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Post by tradgardmastre on Aug 20, 2019 12:06:54 GMT
I am looking for ideas about how to convert figures into ww2 Danish Infantry either in greatcoats or not. Can you help?
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Post by leswhite on Aug 20, 2019 18:33:45 GMT
You certainly like to give yourself some odd projects 
The problem with the Danish is the shape of the steel helmet, which was unique, so it will need to be converted from something else. Possibly a US Army M1 helmet with extensions to the sides or maybe a WW2 Russian one.
The greatcoat should be workable using either AIP FFL or DEETAIL FFL as a starting point, if this illustration is accurate. 
You would need to alter slightly the flow of the front of the coat and add the cuffs to the trousers but it would be pretty close. Obviously a head swap would be required too. Maybe add/remove some equipment depending on how accurate you want to be.
Here is an infantryman with a Madsen Gun in the summer uniform from 1940.
This illustration clearly shows the shape of the 1923 helmet and how much the sides stick out. The uniform however is pretty much the same as the AIP BOER WAR BRITISH, so this might be a good starting point with converted cuffed trousers
This photo shows the standard rifleman, note the lack of equipment and the number of buttons on the jacket front. So any basic WW2 army man might work with bloused trousers re-trimmed to cuffed ones. An AIRFIX figure of some kind, a British Paratrooper maybe with a new head ?
Figures in greatcoats are few and far between so may give you more problems however some of the WW2 Russians by ITALERI and SUPREME might be useful with head swaps. |
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Post by tradgardmastre on Aug 20, 2019 20:53:02 GMT
Lots of great suggestions and much to think about,thanks. The illustration is accurate l believe.
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Post by leswhite on Aug 21, 2019 11:32:47 GMT
I wasn't certain the illustration with the greatcoat guys was accurate as they all seem to be left handed but their equipment is in the right place.
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Post by leswhite on Aug 21, 2019 19:14:15 GMT
Have you seen the Danish movie 'April 9th' ? Is this where you got your idea for a game ? I just found this clip on Youtube uk.video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=AwrJ5sxElF1dW90AOMdNBQx.?p=9th+april+1940+movie+english+subtitles&fr=yfp-t&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Ai%2Cm%3Apivot#id=1&vid=7282645a66a39d8c6a9b839604dfd4c5&action=viewLooks pretty exciting and accurate. Anybody seen the movie or found it on DVD with English subtitles ? Just looking at this clip I would go with greatcoat figures only for the Danes using the ITALERI and SUPREME WW2 Russians as the basis. Between the sets there should be enough poses to create an infantry section or two and have a converted Madsen gun crew. Bicycle and Motorcycle mounted troops are another problem however and I'm not sure you want to go down that road ! The SUPREME WW2 Russians are made in a softer PVC type plastic so lend themselves better to converting but are more difficult to track down over here. The scale of the figures are quite compatible with AIRFIX,MATCHBOX, MARX, etc should you want them to match up with an opposing German force. |
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Post by tradgardmastre on Aug 22, 2019 6:34:03 GMT
I have seen the film on Netflix or Amazon Prime and it was an excellent watch. It is indeed the inspiration for my figure conversion question. I will see what l can find in the way of figures you mention and take it from here...
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Post by leswhite on Aug 22, 2019 10:25:06 GMT
Here is the information on the SUPREME figures, so you can see what they look like and the poses. Only half are in greatcoats but still a higher number than any other sets out there. ww2pts.blogspot.com/2012/10/supreme-playsets-toy-soldiers.htmlIf you look at the shape of their helmets you will notice that they would not need much work to create the unique Danish shape. The non-greatcoat poses could be used as Russians of course but also might be practical as Finnish troops since you like unusual conflicts . If you could find a couple of bags of the Supreme figures it would give you some more options for converting as the greatcoat poses could probably be halved to swap torsos with non-coat poses for better variety or to at insure all your troops have helmets. There are greatcoat poses within the ITALERI Russian AT gun and German AT gun sets plus two Germans with greatcoats in the Elite Infantry set which could be converted to Danes too. Check out all the variety of poses on the Blog site linked here. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with. |
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Post by leswhite on Aug 30, 2019 19:56:24 GMT
Just found this pdf which should be of interest. www.chakoten.dk/The%20Danish%20Army%20on%20April%209th,%201940_complete.pdf It appears to be a complete list of all the Danish forces fielded on April 9th 1940, so ideal if you want to re-enact the battle in a game. Plenty of illustrations and photos too! |
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Post by leswhite on Oct 9, 2019 21:27:30 GMT
Tradgardemastre,
I took on your challenge and came up with this. It's just a first effort and isn't 100% accurate but I think it has the correct 'look'. The helmet was the worse part as it became quite fiddly to get the overall shape close to the real thing from every angle
I used an AIP French Foreign Legion figure as the basis and just added a little putty to extend the front of the coat and collar and add the gas mask container. The head was a Deetail US Army one with side extensions to get the unique shape of the Danish helmet. Here is the before and after pic. 
To make a unit of these would require a small mould to be made of the head as it would be time consuming to make a new head for each figure and keep a consistent shape.
I'm nearly finished a second figure using a Deetail/DGS French Foreign Legion figure as the basis, he is taking more putty because of the more active pose. I'll take a pic when he is finished. Also looking at how to make a Madsen gun with crew and a bicycle !!!
I watched the film and really enjoyed the action sequences and took note of the accurate Danish kit.
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Post by stuparkin on Oct 9, 2019 22:39:35 GMT
Lovely conversion Les, certainly looks the part!
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Post by tradgardmastre on Oct 11, 2019 7:11:17 GMT
What a splendid job you have done, terrific.
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Post by manoftinblog on Oct 18, 2019 12:19:12 GMT
The April 9th film is out on DVD.
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Post by leswhite on Oct 20, 2019 13:19:41 GMT
manoftinblog, I picked up the DVD from Ebay someone was selling it off at a reasonable price I've watched the action sequences a few times now and worked out my ideas for a squad for a game. I don't see a problem with the German side as there have been plenty of figures made by many manufacturers. I just watched the movie 'The Kings Choice' which covers the invasion of Norway in case there were some similar action sequences but sadly . although an excellent movie, doesn't have much to game although a bit of extra research could come up with same action. You would need a squad of Norwegians , of course, but the same Germans could be used as the opponents. |
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Post by tradgardmastre on Oct 20, 2019 13:30:21 GMT
Currently watching The King’s Choice too and really enjoying it. The 9th April does indeed have some great gaming potentially.
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Post by leswhite on Oct 20, 2019 13:40:44 GMT
I've just watched 'Operation Amsterdam' and think it too has some potential for gaming. Has a group of British Military and a Diamond expert trying to persuade the Dutch to send all there industrial diamonds to London so that the Germans don't get there hands on them.
The main military units highlighted are uniformed Dutch Infantry, some are 5th Column and some resistance, although the movie is in Black and White they do mention that the different units have different coloured collar patches so you would only need two units of the same figures painted differently to have both sides of the conflict.
The usual problem applies of course, no one makes WW2 Dutch Infantry in 54mm plastic. Any ideas ?
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