Sculptor's Interview: The British Infantry Platoon

Today we've got a quick interview with WFG co-founder Sam Kelly, who sculpted the British Rifle Platoon, to understand that process and what goes into it.

This article originally appeared as part of our Patreon, and we're sharing it here to give people a sense of our processes at Warfulcrum Games.

James: Where do you start with sculpting a new line of historical figures?

Sam: Research. Lots of it. Fortunately we'd already done a lot of research into the platoon structure and how a British platoon in 1918 fought for the game rules. An honorable mention goes to Paddy Griffith's monograph Battle Tactics of the Western Front as well as various Osprey titles and more general histories of the British army in WW1. However, there's a huge amount of detail below that level to understand how the average infantryman was uniformed and equipped. 

Bombs (hand grenades) are of particular note. By 1918, the British were moving away from the idea of a dedicated 'bombing' section as set out in the 1917 regulations; however, we decided to include bombing models in the second Rifle Section of the platoon to give hobbyists/players the option. In the 1918 game rules, either of the two Rifle Sections can be equipped with bombs, to reflect how flexible this role had become by 1918.

James: What was the most challenging aspect of the personal equipment to get right?

Sam: Webbing. The British used two main patterns, the 1908 and the 1914 (leather). The latter was an expedient and while still in use in 1918 had been swapped out by anyone who could get their hands on the superior '08 pattern. How the webbing was worn changed over the conflict as well to make it more practical and comfortable to wear. All that has to be researched, understood, and then put into the sculpting process. Fortunately, there are lots of knowledgeable enthusiasts online (particularly in the living history community) to ask as well as historical photographs to study.

James: Once you've got the uniforms and equipment sorted, how do you decide what poses to make?

Sam: Partly it's about trying to convey the character of the fighting in 1918. That means a mix of static poses (shooting, reloading etc.) but also plenty of dynamic poses with figures running, crouching, charging and scuttling from cover to cover. Using references is vital and helps to develop animated and natural looking poses. Unfortunately there isn't a limitless supply of ‘action scene’ photos from the Great War which aren't staged, so some interpretation and cross-pollination with later conflicts, where battlefield photography was more advanced and 'natural', is helpful.

James: Are there any figures directly inspired by historical photographs?

Sam: Funny you should ask. Why yes there are. Most are composites of a few different photos, but two of the clearest examples are this...

And this...

In the case of the second, I decided to add the copper wire that soldiers sometimes wrapped around the stock of the rifle (to prevent the wood splitting from repeated firings of the grenade discharger cup). The object in both cases is not to make an exact replica (the need for 'wargaming proportions' precludes that for a start) but something which captures the authentic 'feel' of the photo.

James: The platoon set includes a lot of leader models, which are very important in 1918, how did you approach those?

Sam: The trick was to make it clear that they are doing what they are supposed to be doing… leading! The most obvious way to do this is to avoid poses which are too combat oriented and focus instead on the issuing of orders. In practice, this means lots of pointing, waving and gesturing figures. The head pack contains a fair few options where the face is shouting - these go nicely with the leader poses to convey the sense of orders being bellowed across the battlefield.

Another sub-aim is to make the leader figures easy to pick out on the tabletop, using some consistent visual queues in the posing helps with this amongst the khaki masses. That said, the British Lieutenant is actually wearing partial 'other ranks' uniform (known as a 'Tommy' or 'funk' jacket, and partial 08 webbing), this was a common practice in 1918, with the idea being that it would make the wearer less conspicuous to enemy snipers.

James: I can't help but notice the Lieutenant has a walking stick?!

Sam: These were in pretty common use and seem to have been especially popular with British officers. The utility of a walking stick on a muddy battlefield is pretty obvious, and well, it certainly gives some cool opportunities for posing and easy battlefield identification!

James: One of the things which marks out the platoon of the late war is the diversity of weaponry, how do you go about sculpting these?

Sam: There are quite a few different weapons on the models - including the Webley Revolver, Short Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE), Lewis Gun, Burns Discharger Cup, Mills Bomb (No.23) and Sword Bayonet (1907 pattern). The Burns in particular is not massively well-documented, despite being in widespread use in 1918. All weapon models were based on historical photographs/photographs from historical collections. These are used as direct sculpting references. There are a few simplifications to fit with the scale and need for ‘wargaming proportions’ but they’re about as accurate as you can reasonably get. All have been made a little chunkier than their real world cousins so as not to snap at the drop of a hat, which can be an issue when simply downscaling real life weapons. 

James: The Lewis Gun is particularly good (Editor - James did that one). The models (almost) all come with separate heads - why do it this way?

Sam: While it adds a little more complexity to the sculpting process, the advantages are three-fold:

• It gives hobbyists the option to represent the platoon wearing their small box respirators (i.e. gas masks), and to choose between Brodie helmets with or without the cloth helmet cover. 

• It offers more variation and choice - the angle or pose of a head can change a whole model’s feel and sense of what they are doing. 

• It opens the door to further kitbashing and customisation without the time consuming labour (both in printing/clean-up and assembly) of a full multi-part kit. 

James: Thanks for that brief canter through the thought process behind the sculpting of the platoon.

You can purchase your own British Rifle Platoon here:

British Rifle Platoon Bundle (Physical)

£46.00

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