For the size of the nation, the importance of it to the the war in the ETO, and the part it played in the initiation of the war itself, the role of France in World War Two generally receives minimal attention, and this is also very noticeable when it comes to what is available in model kits. There are often criticisms of various aspects of Tamiya’s Military Miniatures range but one thing that frequently gets overlooked is their willingness to venture into the more obscure areas of Second World War vehicles and figures. They demonstrated this with the production of the Char B1 and the Renault UE by venturing into producing French armour, and then followed that up with this set of French Infantry.
This set comes in the usual Tamiya open ended box on three grey sprues, one containing the six figures, the other two both being the same and holding all the weapons and equipment, which may indicate a standalone set of French Equipment and Weapons somewhere down the track, as Tamiya have previously done with the U.S. and German weapons sets.
The six figures consist of an NCO ( recognisable from his leather gaiters ) and five enlisted men in poses that suggest that they are in action but not directly under fire. More a “moving forward cautiously” look. The NCO holds a pistol while four of the enlisted men are armed with the MAS 36 rifles, the last figure is prone with a Mle 1924/29 light machine gun.
While the uniforms are essentially the updated WWI uniform that the French army wore into action in 1940 these figures would also be possible in 1944 right after the Normandy landings as many FFI bought their old uniforms out of hiding and wore them untill they were re-equiped.
As far as equipment goes you get six French Adrian helmets of WWI vintage, eight MAS 36 ammo pouches, six satchels, six water bottles, a mapcase and a binoculars case.You also get two optional Kepi which anyone who has ever seen any French Foriegn Legion film will be familair with. As for weapons you get four MAS 36 rifles, two Mle 1924/29 light machine guns and a holster for the Model 1892 revolver held in the NCO’s hand.
This is a terrific looking set and it stands out amongst the crowd solely on it’s uniqueness if nothing else. I just hope that kits like this keep coming and that it is the start of an interest in early war vehicles and figures as I would dearly love to see a set of Italian troops in the opening months of the desert war.
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