NEW PRODUCT: DID & 3R:(GIDID-K80136) Sergeant Charlie: British 1st Airborne Division (Red Devils)

The 1st Airborne Division was an airborne infantry division of the British Army during the Second World War. The division was formed in late 1941 during World War II, after the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, demanded an airborne force, and was initially under command of Major-General Frederick A. M. Browning. The division was one of two airborne divisions raised by the British Army during the war, with the other being the 6th Airborne Division, created in May 1943, using former units of the 1st Airborne Division.

Features:

Super realistic head sculpt
Body
Open palms
Relax palms
Palms for holding gun
Maroon beret with parachute regiment cap badge
Helmet with net and strips cover
P40 uniform
Paratrooper trousers
Denison smock ( zipper semi-open)
Scarf
Haversack straps
Belt
Boots
Basic pouch x 2
Canteen
Respirator bag
Haversack
Entrenching tool with carrier
Ammo pouch for Lee-Enfield NO.4 Rifle bullets
Watch
Toggle rope
Puttees
Mug
Lee-Enfield NO.4 Rifle
Bullet clip and Bullets
Grenade x 2
Bayonet and frog
FS Dagger with sheath
Shoulder title
Parachute wings
The airborne forces formation sign x 2
Airborne strip
Corporal insignia























































#newproduct #DID #3R #SergeantCharlie #BritishAirborne #RedDevils #male #military #historial #WWII

Very cool set!

Very nice, and I guess this was an inevitable release after the previously disclosed Para officer.

It has some very nice detailing once again, and only a very few errors I can see.

The blanket tucked under the flap of the pack would have been a more light brown colour I believe, and I am not sure about the cup hanging there either.

The same helmet with the Mk1 leather chin strap is used again, and again it would be nice to have a webbing chinstrap too.

If he is a sergeant, then he would have stripes sewn to his Denison smock sleeves too I think, and why does he only have corporals stripes on his battledress???

But......and this is the killer for me......  Is that Brad Pitt??  why?? and no a para in WWII would not have any sort of beard so why give him one!!!!!

I do like the Lee Enfield No4 rifle, its very nice in my opinion.  Firearms are always something DiD do well in my opinion.  
Nice too to see the Bandolier as I believe this was the British Army's primary way of carrying riffle ammo during WWII.  The pouches on the webbing are for Bren Gun mags (the whole rifle squad carried mags to keep the Bren gun of the section fed) and grenades and so there was no other provision for Riffle ammo hence the bandolier.

Over all though another nice figure and with a few mods (new head sculpt) would make an excellent figure.

Paul

It's actually supposed to be Charlie Hunnam, and they did a good job, I just don't understand what he's doing as a WW2 Para, especially with that beard.

Rogerbee wrote:
It's actually supposed to be Charlie Hunnam, and they did a good job, I just don't understand what he's doing as a WW2 Para, especially with that beard.

Ah right,  I have never heard of him lol.  On checking his career on google the only thing I think he has been in that I have watched is the movie 'Cold Moutain' so maybe not a surprise that I didn't recognise him.  

It still stands though why Charlie Hunnam and not at least one of the many actors they could have chosen to depict from 'A Bridge Too Far', especially since they used Sean Connery for the previous head sculpt. Or, even better as far as I am concerned, a good generic head sculpt.

All that's missing now is a Bren gunner with a Damian Lewis head sculpt, and a PIAT operator with Ewan McGregor's face and the set will be complete lol.

And the beard is a constant annoyance with WWII British military figures that are not naval personel........ Why do they keep doing it.  This one even has a respirator bag which should at least in part give them the clue as to why it is not accurate at all for this time period, but no...... go figure.

I also forgot that the beret is once again constructed incorrectly, but like the other items that are iffy on this one that can be replaced.

Paul

Wow, Charlie Hunnam? I can kinda see it, although my initial reaction was the same as Paul's. The beard is a surprise indeed, but 1/6 companies seem to be hell-bent on scruffy or bearded faces (maybe they've read all these internet articles that women prefer men with facial hair!). I realize it is a prototype, but the head is masterfully sculpted and painted.

This, and its predecessor , are welcome , albeit with problems that have already been alluded to.
We can discount the Charlie Hunnam head , presumably some kind of attempt by DiD to appeal to modern film aficionados, but bearing little relevance to the styles used in WW2. It may indeed be very useful to people making modern figures.
The basics of these Paras are fine; some of the detail is a little inaccurate, but could be fixed with some work.
The No.4 rifle looks excellent,and I think it's the first time it's been done in wood and metal.
The Battledress is excellent, better than the Dragon offerings.
The Denison smock likewise.
The beret is a mess, with the prominent seam, but none of the major manufacturers seem to have yet devised a way of making them without the seam. Custom makers have proved that it's possible, so why not DiD ?
The webbing is the worst part , based around a very inaccurate belt and some very coarse nylon tape. It's sad that the pouches have sewn-down tops, which makes them look wrong.It also lacks all the brass riveted strapends, very characteristic of British webbing equipment.
The bandolier should have five pockets, not six.

But those considerations apart, these are very welcome releases.

He was Jax Teller in Sons of Anarchy, that is his most popular role. I checked his filmography and he hasn't done WW2 movie.

Well, he was also King Arthur in that Guy Richie movie...

K80136 Ammo Pouch for Enfield NO.4 Rifle bullets has been updated.




From the manufacturer:

"To make Charlie more "Red Devilish", we added a version B with a headsculpt without beard and NO weathering.

So there are two versions for K80136 (K80136A and K80136B).

1. Version A has a dirty headsculpt with beard; while Version B has a clean headsculpt without beard.

2. All the outfits and accessories are identical for both versions. Version A has slightly weathering on Denison smock, Basic pouches, Haversack, Entrenching tool carrier, Puttees and Boots which Version B hasn’t."

It's nice that they went back and changed the beard issue at least!

Better! Looks more WW2 now.

CHEERS!

(My first post as a civilian!)

Great idea to revisit their choices and provide a more accurate version; I wonder why they bothered keeping the original as an alternative.

GubernatorFan wrote:Great idea to revisit their choices and provide a more accurate version; I wonder why they bothered keeping the original as an alternative.

Maybe they had already made some and still wanted to try to sell them....

skywalkersaga wrote:Maybe they had already made some and still wanted to try to sell them....

I thought that might be the reason; or possibly they already have a bunch of preorders they mean to honor/take advantage of.