Spring Clean Challenge: Developing WWII infantry for 3D printing

After finishing my clean up of the model I wanted to check it against some reference material. After a couple of searches on St Nazaire and British Commandos in general I pulled up some historical images. The first thing I noticed from photos taken at the time, was that the Commandos rarely seemed to have helmets on. Most of the images portrayed them in woollen beanie hats or berets. 

This look was far more in keeping with the image of SSB troops that I had in my mind. I was tempted to go with berets but these seemed more for parade than operational use. In the end I modelled a woollen hat on my soldier using the reference images shown. It’s pretty basic but does the job of giving him a more elite appearance compared to the tin helmet worn by the infantryman.

I also played around with attaching the helmet to the pack. Although this wasn’t obvious from the images it offered me another detail option for the models.

My other concern was what weaponry would be appropriate as Rifles aren’t really in keeping with the mobile nature of commando raiding parties. The Wiki page for St Nazaire references that the men responsible for laying charges on key targets of the port would be armed with only pistols. They would be accompanied by units armed with Thomson or Browning Submachine guns who’s job it was to escort and cover them. 

The compact nature of submachine guns would no doubt make life easier at the printing stage. Long, narrow rifle barrels would require support structures to print and were likely to snap when removing said support structure from the printed model. 

My model only came with a rifle but the British Officer, available from the same supplier came with an M1A1 Thomson Submachine Gun, exactly what I needed.

I had intended to download this model at some point as it would give me the option of making a distinct Command unit. This is of course a staple for any Wargame.

Next stop Turbosquid.