Warlord Games Bolt Action Commandos

World War Two is a favourite period of mine, and has been since childhood.  1/72 is still my preferred scale, but the Bolt Action 28mm range were just too good not to try.  I purchased the commandos, and initially built a batch with camo helmets and all the gear, but they didn't look right (to me).  So, going back to my roots, I examined the Airfix 1/72 commandos and immediately realised what they needed - cap comforters and blackened faces!

Much more menacing...

As with all my Bolt Action minis, they're first stuck to the 25mm round bases provided, then 'boosted' with 3mm foamboard.  This makes them easier to handle, and less likely to encourage being picked up by physically touching the miniature.  As an added bonus, this makes them look more in scale with the 1/48 vehicles I use with them.

Sten guns are the classic commando weapon, but for variety this unit includes a Bren gunner, and this grenade-lobbing chap with a Lee-Enfield.  The rifle looks a little underscale (next to the 'heroically' proportioned Tommies), but the Brens and Stens look spot-on to me.

The cap-comforters were sculpted using green stuff, and is easy to do.  Step one, mould a blob of gree nstuff over the head to roughly resemble an onion-seller's beret.  Next, push up the sides and flatten them to look more like a kitchen assistant's hat.  Finally, form a 'ledge' around two-thirds up the side, going all the way round (to represent where the cap is rolled up) and press the tip of your craft knife into it (vertically) every half millimetre or so.  The ridges produced in the last stage don't show up brilliantly in these small pictures, but they look good close up.

The Lee Enfield looks less underscale on the this chap (left).

The shoulder markings are a very basic 'swoosh' of dark red.  This keeps them nice and generic, whilst giving an indication that they do belong to a regiment of some sort.