Undead Nellie

Compared above, are the HäT War Elephant (8023), and the Splintered Light Miniatures Skeletal War Mammoth (UNDE21). The HäT elephant is an African forest elephant which ranges from 7-8 feet at the shoulder, so the size of the figure is right on. The SLM mammoth however looks stumpy and dwarfish even for 15mm. The downward curving tusks are also not very mammoth-like.

Looking at some pictures of elephant skeletons, it seemed that the SLM mammoth could easily pass for a 20mm mammoth if something could be done about its legs. A mammoth can be anywhere from 9-15 feet at the shoulder.


Elephant: Shorter legs, so the rib cage appears lower to the ground.


Mammoth: The legs are long, so the rib cage appears higher.


Using my standard technique to embiggen figures, I cut off the legs where they joined the body. I then drilled holes in the body and glued some pins in place. I compressed the tibia to lengthen the bones, and then adjusted the pins to get the height I wanted for the skeletal mammoth. Instead of my standard procedure of drilling and gluing, followed by Kneadatite, I decided to try something different to re-attach the legs to the body this time.

The drilling process on thin pieces like limbs and bones is difficult and time consuming, while the glue and Kneadatite join is only just adequate. What I decided to do this time, was to join the parts with solder. It took a few attempts to get the soldering just right, but it turned out quite well I think.



I believe that part of the secret is that the two ends you are joining should be hot, though you have to be careful about melting your miniature. When the metal is cold, the solder just beads up, and will often just roll away. Solder seems to leave a solid join that does not have the slight flex of a Kneadatite join, so I like it a lot better. I'll finish by building up the bones with Kneadatite.

In addition, the SLM mammoth comes with a choice of three different heads, so I'm going to drill out the neck and install some rare earth magnets to allow swapping out the skull whenever I want a new look for the mammoth.

Gasmask Couture

The chemical suit and gas mask are an indispensable part of the post-apocalyptic wardrobe, designed to provide protection against contamination by radioactive, biological or chemical substances which would otherwise cause sickness, death, or turning into a zombie.

There are not a large number of gas mask wearing figures in 1/72, but I've assembled a small group of compatible figures for this blog entry.

First up are the Elhiem Soviet NBC troops. The first figure carrying the RPG is wearing the OZK chemical suit, but the others are dressed in what appears to be the L1 chemical protection suit. I painted some of the troops in mint green as shown on the Elhiem website, but after doing a little research, I could only find images of the OZK suit in that color. All the images of L1 suits showed that they are gray. Though there was mention of green L1 suits, what type of green was unclear since I could find no definitive pictures. The figures are very nice, but being 20mm miniatures they are a bit on the short side. However, it's not something that will really be noticed on the tabletop.


Next is a general comparison of gas masked figures. The first figure is Rose from Hasslefree Miniatures (HFA039J). She is intended as a 28mm grade school kid, but passes easily for a 1/72 middle school kid. She wears a school blazer and skirt with her gas mask, though it's unclear why she has the gas mask in the first place. The next pair are two figures from the NATO Pilots and Ground Crew set (ESCI 243), followed by two figures from the NATO Ground Crew set (Airfix 01758). One of the Elhiem figures is next, and last is a 1/76 figure from the much maligned (and rightfully so) German Infantry with Gasmasks set (Fujimi 76028). The plastic figure sets have all been reviewed at PSR.


Some interesting pictures of people in gas masks during the cold war and in general, can be found at Dark Roasted Blend.

Tokubetsu Kougekiki

Indoctrination, propaganda, and fanaticism paved the way for gyokusai (玉砕) - a term derived from an old Chinese aphorism that went along the lines of it being better to die as a shattered jewel, than to live as an intact tile. Kamikaze Images is a good resource for more information on this topic, particularly from the Japanese viewpoint.

As the war situation became more desperate for Japan, this type of thinking lead to the development of a number of special attack (tokko) weapons to carry out suicide missions. The majority of them were not used, and of the ones that were, most were militarily ineffective. The Special Attack Weapons (特別攻撃機) set produced by Boford Japan, was released back in the middle of 2007, and replicates some of these tokko weapons in 1/72 scale.


Nakajima Ki-115 Tsurugi (Toko1)


Comments: Plastic parts. The wings look undersized, and are about a scale foot too short.

Nakajima Kikka (Toko2)


Comments: I'm still kicking myself for not getting the MPM Kikka while it was still in productions, so I don't have anything to compare the size of this version with. The body is made of plastic, with an overscale copper aerial. It may be a bit too long. The wings also look undersized, and it has ugly giant hinges protruding from the wing surfaces. The model comes with a detachable bomb, and working landing gear in the wings, but not for the nose. There are no bays for the wheels to retract into, so they protrude from the underside of the aircraft.

Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka (Toko3)


Comments: Plastic body. Comes with model of engine. Thick, ugly overscaled sights. Scales out very nicely.

Kaiten Type 1 (Toko4)


Comments: Comes in two pieces. The forward section is diecast metal, while the rear portion is plastic. The model was put together so that the rotation of the rear section is a bit off. It is overscale by about a foot, and noticably longer than the Fine Molds Kaiten.


Kaiten Type 4 (Toko5)


Comments: Comes in two pieces. The forward section is diecast metal, while the rear portion is plastic. Possibly a couple of scale feet too short. I could not find a reference for the length.

Kaiten Type 10 and Type 92 Torpedo (Toko6)


Comments: The forward section is diecast metal, while the rear portion is plastic. The front of the torpedo is improperly attached so it appears bent. The torpedo does scale out nicely at about 23.5 scale feet, but I could not find a reference for the length of the Type 10.

Shinyo Type 1/Maru Ni (Toko7)


Comments: Plastic body. Comes with model of propeller. Scales out to about 15 feet long, but I could not verify if this is the correct length.

Shinyo Type 5 (Toko8)


Comments: Plastic body. Comes with model of Nambu 13mm pistol. Length scales out well, but may be a tick too wide.

There is also a secret figure which is a 54mm miniature of a fukuryu (伏龍) diver with pole mine, but the set I purchased did not come with it.

Ultimately, it's better to live as an intact jewel. 
At least one of these pilots was just 17.