Bolt Action Infantry Kitbash

Our Bolt Action infantry plastics are extremely versatile, making conversion work and kitbashing a breeze. Thus we set a challenge to one of our HQ store staff, and piled a load of Bolt Action infantry sprues onto Kieran’s workbench with the simple instruction, “let’s see what you come up with!” Bewildered at first, we injected him with coffee to cure his bleary eyes and he got to work, producing these examples in next to no time!

Here are the results (in each case, we’ve identified, as best we can, which sprues were used):

Kieran used a Waffen SS fez in combination with the British 8th Army sprue to represent a post-armistice Albanian infantry sporting British Gear.

Rule of cool for this one – simply adding the Blitzkrieg German ammo belt adds a dash of Hollywood to the mini.

Equally suitable as a commando or an airborne, this represents a plucky British attitude – and making use of whatever is available to get the job done. Kieran notes that this was his first use of the Winter German sprue, and he found it flush with options – he plans on incorporating these into further builds.

Simply using a US Army head makes the miniature stand out – complementing the metal early war Waffen SS. This can perhaps be used as an NCO in game.

Grabbing bits and pieces from many sprues covering three nations and from each era of the war, perfect as an accompaniment for an HQ option on the table. The running posture screams urgency and is complemented by the flapping trapper headgear.

Looting enemy weapons is a very easy way to distinguish and add variety to weapons teams within the body of larger armies where you might have multiples of that type of team. This is exaggerated even further by the US shotgun!

Kieran chose these parts as they were the closest representation offered by our sprues for the historic Romanian uniform, and give them a presence on the tabletop not yet covered by the wider Bolt Action range. He has a captured Thompson SMG that was supplied had been supplied to the Soviets via lend-lease from the United States.

Russians were given around 5000 Bazookas as part of the lend-lease, so why shouldn’t a miniature Soviet have one? There’s nothing stopping you from including Bazooka teams in Soviet lists à la the lend-lease tanks found in Campaign: Fortress Budapest, so long as all players agree!

Loot what you can to survive the harsh winters of the Ardennes, even if that means the enemy’s coats. This soldier might have been cut off from supply lines, as was the Airborne’s plight, so regulation uniform is out the window.

Painted Examples

Inspired, and not to be outdone, marketing type Rich S had a go as well, but went a step further and painted some of his creations:

Although Bolt Action infantry sprues in themselves can produce a staggering variety of miniature configurations, combining them with other sprues and kitbashing is an easy way to give your own Bolt Action platoons a dizzying level of character. There is little more satisfying to a hobbyist than imbuing your miniature soldiers with unique personalities through accessorising and posing, indeed it can go a long way to developing a narrative for a burgeoning or campaigning tabletop army.