Verlinden Productions
727

This is one of VP's distinctive resin figure sets dating back at least to the early 1990s. But with the sudden popularity of melton-clad winter GI figures (thanks largely to "Band of Brothers") it's worth looking at. Actually, this is one of the first VP figure sets I bought in the early 90s, and it's long occupied shelf space because I didn't have a diorama idea or companion figures to incorporate with it. I was heartened some years later when Yanks Miniatures produced a trio of "melton men" warming their hands over a fire in a fuel drum. But still the poses of the figures were too static to inspire a use for them.

Now, however, there are plenty of Joes to join the party. Yanks offered several other winter figures before that older incarnation of the company went to the Great Hobby Store in the Sky. MK35 has a number of single figures, and both they and Nemrod offer seated soldiers wearing meltons. One of the VP figures was pirated by SOL with a change in the soldier's right arm and is included in a set with three German prisoners. And now even Tamiya and DML have been caught up in the fashion show, producing plastic figures in action poses.

As the ancestors of the bunch, the two Verlinden figures still hold their own. One relaxed figure stands with his Garand butt-down on the ground, his hand holding the muzzle. He wears one of those woolen beanies that Patton detested. His feet are shod in the short boots and canvas leggings. His companion has his Garand slung over his shoulder and wears the black rubber overshoes and M1 helmet with the earlier open style netting. The set includes the usual gamut of extras: grenades, canteens, entrenching tools and ammo bags. A sizeable strip of lead foil is also present for fashioning the rifle slings.

Faces are nicely sculpted and have somewhat of a gaunt look to them. The rest of the detailing and casting is of typical Verlinden quality.

These figures have been a consistent part of the VP catalogue so they should be easy to find if you want to create your own band of brothers.