1:35 British Tommy

The British infantryman known as Tommy in 1:35 scale

British infantry is less well represented among modeling products than German, so every good figure counts. The resin casting captures a single soldier in 1:35 scale and arrives unpainted, without a base. The brand offers the same subject in 1:48 and 1:72 as well.

Where the nickname came from

Tommy is short for Tommy Atkins, the name used in the British army from the nineteenth century for a specimen completed form and later for every enlisted soldier. The nickname took root in the First World War and held on into the second, when the infantry wore battledress: a short blouse jacket, trousers with a large thigh pocket and the broad-brimmed helmet. The British also kept soldiers from the whole Commonwealth under arms, so the same uniform turned up from Normandy to Burma.

Painting khaki

British khaki pulls more toward brown than American olive drab, so start from a muted brown-green tone and add a lighter shade to the shoulders and the ridges of the folds. The straps of the webbing were blancoed and in the field went gray toward beige. First free the casting of mold release agent, cut off the casting remains and spray on a primer, and only then build up the individual shades.

What scenes it belongs in

• With British vehicles in 1:35 scale
• In scenes from western Europe and North Africa
• For collectors of Allied figures
• For modelers who want supporting infantry beside a tank