Unboxing and assembling Plastic Bolt Action BRITS!

Hi all,

Today I am going to go throught the unboxing and assembly of the Bolt Action Plastic British Figures.

British Plastic Boxed Set

The box comes with 25 plastic soldiers on 5 Sprue, and Weapons on 3 Sprue.  As an added bonus you also get shoulder markings of waterslide decals!  This of course creates a problem for me, for now I have to research the rank structure of Brits in WWII to make sure I have the proper chevrons on the rightful shoulder!

Each sprue comes with 8 heads, for 5 bodies.  Good variety there.  The only thing that I noticed was that there wasn't an obvious "Officer" head like in the German Box set.  I am of the opinion that purchasing the British command section will be vital for anyone starting a Standard British Force.

Additionally you get 3 sprue of weapons that offer a good number of weapon options to build a well rounded force.

This is the list I am assembling for 1000 points and the products I am using to assemble it!

138 (V) Captain +1 Man

030 (V) Medic

065 (V) Sniper

075 (R) 6Pdr Gun

187 (V) M5A1 Stuart + HMG

084 (V) Universal Carrier

084 (V) Universal Carrier 

086 (R) Infantry x8 +SMGx2
073 (R) Infantry x5 +BREN+SMG
086 (R) Infantry x8 +SMGx2
070 (R) Infantry x5 +BREN
020 (R) FAO+2

I am using the Brit Command Blister to supply the miniatures for the Captain +1, the Medic, and one of the FAO men.  10.00 USD

I am using the Bitish Boxed Set to build my two BREN sections, plus my two Rifle Sections.
                  36.00 USD

I am using the UC Boxed Set for my two UCs
                  38.00

I am using the  M5A1 Stuart for the tank.
                  29.00

I am using the British Sprue for the Sniper team, the FAO +1, and one man for one of my rifle sections.  (There are enough weapons left over from the 25 man box that I do not need to buy a weapons sprue also.)
                    8.00

Finally I am also using the 6pdr model.
                 19.25

This is a full, well rounded 1000 point army for the British with plenty of vehicles for that WOW factor all for 140.25 USD!

If you wanted to save even more money, just cut out the vehicles and add more infantry.  There is 67.00 USD in vehicle, yet only 355 points tied up in them.  You could take two more full sections of infantry and another officer or some PIATS if you wanted to (included in the sprue boxed set) for just 36.00 USD for a second plastic infantry boxed set!

That would be 1000 points for 109.25 USD and with free shipping worldwide (for being over 75.00 USD) from the Warlord Games website, your price doesn't go up!

Now for assembly, this is my way.

TOOLS
Nippers (the little baby wire cutters.  I use these to cut the plastics free from the sprue, because twisting them free can damage or break the little bits.)
Xacto knife (to trim up the components before assembly)
Loctite Super Glue because other stuff is not as good!
Tweezers (some parts not even suart little could put in place!)
Patience - unless you like gluing yourself to....yourself
Foam-  I use this to wipe off the excess glue if I get a little to liberal with it.  As I often do!  All of my foam pieces are saved from Flames of War Blisters, just so you know what I am using exactly!

I first cut away whatever section I am going to create from the sprue.  Every torso and base to start with.

I then glue all torsos to their bases.

Next I cut all of the weapons from the sprue and lay them each in front of one torso.  I also then Identify the corresponding arms for each weapon and lay them in front of each torso.

I then glue all of the weapons to their respective Right arms.  (Everyone in bolt action is right handed I guess!)

By the time I have finished gluing the last of the guns to their arms, the first one is dry enough to glue to its torso.  I then go down the line and glue all right arms, weapons in hand to their torsos.

Finally I glue the left arms in place so as to create a believable position for a soldier to be in.  This can take some manipulation on some of the miniatures, but with luck nothing has broken while I have made my final "adjustments"!

Now I break out enough heads for the section and clean them up.  As I trim them I pick the face for my NCO.  I put that one on the guy holding the SMG (I always seem to have an SMG in a section ;) )  The rest of the heads I just put on at random.  I try not to plan what they will look like too much.  Finally I put their helmets on, and they are ready for the field!

Well that is except they still need their ruck sacks, teacups, and shovels.

Here they are complete!

And now Primed and ready to begin painting!

Yes I use P3 BLACK PRIMER, I tried the P3 WHITE PRIMER on my Americans and Germans, but did not find any benefit to the white.  I actually had to work harder to cover the white primer rather than the black primer.

That is all for now,

-PPS