US Marine, 1945

[ANDREA EUROPE]

US Marine, 1945 by Purple Heart
PH16-F001
1:16 SCALE
https://www.andreaeurope.com/…/ph16-f001-us-marine-1945-116…
PH35-F001
1:35 SCALE
https://www.andreaeurope.com/…/ph35-f001-us-marine-1945-135…
PH48-F001
1:48 SCALE
https://www.andreaeurope.com/…/ph48-f001-us-marine-1945-148…
PH72-F001
1:72 SCALE
https://www.andreaeurope.com/…/ph72-f001-us-marine-1945-172…
Scenic Base and 2 heads Included
Ready to assemble cast resin and metal kit.
Ultrarealistic figure

3D RENDER (Painted figure coming soon)

 

[Blind Pew]

This is breathtaking!

That 'single colour' olive drab is tricky to paint well

Shame it is as expensive as it is good.

 

[Sergei]

Why does he have two helmets?

 

[JasonB]

USMC figures are one of my favorite subjects, and this one looks appealing, but I also wonder about the 2 helmets and weapons. I wonder if there is a historical reference (I have never seen this particular subject myself)? Carrying 2 American helmets and weapons implies a dead or wounded buddy, making the smile a bit...incongruous? I honestly hope there is a historical basis for the pose, otherwise I have to wonder what they were thinking. "Hey, how about he carry 2 rifles and 2 helmets for...reasons".
Or I guess since there are 2 heads included, the other one not shown is bare, and the helmet on the belt is optional?

 

[Zastrow.cuirassier]

There's an original photo, used by Andrea.

 

[JasonB]

Very interesting. I can't see 2 weapons in the photo, but it is small. And that is a new one on me. Thanks!

Found him, bigger size. The discussion that goes along with this link is interesting, and may well explain the 2 "helmets". Its possible that he is wearing a camo helmet cover over his helmet liner, or even soft cap, and his actual steel pot is the one hanging on his suspenders.

 

[Zastrow.cuirassier]

The challenge will be to find this picture in full and especially to understand what may seem incongruous!

 

[Zastrow.cuirassier]

Regarding the two weapons, perhaps a first explanation:
One is a submachine gun, collective weapons, the second weapon is a PM, individual staffing weapon.
It has always been very common, (it even becomes a clasique with the special forces) to carry an individual long gun and a collective weapon.
Or simply, he carries the collective weapon / or the PM, to relieve the true holder.

 

[JasonB]

Regarding the two weapons, perhaps a first explanation:
One is a submachine gun, collective weapons, the second weapon is a PM, individual staffing weapon.
It has always been very common, (it even becomes a clasique with the special forces) to carry an individual long gun and a collective weapon.
Or simply, he carries the collective weapon / or the PM, to relieve the true holder.

Regarding Marines in WWII, it would be unusual for them to carry more than one weapon. Machine gun sections, mortar sections and the like ("weapons company") might carry their personal weapon and perhaps a mortar tube or even a 30 caliber MG, but the usual rifle company grunt would carry only his own. I'm thinking this is a case of a BAR gunner perhaps finding himself a Thompson and deciding to hold on to it. But his lack of ammo for it might suggest he's holding it for someone else. Usually the BAR gunners in a squad would get assistance from other grunts carrying ammo for the BAR. The BAR is a heavy weight, the gun itself weighing in at about 20 pounds, and each loaded magazine weighing about 1.5 pounds. He would be carrying nearly 18 pounds of ammo on his belt.

 

[Zastrow.cuirassier]

Regarding Marines in WWII, it would be unusual for them to carry more than one weapon. Machine gun sections, mortar sections and the like ("weapons company") might carry their personal weapon and perhaps a mortar tube or even a 30 caliber MG, but the usual rifle company grunt would carry only his own. I'm thinking this is a case of a BAR gunner perhaps finding himself a Thompson and deciding to hold on to it. But his lack of ammo for it might suggest he's holding it for someone else. Usually the BAR gunner in a squad would get assistance from other grunts carrying ammo for the BAR. The BAR is a heavy weight, the gun itself weighing in at about 20 pounds, and each loaded magazine weighing about 1.5 pounds. He would be carrying nearly 18 pounds of ammo on his belt.

Think you right.
Just for information, i know a lot of people how are or were in the 1er RPIMA (French SAS) Their equipment is often very heavy, a MG minimi, an HK machine gun, a Glock / Sig sauer , grenades (4/6), bulletproof vest class 4, helmet, backpack of 45/60 Kilograms and ammunition depending on the mission.....
some told me about 10-day mission in Afghanistan with this equipment!

 

[khollar]

Personally, I’m thrilled to see this first figure in Andrea’s Purple Heart Series.

Martin nailed it - thank goodness it’s not another Nazi!

Looking forward to seeing more from this series.

Cheers,
Kurt

 

[JasonB]

What to say about the discussion so far? I expected now everybody going crazy for "Purple Heart Series" - not another Nazi - maybe suggesting other subjects never done before like a British Para at Arnhem etc, but not all this fuzz about weapons etc. It seems to me quite easy to convert the kit by leaving off the helmet and secondary weapon. The figure looks very realistic and is based on a historical reference. Where are the praises and must-buy-comments? It seems that just Germans sell...

You are right, Germans sell, everything else almost constitutes a niche interest. Sorry to offend you by talking about the finer points of the figure, but most know by now that I'm not a "just paint it" guy and value accuracy as much as subject, and having been a US Marine myself, its that much more important to me in this case.

 

[Noel Walker]

I don't think it is two helmets, instead it is a camo cover over his fatigue hat.

 

[clrsgt]

I like this one. Looks to me like he is carrying a Thompson submachine gun and a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) and I agree that he is wearing a camouflage helmet cover on top of his fatigue cap.

 

[Martin64]

You are right, Germans sell, everything else almost constitutes a niche interest. Sorry to offend you by talking about the finer points of the figure, but most know by now that I'm not a "just paint it" guy and value accuracy as much as subject, and having been a US Marine myself, its that much more important to me in this case.

Fair enough and I am not offended at all - but I am just surprised that the obvious qualities of the figure were next to ignored and corrections/conversions about the weapons and helmet seem to be an easy job IMHO.
Given that he is wearing just another helmet cover on top of his fatigue cap he fixed that with a helmet strap - but I think that the helmet straps are possibly connected to the smaller inner light weight helmet hidden by a fairly large helmet cover...

Cheers, Martin

 

[JasonB]

Good eye, I missed the strap. If Andrea has portrayed it correctly, its very likely that it is the strap for the helmet liner. Whenever you see a marine with a helmet on and his chin strap hanging loosely, you will usually notice a thinner strap going up over the front brim of the helmet and cover. Thats the strap for the helmet liner, and it appears in this case its the one he has strapped on.

 

[Kandor8]

An illustration based on the photo shown in an earlier post was included in the book "Naval, Marine and Air Force Uniforms of World War 2" from 1976. Illustration by Malcolm McGregor Text by Andrew Mollo. I think the 1/16 scale is mispriced on the USA site, the European site lists the price as 60 euros for the kit so why is it listed for $360 on the USA site?

 

[ANDREA EUROPE]

We corrected the price on the USA site.

 

[Ned Ricks]

This excellently sculpted figure appears to be, primarily, a BAR gunner given the ammo pouches on his belt. Perhaps he is carrying gear from a medically evacuated buddy. The stretcher bearers wouldn't want the extra weight of SMG and helmet -- a guess or opinion only.
Collectively, we could speculate enough to write the screenplay for the movie based upon the figure...

 

[Kandor8]

It's just a great looking figure. I'm a huge admirer of the USMC and my dad was a BAR gunner in Korea so I'm really psyched.