We do some odd stuff – along with the flying Victorian battleships, if you haven’t found it yet, there’s a hamster with an assault rifle on our website.
So this next item should be relatively normal – after all, it’s at least based on something historical ! In 1914, the Belgian Boy Scouts aided the army in their defence against the German invaders by acting in some cases as couriers, running messages between units. So Phil has commissioned Martin Baker to sculpt us a set of three scouts to go along with our Great War Belgians. One has a messenger bag over his shoulder, while another, obviously older from his greater height, has clearly gained his proficiency bag in Bagging the Hun and carries a Lee-Enfield rifle. The third, probably the youngest, has a knapsack on his back and seems to think he’s off on a picnic…
GW28-1150 – Boy Scouts (x3) – £3.25
*By the way – I was looking up the correct use of the famous Boy Scout phrase ‘Dib-Dib-Dib – Dob-Dob-Dob’ and came across an article explaining both the origin and correct spelling (or at least, one version, which seems plausible enough).
I’ve always wanted to ask, why the Great War Belgians, of all WWI forces to cast?
Originally I fancied making a 1/56th WW1 B-Type bus to release. I’d always liked the Old Bill Bus since I had the Airfix kit as a child. At the time there wasn’t one on the market in that scale. Fantastic I thought. And then Sloppy Jalopy released a rather splendid version that rather took the wind out of my sails.
So my attention turned elsewhere, towards Belgium – obviously. The main forces on the Western Front of 1914 were well represented by other manufacturers. I didn’t see the point in trying to force more British, French or German figures onto the market. That left Belgium. Probably the most iconic and published picture of Belgian troops of the war is of a column of Carabiniers marching with their dog carts. Once I’d seen that I was hooked.
There is also something rather heroic about an army marching to war with infantry wearing top hats and cavalry in green jackets and red trousers. Marching to a war they know that they can’t win.
Still want to make a bus though.
Pingback: Brigade Models – 28mm Releases | The Wargames Website
Also, the enterprising young chap carrying the Lee Enfield is based on a photo of a scout walking alongside some British cavalry. To go with his rifle he also has a cavalry ammunition bandolier. One can only hope that for his sake the Hun never caught up with him……