truck (BEF)”

FOB097 “Bomb Disposal Morris CS8”

“Who’s Guarding The Home Guard?”

After the Fall of France when Britain stood alone against the might of Hitler’s war machine a body of men came forward to help defend the country in its greatest hour of need.

They were originally called the Local Defence Volunteers and were recruited from those too old…or too young to join the regular army.

Soon however they became better known as…”The Home Guard”

Here at K&C we’ve always had a “soft-spot” for these young and old warriors who made up in real fighting spirit what they may have lacked in actual fighting abilities….

FOB077 “Standing Home Guard Major”

FOB081 “Marching Tommy”

FOB082 “The Captain”

 

FOB083 “The Sergeant”

FOB084 “The Scrounger”

FOB085 “The Mummy’s Boy”

              

 

FOB088 “The Old Soldier”

           

And whilst we're on the subject of old soldiers [if you can bring yourself to forgive the awful link] here are the retirements for this month

             

AE007 Wrapping The Mummy
AE019 Cleopatra's Body Guard
AE021 Banquet Guests Set 1
AE022 Banquet Guests Set 2
AE023 Dancing Girls
AE024 Court Musicians
AE028 Nubian Slave Guard
AE030 Master of Ceremonies 
AE031 The Drummer
AF006 Army Air Corps Mechanics
AF007 Lt.Dick Rabb
AF008 The New Boy
AF009 Capt.Nick Magura
AF010 Pointing MP
AK050 Panzer III Tank
EA041 Universal Carrier
IC033 Chinese General Staff Set
LAH092 Seaman Presenting Arms
LAH094 Seaman Flagbearer 
RTA027 Juan A. Badillo, TX - Kneeling Loading Rifle 

Until next time, happy hunting!      

Figarti: New War Birds

Figarti, famous for its 'pieces on a grand scale' and its fabulous planes, have announced the release of two new Stuka dive bombers

I've included a few pictures here by way of whetting your appetite. More information, and further images, as always are available from the Figarti or Grey Goose Collectibles websites

First up, the Battle of Britain Stuka followed by the Winter Stuka

The underbelly of the Battle of Britain Stuka

And now for the Winter Stuka

Both of these beautiful birds are available in the UK from Grey Goose Collectibles for £250 each. Happy hunting

DID: WW1 Stormtrooper

As some of you will know, I've recently started a small collection of late First World War German assault troops, or stormtroopers. So far the collection extends to a handful of K&C figures, a handful of TGM figures and a single vehicle by JJD. I may be adding a few Britains figures as well but I haven't made a final decision about that just yet

I was in a well known newsagents shop the other day, leafing through the pages of an equally well known publication read by collectors of toy and model soldiers, when I came across a review of an interesting 1/6th scale action figure by DID, or to give them their full title Dragon in Dreams

It's by no means the only WW1 figure currently being produced in this scale but I was drawn to it because it represents a grenadier from the 6th Sturmbataillon, or Assault Battalion. My favourite 60mm figure, currently assuming pride of place at the front of the assault in my WW1 diorama, just so happens to be the K&C grenadier pictured below. Suffice to say, I am extremely tempted to buy one

DID figures don't come cheap. It will cost me close on £100, factoring in postage and a stand to help prop him up in the display cabinet, but I reckon it'll be worth it. Take a look at the images a little further down and see if you agree with me

I'll be sure to keep you posted. Happy hunting!