1/6 UJINDOU UD9015 Chindit (Burma, 1944)

[Asta]

There's a television channel down here called "H&I" which stands for "Heroes and Icons". They televise all of the oldies but goodies. Every Saturday night they play back to back episodes of "Black Sheep Squadron", "Tour of Duty", "Combat" "The Rat Patrol" and finally my favorite, "Twelve O'Clock High". With the exception of "Twelve O'Clock High", the others can be a bit cheesey but still fun.

Every weekday evening, they will play in order, "Star Trek", "Star Trek- The Next Generation", "Deep Space Nine", "Voyager" and finally "Enterprise". Each series is in order and so are the episodes. Very cool.

I watched the first double length pilot of Flying Misfits (Back Sheep Squadron) and the following episode. It was surprisingly good. After thinking about Sven Hassel when looking at The Rat Patrol (because of the non-regulation headgear!), Flying Misfits was actually like an American version of Sven Hassel: a unit of rogues scheming and scamming their way through the war.

The Rat Patrol, after watching more of it, reminded me of the comic book stories in annuals like Valiant and Warlord, and gathered it was going to be repetitive like a cartoon, facing off against the same villain, Dietrich, week after week.

Flying Misfits reminds me a bit of Tales of the Gold Monkey, which is a series I haven't been able to find online.

 

[FlyAndFight]

I watched the first double length pilot of Flying Misfits (Back Sheep Squadron) and the following episode. It was surprisingly good. After thinking about Sven Hassel when looking at The Rat Patrol (because of the non-regulation headgear!), Flying Misfits was actually like an American version of Sven Hassel: a unit of rogues scheming and scamming their way through the war.

The Rat Patrol, after watching more of it, reminded me of the comic book stories in annuals like Valiant and Warlord, and gathered it was going to be repetitive like a cartoon, facing off against the same villain, Dietrich, week after week.

Flying Misfits reminds me a bit of Tales of the Gold Monkey, which is a series I haven't been able to find online.

When I was a kid, The Rat Patrol and Black Sheep Squadron were must see TV. I would build models of the Willys Jeep and the F4U Corsair and Zero and recreate some of the action scenes. Watching some of the episodes now, they are rather cheesy but do bring back fond memories.

I do highly recommend Twelve O'Clock High. It is a more maturely written series and still holds up today. Many of the flying scenes are from actual WWII aerial footage and as an aviation nut, I enjoy and appreciate it.

 

[BuddyGus]

I loved Black Sheep Squadron!!!! When in Iraq, in 2004, the modern Black Sheep were on same base. Every time I saw their logo, the shows theme song ran through my head.

 

[Asta]

I saw a post on the 1/6th Brit Facebook yesterday saying the Chindit had been parted out on Ebay.

Also just received the invoice from Kit saying he was now in stock. Ujindou seems to have got their act together as it's not far beyond their Q4 2022 estimate. Hopefully they haven't rushed production too much to beat the Chinese New Year deadline.

The parts on Ebay looked okay, not much different from proto as far as I could tell. Apart from the hat, which was the one iffy looking proto piece.

It still doesn't look great, but they appear to have changed the way it's made:

Originally it gave the impression of being stitched into an indented form:

No idea how futzable it's going to be.

 

[Asta]

A review from 1/6th Brit:

Niall Burke​

15 h ·

Very nice headsculpt
Superb baggy trousers
Bush hat almost perfect
1944 pattern webbing with brass studs - very nice
Boots - needs to be tightened
Jumper - perfect colour matches with the figure photos

 

[Asta]

Seems like yet another undersized head sculpt, though I was going to use a bearded one anyway.

The hat still looks a nightmare.

He still has the jungle rifle, which never saw a jungle until after the war.

 

[Asta]

Received the Chindit and Ujindou Gran Sasso Fallschirmjager today.

I started on the Chindit but had a quick look at the paratrooper too. As expected both sculpts are tiny - will Ujindou every learn? I think I may be able to get away using them on DID Slim Short bodies.

For the Chindit I always wanted a bearded sculpt, and have put on ARToys' Leon (Jean Reno). Not a straightforward swap as I needed to change the neck plugs over because Ujindou's is shorter. It was wedged in good and tight inside the little Matt Smith head, and took boiling water and brute force with a pair of pliers to extract it. Then it wouldn't fit in the Jean Reno head without a bit of trimming.

The slouch hat was my next concern, and has been since prototype.

"Good news, everyone!"

It's not actually terrible. I managed to fit it onto the bigger sculpt, and the crown is futzable, and can be pinched into shape. Photos of Chindits show that the hats were worn in various styles, and were often crushed with the brims bent at all angles, so you can't really go wrong.


The uniform is a nice jungle green, unlike the tan looking in hand photos above. The trousers are also appropriately very baggy.

The Lee-Enfield No.5 Mk I Jungle Carbine appears to be wood and metal, with a good scale grain to the furniture. Though since it never saw action in the jungle during the war it's a bit useless, so he'll be getting a Thompson instead.

That's as far as I've got, but I think Ujindou is going to impress me again.

 

[ArtDamage]

Surprised they didn't try for an Owen on this one. A nice metal one would have been cool and unique.

 

[Asta]

Starting on assembly, the machete scabbard is noticeably different from the prototype. The stitched leather seam running down the back now continues part way up the front.

Ujindou did their research, as it matches this wartime example made by J.J.B.:

https://sallyantiques.co.uk/product/ww2-british-j-j-b-machete-and-leather-sheath/


Ujindou's grip also has the same arrangement of pins. Getting it into the scabbard was a struggle though, which is a recurring problem with the company, whereby some things just aren't designed well enough to match their corresponding parts.

Weirdest of all though, the scabbard's belt loop was glued shut.

I had to carefully cut through the glue and pry the two halves apart.


Some quick snaps after putting him together. The flash makes the uniform look less green than it actually is.

 

[ArtDamage]

@Asta one of these days I'm going to break into your house and make you watch me weather that beautiful collection of yours!

 

[Asta]

 

[Asta]

The old Hot Toys Captain America Thompson is showing its age. I changed it a while back for the M1A1 that came with Ujindou's Big Red One.

His chunky hands are the next thing that need changing.