By: Rich
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Over the weekend I made a post trying to jolt some memories to get the name of the company that produced this British MP a few
years ago. I moved almost a year ago and had to toss out a bunch of the empty boxes I had, and unfortunately I didn't think to
either make a list or remove the box tops or something so that I could keep up with these names. Over the weekend I ran across
a name, and two others were suggested. I am inclined to believe that White Wolf was correct with "Sentry" but also considered
"Action Unique" that I believe Greaylin suggested. I did find a very tiny pic while doing a Google search for the figure that I could
not magnify with any degree of clarity to identify, but it was labeled "Century Unlimited". Still not certain, but those names do have
a ring of familiarity to them.
When I found the figure at Monkey Depot a few years ago, I believe that Brady even included a warning of the appearance the uniform may look better in their photograph. Believe me it did. For somewhere around fifty dollars this was probably my most disappointing figure ever to open. First of all, as you can see in the first few photos that is all you get for the fifty bucks! But, the kit's uniform looked so bad to me, you see him in one of the earlier DML wool looking knit BD uniforms. The sparse selection of gear does look nice, and is well made but there are no options other to wear or not wear the white traffic directing sleeves. The molded plastic ammo pouch looks to be duplicate of the first one that BBi released with their first Brit Para, Neal. While the Enfield Mk VI .38 revolver is a metal duplicate of the one that came with DML's first Brit Para, Ian. The parts work the same and the cylinder will interchange. It does look good though. The cap looks a bit on the small side but is adequate as well the sewn cloth red cover. The Corps of Military Police cap badge is about the sharpest looking thing with the figure. Having worked and associated with British MPs in Graf, and Hohenfels as well as dealing with the British MP Liaison Officer to USAMPS at the former Ft McClellan, AL, I've had many chances to observe the cap badge in person. Also, I compared it to pics in a recruiting brochure I picked up probably from the Liaison Officer. The patches were gently cut from the kit uniform and glued with Fabri-Tac to the DML uniform. This makes him a member of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division. The recruitment boundaries of the rivers Tyne and Tees are reflected with the "TT" in the Division patch. This has the Corps of Military Police or CMP patch above it and that about does it. You can see from the final pics that the kit uniform really was not up to par in color and texture. It is well made though. The last pic is a comparison of the kit supplied uniform with three from DML. The second is the standard BD uniform that came with several of DML's Brits, and is the one used on this figure. The third being the commando uniform from the "Mark" figure, while the fourth pictured is from the Soldat III. This was DML's attempt at anther fabric that did not work either. This style came with two figures that I am aware of and other than the airborne version, it could be used as the American manufactured BD in denim with the addition of buttons to the pockets and front. The US made a several of the Brit uniforms in the Lend, Lease program. |
| A really nice looking group of Brits here old friend. It was definitely hard to pick a fav out of these four! Special thanks for sending them all in and sharing them with us. - GL |
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