HMGs

A few months ago I started searching for 54mm World War 1 Machine guns for my British and German armies. In fact, it has literally been a year since I stated as much in this blogpost. In all this time, all that I have managed to find has been expensive collectors toys, many of which are out of production. So I bit the bullet and wrote to Irregular Miniatures, asking Ian Kay if he would be prepared to sculpt some HMGs for his 54mm range. He thought it was a good idea, how many did I want? The answer was 4 - 2 of each, which is hardly ground-shaking stuff in terms of an incentive to do some sculpting. I asked around of Facebook but aside from some thumbs up and a couple of comments, no-one seemed prepared to commit to buying any.
I gave it up. I was going to have to buy something incredibly expensive. And then I got an e-mail from Ian saying that he had a window and was I still interested? Was I! Needless to say he has finished the HMG sculpts, they have winged their way halfway around the world and the first two examples have been painted. I sent Ian the pictures for his website as the least that I could do.

So, without much further ado, here they are:

Vickers HMG. The figures have optional heads, so that they can be early or late war.

As a result I may yet get out some green stuff and sculpt a gas mask bag to sit on their chests.

The German Maxim '08. I love the stand on this weapon.

Again, the cuffs suit early war better, so I haven't painted the detail on them.

The HMG next to Armies in Plastic figure. The AIP are a bit bigger, especially in the head

A second picture with the AIP figure brought forward, and the difference still doesn't seem too great at all.

So I am one happy little digger with my new support weapons for the Great War. I've built these guys a sandbagged defence, and I'm just deciding whether to attach them in it permanently, and if not, exactly how I'll go about basing, as they are not fantastically stable by themselves. I'll work on that this weekend.

A big thanks to Ian Kay for doing this, and I've nominated him for best customer service in the Wargames Illustrated awards. Hopefully he gets the votes that he deserves!

Nate