1/6 KADHOBBY Japanese Infantryman & Chinese National Revolutionary Army (1937)

Re: 1/6 KADHOBBY Japanese Infantryman 1937-

Detailed set.

Re: 1/6 KADHOBBY Japanese Infantryman 1937-

Wow.
Talk about loaded...
Excellent looking figure.

Re: 1/6 KADHOBBY Japanese Infantryman 1937-

I want this!!!...any realese date info?

Re: 1/6 KADHOBBY Japanese Infantryman 1937-

A little off-topic, but I doubt this thread will see much activity since SSF isn't big on military.

I received my opponent for the KADHOBBY Japanese Infantryman today: Soldier Story's SS078 Chinese Kuomintang (Nationalist) Colour Sergeant from a 'Big Sword' unit of the 31st Division, wearing the blue padded winter uniform.

Really good quality figure with the rifle, grenades, sword and bayonet made from wood and metal. The trigger assembly plate and strap mountings even have tiny screws, and the trigger is a separate piece. Quality sculpt and paintwork, though that doesn't show in the photos.

This is the first genuine high end modern military figure I've had. KADHOBBY will likely be big a step down.










He's historically authentic, and there was plenty of fiddly bits to assemble. I should go back and re-wrap the puttees, but they look okay from the front.

Re: 1/6 KADHOBBY Japanese Infantryman 1937-

Here's the opponent that KADHOBBY said they were going to make.

Chinese National Revolutionary Army (Kuomintang) corporal of the 88th Division (German trained) in winter uniform at the battle of Nanjing, 1937:

Re: 1/6 KADHOBBY Japanese Infantryman & Chinese National Revolutionary Army (1937)

Very nice, the big question is if and when they will be released....looking forward to that day...but it seem is going to be a long wait.

Re: 1/6 KADHOBBY Japanese Infantryman & Chinese National Revolutionary Army (1937)

SilverPointShield said:

Very nice, the big question is if and when they will be released....looking forward to that day...but it seem is going to be a long wait.

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The Japanese soldier was moved to January because they'd decided to make some of the parts in metal.

Re: 1/6 KADHOBBY Japanese Infantryman & Chinese National Revolutionary Army (1937)

SilverPointShield said:

Very nice, the big question is if and when they will be released....looking forward to that day...but it seem is going to be a long wait.

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He was eventually released after some controversy, plus a decision to go back and make the Heavy Machine Gun largely in metal instead of plastic.

The controversy was that some Chinese view the Japanese from this period they way the west generally views the Nazis from that era. The Japanese did some very nasty things.

Nevertheless, it's an historical period that's fascinated me for a long time, with particular attention to 1930s Shanghai.

I got him a couple of days ago and had bit of an unboxing on OSW, so I'll quote myself:

Received him a little while ago.


To tell the truth I'm pretty blown away by the overall quantity and quality for something that only cost £97.56 including delivery from Hong Kong.


Body, sculpt, painting and uniform are top notch. The tunic even has working metal buttons, and the stars on his shoulder boards are embroidered. Helmet's metal with a separate liner. Cap fits well, which it didn't seem to in the in-hand photos I saw.


The Type 92 HMG and tripod is mostly metal.




They've had to save money in some areas, which is completely understandable considering the price, such as the rifle and bayonet which don't have a particularly high end finish, and the plastic bayonet frog and belt pouches which are like going back to old Dragon days. However, the pouches are nicely moulded and painted.


Each side of the tray has a box underneath it with more gear, including a fabric gas mask bag, knapsack, bread bag, blanket, 'portable tent', sand bags, flag, and even a white shirt.


To top it all he even comes with a full colour bilingual instruction sheet with a numbered accessory list that tells you exactly what each item is, sometimes with the designation and pattern year.

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A word of warning. As with most military figures this one requires a bit of fiddly assembly. No MOLLE straps, but the knapsack is an explosions of fabric straps all of its own. I'm grateful for the instruction sheet. It's pretty satisfying to use up each strap for its purpose and to finally have no more straps left over.


The HMG tripod needs careful assembly. The central portion is plastic, while the legs are metal. One leg played hard to get and required much gentle wiggling to get fully into place without risking breaking the plastic parts.

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He's 11" tall (above his boot soles), so represents a 5' 6" man. His shoulders are also pretty slim, so a pretty accurate depiction looking at photographs from the period.


Model 1930 service tunic:

The anti-aircraft ring sight isn't too stable as it locates onto the gun with a little shaped spur that pushes into a notch. The connection is so tiny that there isn't a lot to maintain grip. It's okay so long as you don't knock it.

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There's a photo of part of the body in a BBICN Forum unboxing thread:

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I took photos of the front and back of the instruction sheet:

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Here's the last of the parts.

The mortar is light plastic with a fabric wrap. Pistol, water bottle, gas mask filter, grenades and mortar round are all plastic. The pistol has no moving parts. The gas mask itself is a harder plastic, unlike the usual soft rubber. The holster is pleather, apart from the hard shell which is plastic. The little patch on the gas mask bag is printed fabric.

I didn't know anything about the Thousand Stitch belt until I Googled it: Senninbari - Wikipedia


The helmet is metal, with a separate lining that doesn't attach to the helmet. Not sure if that's accurate, but it means that it would be liable to fall out when carried. So that prevents it being carried by the figure by its tie cord. Should it be glued in place?


The rifle has a movable bolt, sight and dust cover. And as seen in the BBICN review, a stamped chrysanthemum pattern and writing is revealed underneath. You can pull the bolt right back, but I can't get the stripper clip to push right down into the chamber. Something seems out of alignment in there, even though it looks like it ought to fit.

The flag is a silky material, and the sandbags are filled with tiny beans that rustle when you pick them up!

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Finally finished putting him together.

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A video on the operation of the Type 92 HMG:

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Re: 1/6 KADHOBBY Japanese Infantryman & Chinese National Revolutionary Army (1937)

Thank you for the super review and photos, the figure looks great and did not know it was already available!!!...now...to locate one and buy it!!!

Re: 1/6 KADHOBBY Japanese Infantryman & Chinese National Revolutionary Army (1937)

Due to a mix up TNS Figures they sent me a second KadHobby Infantryman instead of the 3R Sachio I ordered.


This actually turned out to be a good mistake since I realised that the 3R figure was too late for the 1930s time period I wanted. Only issue is that the KadHobby was a cheaper figure, so hope they'll refund the difference.

Re: 1/6 KADHOBBY Japanese Infantryman & Chinese National Revolutionary Army (1937)

Credit to TNS, they sorted the problem out early this morning.

Refunded the payment for Sachio and charged me $130 for the KadHobby (that is, the pre-order price rather than the $140 in-stock price).

It's a very long rifle and bayonet...



The Soldier Story Chinese Nationalist KMT Colour Sergeant, who doesn't have a thread here:

I got these when I was heavily interested in 1930s Shanghai - both as an Indiana Jones location, and as the fascinating real world city dubbed the most the violent on earth at the time.

However, when I got back into collecting WWII the Japanese soldiers were out of place with their pre-1938 shoulder ranks, standing collar and collar patches.

The helmet, cap, gear and weapons were fine for WWII so it was just the jackets and trousers that needed changing.

Options were limited, but there were two sets available from 3R/DID's JP638 Imperial Japanese Army 32nd Army 24th Division Private Takuya Hayashi.

It took a little while to identify the shirt.

It's the M1938 (Type 98) tropical shirt, with ventilation splits at sides fastened by a single button:




The production clothes are better than DID's promo photos. The colour is more green with a mustard tinge, and they're weathered to give them a grubby appearance.

It was a shot in the dark as to whether the clothes would fit since the Kadhobby figures are only 11" tall (5' 6") and look tiny compared to more regular figures.

According to the US Military Intelligence Service's Soldier's Guide to the Japanese Army (November 1944), they were tyically even shorter than that: "The Japanese soldier is small in stature in comparison with Americans. His average height is 5 feet 3 1/2 inches..."


Luckily DID's short Japanese body must've been similar in size because the clothes fit quite well, and with the first figure completed it's a complete transformation from the smartly uniformed soldier occupying Shanghai in the late 1930s.

The first one is finished