Hello everyone!

It’s Thursday, which means we have another sculpting update for you. This week, we’re taking a closer look at our third multipart hard-plastic project: British Infantry.

Everything shown in this update is still a preview. We have gathered a huge amount of useful feedback since development began, and several parts of the kit are already being revised as a result.

This update is therefore as much about explaining the changes we’re making as it is about showing you where the project currently stands.

Without any more waffle, let’s take a look at the British Infantry kit from top to bottom.

Before looking at the individual components, it is worth explaining the original design brief for the British Infantry kit. This is broadly similar to the approach we take with all our modern plastic kits.

We wanted to create:

With that brief in mind, let’s get into the individual components.

Heads are a crucial part of every kit we produce. They take up relatively little frame space, which means we can include several different styles and give each unit far more character.

We have settled on five headgear options as the right number for this kit. Our intention is to include approximately 25 heads per frame, giving you as many as 125 heads in each box.

That is far more than you will need to build the British Infantry in the box, but it gives you plenty of options for conversions and for mixing parts with our US Infantry, Western PMC and future plastic kits.

At the same time, we do not want to use valuable tooling space recreating options that are already well represented elsewhere. The challenge has been selecting five choices that best capture the distinctive appearance of British infantry.

Following the results of the community poll we published a couple of weeks ago, the current selection is:

We are still deciding whether the respirator heads should be bare-headed or worn beneath helmets. This will depend partly on the available space and how the final head layouts work together.

We are also exploring separate resin head sets for the British and our other ranges. We know many of you want a much wider selection of headgear than we can reasonably fit onto a plastic frame.

Producing some of the more specialised options in plastic does not make commercial sense at this stage, but resin packs would allow us to accommodate those requests without taking space away from the core infantry kit.

We have selected a simplified version of the current Virtus body armour as the basis for the torsos.

After consulting with current and former serving members of the British military, many of whom contacted us specifically to help with the kit, we now have a much better understanding of how commonly the front of the armour is customised with magazine pouches and other equipment.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to educate us and provide reference material. The latest sculpts reflect that feedback.

Our aim is to produce six distinct torso designs, giving every figure on the frame its own arrangement and creating more visual variation across a unit.

If the available tooling space makes six completely separate designs impractical, the frame will instead contain five rifleman torsos and one dedicated GPMG torso.

There are three versions of the SA80 family that we could reasonably have selected for this kit.

Because our aim is to represent the current frontline appearance of British infantry, we have chosen the L85A3.

The rifle retains the distinctive bullpup layout found across the SA80 family, while the A3 can be recognised by its updated handguard and current sighting equipment. Our models will feature the Lightweight Day Sight and Laser Light Module.

We are refining the designs to ensure that every frame contains enough rifle arms to equip all six figures with this loadout. One rifle set will also feature an underslung grenade launcher, which has been one of the most frequently requested additions.

Your votes have also helped us settle on the specialist weapon options.

The preference against including a dedicated anti-air weapon was particularly clear. Removing it gives us more space for infantry components and accessories that are likely to be used across every squad.

We want the leg options in this kit to convey a clear sense of movement.

British infantry are known for an aggressive and deliberate approach when advancing into battle, and we want the poses on the frame to reflect that character.

The current plan is to include six sets of legs in a mixture of advancing and active poses. One will be kneeling, providing a more stable pose for figures firing the NLAW or using the L129A1 sharpshooter rifle.

The legs also feature another visually distinctive part of British equipment: the webbing belt.

Every set of legs will have integrated webbing pouches. When combined with the equipment carried across the torsos, this should help convey just how much equipment a modern British infantry soldier carries.

The poll showed that you want a broad range of useful accessories included in the British kit. We are pleased to confirm that we are currently working on the following:

We are very excited to continue developing these pieces and to show you the updated sculpts as they become available.

What About British Medics?

We have plans for a British medic set in resin, although we have not yet decided whether it will form part of a wider command set or be released as a pack of its own.

Our current plan is to take a two-style approach.

One figure would be a traditional combat medic carrying broadly the same equipment as an infantry soldier, supplemented with the appropriate medical kit. The other would be a more visibly stylised medic, giving players an immediately recognisable tabletop option.

This should allow you to choose between a more realistic appearance and a figure that is particularly easy to identify during a game.

Stay posted for further updates as that set develops.

Commonwealth Forces and Alternative Weapons

There is certainly a great deal of visual overlap between modern British troops and several Commonwealth forces.

We have already discussed the possible combinations people will create using parts from the British Infantry, Western PMC and US Infantry kits. We are genuinely excited to see what people produce once all three kits are available.

However, including a Steyr AUG or several other national weapon systems on the British frame would require a significant amount of space. Those parts would reduce the overall usefulness of the kit for the wider audience primarily looking to build British infantry.

We therefore do not currently intend to include the AUG on the plastic frame.

We are, however, actively exploring separate resin weapon-arm sets for less commonly requested weapon systems. This would allow us to support Commonwealth conversions and other kitbashing projects without compromising the core British plastic kit.

Will There Be Enough Daysacks?

Yes. Our aim is not only to include enough daysacks, but to provide a useful variety of them.

As mentioned above, the current plan includes at least one radio daysack and one daysack with a stowed NLAW on each frame, alongside standard versions.

As well as adding visual variety, these options should make it easy to identify particular members of the section on the tabletop, including the radio operator, commander or anti-tank specialist.

Andy
Warfront Studio