RN Officers in Oilskins, FAA Pilots, RAF Airmen & NCO Pilot (All Early War)

Gunthwaite Miniatures, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Mark Davies

HyperScale is proudly sponsored by Squadron.com

 
Gunthwaite Miniatures is a new company to me, and I suspect will be so for many of HyperScale’s readers. Much of the information provided with this review is derived from the information pack supplied by Gunthwaite along with their product samples. The opinions expressed here will obviously be mine however.
 
Gunthwaite Miniatures advises that it was created to produce 1/72nd scale military miniatures for collectors, diorama builders and modellers generally. They are literally a cottage business whose main interest arises from modelling as opposed to producing, marketing or selling. I must say this seems a surprising claim for a business, but I think that their sentiment is clear - They are driven by a passion to realise their subjects in modelled form ahead of purely commercial considerations.  Consequently, they do not sell direct although the Gunthwaite Miniatures website provides details of stockists.
 
Gunthwaite Miniatures has this to say regarding their aim:
 
“The original intention was that we should attempt to fill a gap in the market by producing 1/72-scale figures of naval personnel to accompany Fleet Air Arm aircraft models.  More by accident than design, the emphasis of our first releases was British and Commonwealth sailors more generally.  However, the figures may also be used with 1/72-scale naval aircraft and also kits of Royal Navy and Commonwealth vessels in 1/72-scale such as those produced by Airfix and Revell.  The range will expand to cover airmen and soldiers and there is likely to be the occasional foray into other periods and into scales other than 1/72nd.”
 
It seems to me that the one true scale of 1/72nd, despite having by far the largest range of aircraft kits, suffers in comparison to heretic scales like 1/48th and 1/32nd for figures to accompany aircraft models. Of course I may be wrong (No, not about the one true scale) regarding a lack of 1/72nd figures, but new releases of figures for vignettes and dioramas are welcome regardless. Of course some of the figures are intended for 1/72-scale naval craft, which has a far more limited following than 1/72-scale aircraft. I am sure modellers of this persuasion will be doubly pleased to have some new figures available.

                                    
 
The figures come in a pack of three contained within a zip-lock plastic bag stapled to a simple Branded card header detailing the contents. The figures themselves are cast in white metal with only a little cleaning up of the castings required. Gunthwaite’s accompanying literature does advise that excessive magnification is unflattering. This is a point I would have to agree with based on the company’s own images used with this article.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 

Thumbnail panels:

To be fair, the actual figures look good to my unaided middle-aged eyes, and I think that prospective purchasers should not be too put off by the exaggerated appearance of some of the figure’s faces in the enlarged images. This said, I think Gunthwaite should also keep practicing at mastering heads before they leave modellers with the impression that all British naval servicemen had faces only their mothers could love!
 
Gunthwaite’s commitment to the hobby and their customer base is apparent from some of the features that their website has to help with finishing their figures. These include:

• Painting guides covering details of the uniforms worn by their figures.

• A downloadable PDF of scale rank insignia to enable modellers to print their own decals for use with the figures.

• General painting and finishing tips.

The figures reviewed here are Gunthwaite’s fourth release.  They continue the theme of British and Commonwealth sailors but also add the first airmen within the range.
 
The set comprising naval officers in oilskin suits (GM72-018) will be suitable for coastal forces, including the Airfix Vosper and the new 1/72-scale multi-media Vosper kits by Coastal Craft.  The figures are loosely based on Lieutenant Commander Robert Hitchens who was the most decorated RNVR officer in WW2 (although "Hitch" was skipper of a MGB flotilla as opposed to an MTB such as the Airfix Vosper). 
 
The Fleet Air Arm pilots (GM72-019) are kitted out in pre-WW2 flying gear equally suitable for the early WW2 period. They would be suitable to stand alongside maybe a Swordfish, Sea Gladiator, Skua or Fulmar.
 
The Royal Navy did not gain control of the Fleet Air Arm until 1937 and for a period after this the Navy was reliant on the RAF for the maintenance of fleet aircraft.  Consequently, RAF personnel served on aircraft carriers in the early years of WW2 and often appear on photographs of carrier decks.  One set of air force personnel (GM72-021), includes three airmen that would not be out of place on an aircraft carrier in the early period of WW2. They could also crew the Airfix RAF (HSL) Rescue Launch. 
 
The other set of air force figures (GM72-020), includes a NCO pilot in early war flying gear, typical of the Battle of Britain period.  The set also includes two airmen or NCO’s.
 
A few funny faces aside, the figures have good detail to their uniforms and display convincingly natural poses. One or two have slightly unusual proportions, but these do no lie outside what would be considered the normal range for Europeans. However, I cannot help but sense that the passion of those mastering the figures lies as at least as much with getting details of uniform correct as it does with anatomical realism. I think a bit more of the latter would help to widen the appeal of these figures.
 
After writing the above I found the following comments on Gunthwaite’s website regarding the sizing of figures:
 
“Figures are typically 24 mm in height which corresponds to a person about 5' 8" tall (1.73 m) in 1/72-scale. To date (up to release 4), figures have been modelled from a common dolly armature and therefore they have all been roughly the same height.  That of course does not reflect reality and one comment on our first release of figures was that they did not reflect the fact that sailors were often smaller in stature than soldiers or airmen. New figures (which have yet to be released) respond to this comment and there will be a greater variety in the height of figures.  Some new figures will be taller and others shorter, but obviously all within realistic bounds.”

These new figure sets are most welcome for those who want 1/72-scale figures to accompany their models of early WW2 Fleet Air Arm or RAF aircraft, or to crew patrol craft. No doubt they will also appeal to collectors of figures in this scale as well.
 
Under normal viewing conditions the figures should look very good and bring life to vignettes and dioramas. But upon magnified close inspection it is apparent that some of the figures fell out of the ugly tree. Whilst this should not deter prospective purchasers too much, I do feel that Gunthwaite should perhaps use the faces from some of their less cartoon-like heads more frequently, rather than try to make every figure have a different appearance.
 
Gunthwaite Miniatures are clearly dedicated to their niche market, carry our good research, and provide some very helpful features via their website like downloadable rank insignia. I encourage 1/72-scale modellers to consider using this figure range to add interest and bring life to their aircraft and patrol craft models.

Thanks to Gunthwaite Miniatures for the review samples.

Review Text Copyright © 2012 by Mark Davies
Page Created 30 July, 2012
Last updated 30 July, 2012

Back to HyperScale Main Page