[r43475]

Greetings,

Friend of mine in local (Taiwan), helped me to bash this Red Devil figure as I'm quite fascinated by "A Bridge Too Far" story delivered by novel (Cornelius Ryan) and movie.

With his permission (though he hasn't completed the work yet), I post the photos here for sharing.

Cheers,

 

[Punisher2-2]

simply awesome...and the quality of the photos I thought this was a new boxed fig coming out..I was looking for the projected release date. Great job with the presentation!

 

[tang]

Great to see Chung's works anytime.

:thumb
:thumb

 

[gaiagear]

Absolutely top class work. :thumb

 

[KMok15]

Nice work all round. But i think the beret flash should be above the left eye. Please correct me if i'm wrong.

 

[r43475]

Nice work all round. But i think the beret flash should be above the left eye. Please correct me if i'm wrong.

Thanks for pointing out the mistake! I definitely would convey this tip back to the original builder.

 

[r43475]

Few more photos are added here.

Cheers,

 

[quiksilve]

Wow amazing piece of work, and your photography skills are like those pre-order release quality.

 

[Matias]

Great work

 

[[email protected]]

Nice work!!!

 

[Tatuued1]

Nicely done, great weathering and your pics are world class.

 

[pieter schlegel]

The photographs are awesome and the weathering really makes him looks as though he's spent 10 days in a shell torn basement. However, there are a number of issues with the figure that need attention. The cap device does indeed go over the left eye. The DiD beret needs dumping as it is complete rubbish and as you've found already does not sit properly. I advise you to go to UK Ebay and look for banjoman's shop and buy one of his Maroon berets. They reasonably priced and are simply fantastic and you won't regret it.

The gaiters need to be tighter, and it might be best if you follow the British Army instructions of the time for folding the trousers, (by holding the front and rear creases and folding them over to meet at the outside seam before putting on the Gaiters). I usually tie the trouser in place with a small piece of cotton thread. The hooks on the small pack need to hook into the buckles on the top of the ammunition pouches, see image 4 in your first post and you'll see the small pack hook sitting right above the buckle on the ammo pouch; it should hook under and through the buckle. The DiD boots are not great either and it appears to me that this is because they don't actually fit the feet on DiD figures. If used on a DML figure the boots seem to fit better and can be shaped to look much better, IMHO. One shouldn't hold a Sten gun magazine when firing. They were not the best engineered weapons and holding the magazine when firing can cause all manner of problems for the user. Best to have your chap hold the cooling jacket on the barrel. Finally, the fully formed beard has to go, you wouldn't see a para wearing a beard, much less one of this design. Even in the field they would have tried to keep up appearances by shaving regularly. But for poetic licence and to reflect the gruelling period they spent under fire at Arnhem I'd suggest a HS that had something more akin to four day old stubble rather than a perfectly trimmed beard. Hope this helps you to finish what is already an awesome figure. Great Work!!!

Rgds

Pete

 

[r43475]

The photographs are awesome and the weathering really makes him looks as though he's spent 10 days in a shell torn basement. However, there are a number of issues with the figure that need attention. The cap device does indeed go over the left eye. The DiD beret needs dumping as it is complete rubbish and as you've found already does not sit properly. I advise you to go to UK Ebay and look for banjoman's shop and buy one of his Maroon berets. They reasonably priced and are simply fantastic and you won't regret it.

The gaiters need to be tighter, and it might be best if you follow the British Army instructions of the time for folding the trousers, (by holding the front and rear creases and folding them over to meet at the outside seam before putting on the Gaiters). I usually tie the trouser in place with a small piece of cotton thread. The hooks on the small pack need to hook into the buckles on the top of the ammunition pouches, see image 4 in your first post and you'll see the small pack hook sitting right above the buckle on the ammo pouch; it should hook under and through the buckle. The DiD boots are not great either and it appears to me that this is because they don't actually fit the feet on DiD figures. If used on a DML figure the boots seem to fit better and can be shaped to look much better, IMHO. One shouldn't hold a Sten gun magazine when firing. They were not the best engineered weapons and holding the magazine when firing can cause all manner of problems for the user. Best to have your chap hold the cooling jacket on the barrel. Finally, the fully formed beard has to go, you wouldn't see a para wearing a beard, much less one of this design. Even in the field they would have tried to keep up appearances by shaving regularly. But for poetic licence and to reflect the gruelling period they spent under fire at Arnhem I'd suggest a HS that had something more akin to four day old stubble rather than a perfectly trimmed beard. Hope this helps you to finish what is already an awesome figure. Great Work!!!

Rgds

Pete

Pete,

Thanks for the great tips here, which we definitely can benefit from.

You're right that DiD beret didn't fit the HT headsculpt well and we need to consider alternative.

The Sten Mk2 (http://www.aa-ok.com/S76a.jpg) displayed here might not be the one that Red Devil used in Arnhem. Instead, Sten Mk5 (http://www.aa-ok.com/sten_mkV.jpg) seemed more popular during this battle, as many photos revealed in the book, Operation Market Garden - Then and Now (http://www.rzm.com/books/atb/marketgardenvol2.cfm).

I did spot one photo in "Operation Market Garden - Then and Now" and noticed that one of British airborne soldiers wore perfect beard. In fact, the British 1st Airborne Division commander, Roy Urquhart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Urquhart) himself and several of brigadiers (including John Frost (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dutton_Frost) whose men seized Arnhem Bridge) all wore beards. Even during severe battle, they seemed to able to find some time for shaving (according to the book).

According to one of the most famous photos regarding Red Devil in Arnhem, as shown in the cover of the book published by Osprey (http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/Arnhem-1944_9781855323025), it seems to me that they did hold magazines when marching (as soldiers in the photos behaved).

Cheers!

 

[pieter schlegel]

Hi R434745,

glad to be of some help mate, you are right about the Mkv Sen but as you've no doubt found they're getting harder and harder to come by these days.

Yes, you might find some officers wearing beards but not enlisted men, I have no doubt that you would find men wearing beards after 10 days of hard battle but not the goatee type found on modern HT headsculpts.

As for magazine holding, yes anyway that's comfortable for marching but not for firing the weapon.

Ultimately, though do whatever makes you happy and gives you the most satisfaction as that is what this hobby is about and if I sounded like a stitch nazi in my earlier post I apologize, I had my 2 year old hanging off my neck so I was typing faster than I was thinking, LOL!.

 

[MisterscruffUK]

Pete,

Thanks for the great tips here, which we definitely can benefit from.

You're right that DiD beret didn't fit the HT headsculpt well and we need to consider alternative.

The Sten Mk2 (http://www.aa-ok.com/S76a.jpg) displayed here might not be the one that Red Devil used in Arnhem. Instead, Sten Mk5 (http://www.aa-ok.com/sten_mkV.jpg) seemed more popular during this battle, as many photos revealed in the book, Operation Market Garden - Then and Now (http://www.rzm.com/books/atb/marketgardenvol2.cfm).

I did spot one photo in "Operation Market Garden - Then and Now" and noticed that one of British airborne soldiers wore perfect beard. In fact, the British 1st Airborne Division commander, Roy Urquhart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Urquhart) himself and several of brigadiers (including John Frost (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dutton_Frost) whose men seized Arnhem Bridge) all wore beards. Even during severe battle, they seemed to able to find some time for shaving (according to the book).

According to one of the most famous photos regarding Red Devil in Arnhem, as shown in the cover of the book published by Osprey (http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/Arnhem-1944_9781855323025), it seems to me that they did hold magazines when marching (as soldiers in the photos behaved).

Cheers!

I could be wrong but I've never seen Col Frost or General Urquhart with beards in period photos; mustaches yes, beards no, and certainly not a neatly trimmed goatee as Peter has already said.

 

[ActionMan]

I could be wrong but I've never seen Col Frost or General Urquhart with beards in period photos; moustaches yes, beards no, and certainly not a neatly trimmed goatee as Peter has already said.

I'm with Nick on this, although I think this may be a matter of language rather than historical accuracy. In English we would refer to hair on the upper lip as a moustache, hair beneath the lower lip / on the lower jaw as beard.

(As a side note, British soldiers HAD to wear a moustache until October 6, 1916, when the British Army revoked the standing order that all military men were required to maintain a moustache. It was revoked because because the new recruits were so young that some could not rustle up more than a thin, mousey streak - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml?xml=/portal/2007/10/02/nosplit/fttashe102.xml).

 

[Colonial Marine]

If you're looking for a good Arnhem 'Red Devil', or just the parts needed(The Sten Mark V, Red Devil beret, backpack, good British headsculpt), I'd suggest DML's 'Ian' figure(I own one, myself and it's pretty accurate to the gear worn by the British 'Red Devils' during the Arnhem bridge battle)

 

[r43475]

I'm with Nick on this, although I think this may be a matter of language rather than historical accuracy. In English we would refer to hair on the upper lip as a moustache, hair beneath the lower lip / on the lower jaw as beard.

(As a side note, British soldiers HAD to wear a moustache until October 6, 1916, when the British Army revoked the standing order that all military men were required to maintain a moustache. It was revoked because because the new recruits were so young that some could not rustle up more than a thin, mousey streak - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml?xml=/portal/2007/10/02/nosplit/fttashe102.xml).

ActionMan,

Thank you very much for the explanation. Yes, you (as well as Pete and Nick) are correct in terms of "beard" (I could not sense the difference between mustache and beard until spotting your post here). Red Devil should not wear beard indeed. :agree

In fact, friend of mine and myself did a survey of several headsculpts in advance and I wanted one with mustache so we winded up picking up the HT one as shown here (I must confess that HT headsculpt seems more sophisticated compared to others).

Glad to run into you folks who like Red Devil as well!

Best

 

[r43475]

If you're looking for a good Arnhem 'Red Devil', or just the parts needed(The Sten Mark V, Red Devil beret, backpack, good British headsculpt), I'd suggest DML's 'Ian' figure(I own one, myself and it's pretty accurate to the gear worn by the British 'Red Devils' during the Arnhem bridge battle)

Colonial Marine,

Good to hear the input. Yes, I did consider of DML, as well as BBI, before picking up the DiD in final. At first, I thought DiD might have the best quality in terms of all the gears I need. Now, after reading your comment here, I guess I need to go back to look at DML parts again and see how to mix them with DiD ones to get the better bash of this figure.

Thank you!

 

[irishjoe26]

sick fig, that headsculpt is pratically begging for a leonardo dicaprio bash from blood diamond