Saturday 21 April 2012

MJ Falklands 20mm British: Go & Buy


Back on Tuesday evening I ordered several packs from MJ Figures new 20mm Falkland 1982 range. Wednesday they sent an email to inform me the figs had been despatched and duly enough on Thursday, there was a note through the letterbox to say they're waiting for me at the post office.

MJ Figures: BF01 £2.50

So this morning I walked up to the post office in the village to pick up the parcel. Made it back just before the rain but I wouldn't have minded, as these little beauties would have been worth the soaking.

The photos on the MJ webstore don't do them justice. The actual figures are well sculpted, crisply moulded, with no flash or mould seams. Unfortunately one figures arrived without most of his rifle, which had obviously broken during packaging, but I'm sure in this instance I can rustle up a spare Sterling for him. The minis are very naturally posed with well articulated faces (obligatory Tom Selleck moustaces in evidence on some figures) and above all, the berets look absolutely cracking, giving these Toms plenty of real soldier character.

Even better, these MJ Falklands British match with my ex-Hotspur figures - hallebloodylujah! I'll be buying at least one additional pack of the MJ's simply to whip the beret heads off and convert some ex-Hotspur Falkland figures.

The figures mostly appear to be wearing 68 pattern DPM Windproofs and a couple are wearing the longer and more voluminous 68 pattern Waterproof. In this scale the 68 pattern Windproof can easily double as a combat jacket with detachable hood, whilst the Waterproof can be painted as a civilian or ex-foreign army parka.

The 58 pattern webbing is in fighting order (sans bumroll). IMO the various pouches are too small on many of the figures to be truly accurate, especially waterbottle and kidney pouches, but I guess they suffice to look the part in this scale and a small niggle considering how good the figures are overall.

The L4 (Bren) LMG and SLR are very well sculpted, though the L4 looks a little short to my eye and there's no bipod in evidence. A small sprue with folded and extend bipod options like Elhiem provided with their GPMG gunner would have been a great addition. All SLRs have bayonets attached. Too often a pigs ear when attempted by other manufacturers, are in this case, well moulded and look like they can do the business.

Pack BF02, includes a bareheaded casualty lying face down and a separate SLR on a base, which even on it's own would make a good morale marker.

Summing up, what do I think? Well, these MJ Figures Falkland 1982 British are hot out of the parcel and I'm about to place a second order, so that should say something in itself. I hope Mark at MJ expands the range to include helmeted variants, GPMGs, Charlie Gs and support weapons as I'd love to see more Toms of this quality available.

Cheers
Mark

3 comments:

  1. I don’t even know the way I finished up right here, however I assumed this publish was great. I do not realize who you are but definitely you are going to a well-known blogger in case you are not already. Cheers!

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  2. If there is one thing a range of Falklands Toms needs it is the SLR with bayonet fitted! Like you say, easy to get wrong (particularly as the SLR bayonet is not a great big piece of cutlery) but these look to be a great addition to the sum of available figures.
    Aye, Rusty.

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  3. If you haven't ordered them, the British command pack is also beautifully sculpted and there is a Helo Pilot/ Prince Andrew in that set as well!

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