Bolt Action in the Pacific

Here is my US marine medium machine gun team!

Love the look of the water cooled Browning. I read recently that although the later air cooled models were lighter to carry, many marines preferred the old water cooled version as they were more effective at continuous fire.

Very helpful against a banzai charge…

Here’s my US marine 81mm medium mortar team.

There’s a lot of footage and photos of mortar and artillery crews with their shirts off due to the intense physical exertion they performed.

So its nice to see that reflected in these sculpts, especially as my marines are set on Peleliu where the temperature could reach around 40 degrees…

This is one of many US marines squads that I have painted up.

I think the Warlord plastics are one of my favourite kits, it has some really good realistic poses and were easy to kit bash with parts from other Warlord kits.

I also love their tattered uniforms, ripped up from hitting the dirt and scrambling over coral landscapes!

An update! 

Despite the lack of posts in this project, I have been very busy with adding to my Pacific collection. I have already finished, and began adding to, the Island Assault set…

So here’s some photos of my iconic US marine transport, the LT-4 AMTRAC. I decided to magnetise the ramp so it can be lowered just because I wanted to challenge myself with tiny magnets. It needs a coat of matte varnish then it will be ready for some island hopping!

I will be updating this project more regularly now as I have plenty of photos to share of both Marine and Japanese units…

Some more progress on my Island Assault box.

Spider holes! Love these little pieces, hoping to use some fun rules for them in games.

Update!

A few photos of the Chi-Ha Type 97 tank from the Island Assault box.

I was tempted to just paint it in an olive drab green which I’ve seen on some references of these tanks.  But the Japanese camouflage scheme is very interesting and unique, and I especially wanted to include the iconic yellow stripes – so I went for it!

Instead of the usual muddy weathering, I went for a more subtle dry, dusty look.

Overall, I’m really pleased with the outcome!

Hi all,

I’ve already posted a similar post to this with my US marine flame thrower.

Nevertheless, here is a marine firing a BAR that I modelled based off the attached photograph.

Finding inspiration from wartime photographs when building figures is something I really enjoy and find helpful in trying to create unique poses.

Just wanted to show some of my Japanese infantry with flags on their rifles. They were pretty fiddly to get on but it was worth it as I absolutely love the look, especially with a bit of weathering.

Here is also some photos of my Japanese officer charging with his sword in a grubby tunic!