I've been modelling mainly 1/35th scale armour for more than thirty years, focusing pretty exclusively on the Second World War period. Although I have to applaud the impressive range of new kits available on the market today, repleat with photo-etched parts, metal gun barrels, etc., I am increasingly disturbed by the lack of Commonwealth figures available in 1/35th, or for that matter, any scale. I know full well that, given the almost endless variety in German fighting vehicles of the Second World War, modellers of German armour and diorama builders have demanded -and received- an impressive range of figure possibilities, modelled in plastic and resin by companies like Tamiya, Dragon, Verlinden, etc. Why is it, however, that figure sets are available for dozens of specific German units, including of course, the premier units of the Waffen SS, while almost nothing exists for the modelling of diaramas featuring soldiers/tankers of the Commonwealth? Dragon finally issued a set of 1/35th scale Commonwealth figures, set in the location of Italy circa 1943, which I have used for a diorama I've been working on featuring the P.P.C.L.I. in Ortona. I would very much like to build a diorama featuring elements of the Canadian Second Division fighting around Caen...focusing on my father's unit the Essex Scottish. (If figures of Canadian forces in Normandy exist, I have yet to locate them.) And the situation for 1/16th or 200 mm figures in plastic or resin is no better. It disturbs me a bit that there are no figure kits available of any of the 16 Canadian Victoria Cross winners of the Second World War, but I can easily locate figure kits of Knight's Cross winners like Kurt Meyer, Michael Wittmann, Joachim Peiper, Adolf Galland...not to mention dozens and dozens of anonymous soldiers from virtually every branch of the Wehrmacht. Maybe, if I live long enough, Dragon will release a set of 1/35th scale Commonwealth infantry figures set in the Normandy Campaign....By that time, they will likely have modelled every conceivable SS figure set imaginable, right down to the LAH "white jacket" butler set, for those who want to build a diorama of Hitler and Eva Braun drinking tea and eating chocolate cake at Berchtesgarden. lol All humour aside, I find this imbalance in the modeling of Second World War figure subjects a bit disturbing. Don't get me wrong. I've built my share of Tigers and Panthers and Hetzers and Pkw IIIs etc., over the years, and I've also built a large number of German 1/35th scale figures to go along with the vehicles. But something's not right when, if you simply surveyed the range of figure subjects available in the hobby, you might conclude that Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and India played virtually no significant role in the Second World War. You might also conclude that the war was won by the Waffen SS. (-Perish the thought!)
Good point. In my opinion model makers are businesses and therefore aim to make money , not to be accuarate. They simply supply the demand and it has to be admitted that building German models is very popular among modelers. If people stopped buying those German models, maybe makers would be more creative and offer more Commonwealth vehicles. The trouble is that no sooner a German model is on the market that people dash to their local stores. You could also write to your favorite brands and let them know your opinion.
Hi there, Skipper. I agree that one reason there are so many German armour kits on the market is that the Germans produced such a great variety of armoured fighting vehicles. There are some excellent kits of German subjects on the market today...I know, because I've built many of them. In more recent years, the major companies have also produced excellent kits of British Commonwealth and American armoured vehicles. (I'm working on a Dragon Firefly Sherman, a Tamiya Churchill, and an Academy Stuart right now.) I'm all in favour of modellers having the widest possible choice of subject matter available to them, so I applaud the availability of all these kits. What I'm talking about is the lack of Commonwealth figures in any scale, whether 1/35th, or 1/16th, or 200 mm. What does stick in my craw, however, is the plethora of German "character figures" of specific individuals, which completely dominates the larger scale figure market. How is it that I can easily find large scale resin figures of a whole group of Waffen SS war criminals -but there's nothing available of Canadian war heroes like David Currie, Frederick Tilston, Ernest "Smoky" Smith, or Andrew Mynarski? I realize that the whole industry is driven by profit, and companies produce what there's a demand for. -That probably explains the massive amount of reproduction Waffen SS uniforms and regalia that seems to dominate even the market for reenactors. I guess I just find this obsession with groups and individuals who were Nazi fanatics to be a bit disturbing. I've heard the argument a thousand times about how building these figures, or dressing up as these people in no way implies anti-Semitism, or support for Nazi racial theory, etc., and that history buffs are just "keeping the historical memory alive." Well how about keeping alive the memories of Canada's own war heroes? (I can assure you, the average Canadian teenager couldn't tell you the name of a single Canadian Victoria Cross recipient from the Second World War.) And in anticipation of somebody's likely rebuttal, yes, a few of them can list off a group of winners of Knight's Crosses with Oakleaves, Swords, and Diamonds. -Something's not right here.
When people think of World War 2 they don't think of the colonies, Canada, etc they think of the US, Britain, Russia, and Germany perhaps largely because the "media" (movies, TV, games, etc) focuses on them too and their roles might not be seen as big enough. Even when it comes to niche things like documentaries, you have to search pretty hard to find adequate material for CW forces so it's not very surprising that models are suffering from similar issues. That being said, have you tried looking online?
I agree that there's little to be found in terms of the representation of the British Commonwealth in the Second World War in modelling, film, etc. And, yes, I'm reasonably well-aware of what the major companies have produced in terms of 1/35th and 1/16th scale figures. And aside from any discussion of the Commonwealth, there's actually very few British figure sets available as well....You can find the odd tanker figure, and a couple of sets of figures depicting the "Desert Rats" of the 8th Army and paratroopers from Arnhem. -But that's about it. The other side of my argument is that, while figures of the British Commonwealth are woefully under-represented -and heck, I could extend that focus to ALL Allied forces- there are enough German figures available, on every conceivable subject, in all the major scales, to sink a small pleasure craft. It's not just the unavailabilty of Allied subjects I lament, but the imbalance in what's available that I object to. If I have to look at another plastic or resin figure of Michael Wittmann, I think I might just throw up. As Canadian historian Norm Christie said in his documentary investigation Battlefield Mysteries: Who Killed Michael Wittmann?, some people lionize this man as a hero while forgetting the nefarious regime that his actions supported.
After doing some additional research on line, I have discovered that there are a number of smaller, niche-market companies that have produced British Commonwealth figures in resin. (Dragon Models currently makes not one, but two, sets of 1/35th scale Commonwealth infantry in plastic, one set dressed for the Normandy campaign and one set dressed for combat in Italy.) What I would like to see now is somebody offer a couple of Canadian character figures to balance out the huge number of figures of Waffen SS war criminals that dominate the 1/16, 200 mm, and other larger scale figure market. Andreas, a Spanish company which makes an amazing range of white metal figures, has offered a character figure of Canadian World War I fighter ace Billy Bishop. If there are other figure subjects of Canadian V.C. winners, etc., available, then I am ignorant of them.
I would encourage you to write these manufacturers and request the making of the models you desire and if possible the clubs and groups you affiliate with to give a voice to your wishes in the models you desire. As they often say it is the squeaky wheel that gets the oil. If they hear from you it could signal to them a market they may even need to continue to increase their volumes. As time goes by, there is more and more modeling and remembrance of these interesting times of man and machines. I told one pilot that I believed his story and those like his concerning his flights in WWII may someday be likened in story telling similar at least to the Knights of the Round Table......as I see it both are never to be repeated styles and modes of warfare and will be of incredible interest for those who study down through the ages of time. In my youth their bravery in WWII was of great interest as well as the technologies that were used for this epic world battle. Modeling keeps a lot of remembrance alive so make noise til you get what you want.
