Review D Day Commando from Life Miniatures

[Nap]

Hi everybody

We are all so proud of the heroes of D Day whatever the Allied force but say D Day and most will say "Commando" and that's the subject matter from Life Miniatures latest release .

Announced here on PF and in social media as always

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/life-miniatures-new-release.81695/

Life Miniatures were helped in this project by a member of this form ...Mike Butler ( Mike- The Kiwi" ) so well done to him for that.

The Cdo were battle hardened troops with a fearsome reputation for bravery and skill in battle on D day they landed wearing full equipment including life preserver, bergans and additional ammunition in bandoliers wearing the famous green beret with no badge , wearing the appropriate unit shoulder badges and the Combined Ops badge below it (the weapons always faced forward)
The green beret is hard won and worn with pride and respected by all others and quite rightly so , the WW2 beret was a lot larger in form than today's issue.

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Here are a couple of good books to look out for

Continued in next post

Nap

 

[Nap]

Lets look at the release

Details are :

Title: WW2 British Commando on D Day June 1944​

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Reference: LM-B022​

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Scale: 1/10th​

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Material: Gray Resin​

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No of pieces: 8​

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Sculptor: Sang-Eon Lee​

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Box Art: Sang-Eon Lee​

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Special thanks to Mike Butler​

The packaging and presentation is well up to that expected from such a reputable company as Life Miniatures , a strong box resin packed between foam sheets , the smaller parts in a resealable bag , the box slips into a all around carded surround with a clear covering around that.

Box art is provided both on top (and one of the sides) ...a good reference to start with .

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Parts consist of main torso , the head , beret, bergan ( top part) a helmet, , life preserver air tube, pick handle and a base

Prep

Main Torso...Casting plug from lower edge and small post from pouch
Head...Plug from under neck
Helmet...Plug from underside
Bergan..As Main Torso
Beret...Small plug from rear edge
Air Tube..Remove casting post and fit to hole in preserver
Handle...Remove excess and fit to bergan side
Base...Remove excess and fit if being used

All very easy to get to and quick to remove , aside the above all surfaces were really smooth especially the underside.

I have a lot of photos again so will deal with the torso here and the remainder in the next part.

Main Torso


The subject is fully loaded up ready to go into the beach head with his preserver , a bandolier of ammunition clips , pouches , at the nck we have a camo scarf .

The neck area is ready to take the head with ease , no excess to remove from the open space , the texture of the neckcloth is sharply done with the collar of the battledress around it , nice work on the collar itself .

All the belts are again very tightly sculpted , good undercuts with the bandolier sitting on top the preserver , the sections look like they are loaded up with clips of bullets , the pouches are just the upper 25% ,well shaped and with good strap work, the bergan straps are again well sculpted strapping and brass ends , the preserver has the strap tied as seen in references .

The preserver has a locating hole ready for the inflation pipe.

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On the arms we have the shoulder flash ( left plain so you can put what you want on it in respect which commando) and below that the Combined Ops badge , this is very well represented.

Lets look at some more of the pictures showing these details

Continued in next post

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Now to the remainder of the resin

Head

A young looking face pensive in look when painted , mouth tightly clamped shut contemplating what is to come , looking slightly to the right , as expected the facial features are very well sculpted , the forehead slightly raised on the surface, sharp chin line strong in feature , slightly dipped chin, hair texture is well done , on the top of the head there is a piece of resin very accurate to fit tightly to the cut out in the beret.


Beret

Nicely shaped in all views , no badge is sculpted ( you could easily add one if you wish to) m the sit of the material is well done , underneath a cutout , fit to the head is spot on with no filler needed at all .



Helmet

Again we are treated to a well sculpted piece of resin depicting a helmet with the net over it, I suggest drybrushing the net to bring out the actual cording, fit to the bergan is with a small piece of resin into a pre formed hole in the bergan itself



Bergan

This is the top part with just the edges of the top flap and a strap being sculpted ..why ? most of the bergan itself is hidden by the helmet being fitted , there is a cut out to take the helmet with the bergan having 2 small rounds of resin that fit well into the rear of the torso itself.




Pick handle and Air tube

Both well sculpted , the handle has the metallic top ( normally painted either black or a green to stop reflection etc , sculpted to the handle is the retaining strap , fit to the bergan is simple again by means of a cut out, in place it looks good.

The air tube itself is correctly shaped to fit easily into the corresponding holes as seen in the picture once the casting post is removed.


Base

As with previous releases a simple post type , fit to the cutout on the underside of the torso is good , I would still pin it if you choose to use it or if like me use a brass rod .


Final Thoughts

Its good to see another release from Life Miniatures , a company with such a high reputation in the hobby , presentation and sculpting is very well done and the casting leaves us with very little prep to do . A good choice of subject and a wonderful tribute to all those that gave so much on D Day

A pleasure to recommend and a nice addition to the display cabinet


For information on this and others from LM go to the website at:

www.lifeminiatures.com

Or of course why not follow on FB

Lets have some pictures as well ...ENJOY

Thanks to LM for the review piece and to you all for looking in

Nap

 

[Geoff Charman]

Beautifully moulded as can be seen in your pics, yet another I have had my eye on, will my wants list ever get any shorter.

 

[Mike - The Kiwi]

Darn fine review Kev, like the extra details you've given here.
Looking forward to doing my version as a Kiwi LRDG Trooper in Aegean Ops.
One day...

 

[bucsfan21]

Wow, that is one awesome looking Commando. Tons of character and detail! Definitely one to add to the gray army!
I must say Life Miniatures is turning out some excellent kits. Super job on the painting as well! All in all, Fantastic!
Thanks for sharing!

Terry Martin-Atlanta Miniature Figure Society

 

[Bootneck]

Bought this bust at the recent ipms show in Huddersfield & agree with Nap, it's a superbly cast crisp bust worthy of Life Miniatures.

Thanks for a great review Nap.
Peter.

 

[swralph]

Thanks for another great review Nap.

 

[foxyboy]

Anyone got any tips on how to do the writing on the shoulder flash?

 

[Joe55]

I'm not one that needs to be sold on Life Miniatures, their products are top notch. Its purely a matter for me of selecting a subject and the amount of pesos I've got burning a hole in my Levi's.

Nonetheless your reviews are always appreciated what with the background info, the parts breakdown, and the painted figure/bust in different views, one can't go wrong.

Thanks Kevin!

Joe

 

[storm_zh]

Thanks for the great review!