TommyGunner 15

25mm WWII Painted Troops

by Bill Rutherford

(SEE COLOR PHOTO ON INSIDE BACK COVER)

We received, I believe, five of Tommy Gunner’s painted samples for review; I’ve got three and the other two should be in the photo accompanying this review. I’m looking at an American paratroop (AP25-1), a German with machine pistol (GR25-5), and a Soviet officer (RU25-7). The figures, according to Tommy Gunner’s website, are Battle Honors. The German was black-primed and if you like this painting style (that is, the figure’s painted black, then basic colors and details are painted over it, leaving fine black outlining to increase the impression of detail), you should find this one suits well. Detailing is crisp, with waffenfarbe nicely picked out, nice metal highlighting over the black base (canteen, weapon, buckles…), and good highlighting on the uniform. The other two troops were both painted with washes, with details picked out as needed; I thought the paratroop’s faded OD uniform was particularly well done. The American has a clean US flag on one shoulder, while the Soviet has detailed shoulder boards and collar tabs. The days of pre-painted figures that are un-shaded seem to be gone; you can now buy troops like these that are comparable to what your opponent spent the evening painting, himself… I don’t profess to be an art critic, but I thought these were good, competently done, wargaming figures, which is as well because that’s what they are!

I expect that orders do sometimes have to wait for painting, but when you place an order for painted figures from Tommy Gunner 15, the intent is for them to be shipped from the large painted stock, not painted to order, which drastically cuts down the turnaround time for orders. I visited Tommy Gunner’s website at http://www.knuckleduster.com/Tommy-Gunner/Home.html to see what the figures cost, painted. 10 painted figures, in a variety of poses (a squad, actually) cost $50.00.

Given the quality of the paint jobs (Tommy Gunner rates them at 7+ on the GAJO scale; I’m not familiar with the scale but the figures are nice…), this seems pretty reasonable. More complex paint jobs (e.g., Waffen SS in camo smocks) cost more. I’m not sure you’ll see these at your local game shop but do check there, just in case. You can order these directly from Tommy Gunner 15’s, at 1402 Henry St., Normal, IL 61761, or you can contact the proprietor, Tom Wirsing, at tommygunner15@aol.com. Oh – Tom offers discounts for large orders which, as you’re buying painted miniatures, can happen pretty quickly! Based on what I’ve seen, and if you buy painted figures, recommended!

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