"Thompson SMG w/ 50-round drum in 28mm?" Topic

Looking for the classic Chicago Typewriter without cast-on hands for coverting some 28mm figures. Any recommendations?

Thanks!

Al | rivetsandsteam.com

hmmm…..

Unfortunately the only ones I can think of have not only hands caston them but whold ROBOT ARMS too.

They're the Thompson SMGs the come with AE-WWII's American Robot Troopers. Not only due they have a heavy drum, they have a heavy barrel for sustained firing.

link

You get 4 Thompsons in a pack of 3 Robots, one Thompson only has 1 hand cast on it. So you can Buy a pack, build 3 robot troopers and have 1 SMG left over for conversion.

Hey Al,

Any conversions i know about? 45ish days and counting. :-)

Grimm

No, that's yet another Pulp project, not VSF. ;)

Dont get sidetracked now. You gots lots ta do and little time to do it in. Dont make me send da boys over. :-)

Grimm

Try Steve Barber models in their prohibition range.

The Barbers lack buttstocks, have the wooden forward pistol grip and are a bit stubby, to my eye.

The Assault Group do a nice Thompson, but with a stick mag…although this is an easy putty conversion, to my mind.

IMHO, Bob Murch does the most aesthetically pleasing Thompsons; it's too bad he doesn't sell them on sprues.

I agree, everyone else's look like lumpy ray guns. Maybe there are plastic 1/48 ones available as accesories from armor kits?

Yes, for all of his wonderful work, Bob M deprives us of a weapons pack. He makes some of the best. There are odds and ends of weapons in some of the packages, sailors and police, at least.

Brigade makes some nice figures with drum tommy guns too. I like their sailors, ala King Kong movie. Pics on the site shows greens with metal guns, so maybe Lon can provide these weapons?

Lots of clip Tommy guns available but none with Drums. I have been looking for 3-4 years. Victory Force makes a nice clip version, with left or right hand, and a sling.

An alternative is to convert a figure with the kind of weapon you want into the type you need. A head change and bit of carving and you have what you need.

What is it you are trying to make?

Here is a pic of some Chinese -- lower right is a conversion with Victory Force tommy gun. Top,4th from left is a Murch fig with Drum tommy gun. Next one is another conversion with VF gun.

picture

It might be more trouble than it's worth, but Bolt Action has a pack of 10 Thompsons with clips & you might be able to convert 'em to drum mags. Brigade Games carries them; I've not gotten the Tommyguns but I like the Mausers & Enfields that I have from their line.

<slaps forehead> I forgot about the Brigade games guys; Lon has a merchant crew with open hands and a weapons sprue. This might be your best bet.

How I'd convert one of the various stick mag models:

1) Find a tube whose inner diameter matches the size I want for the drum.

2) Roll out a piece of Milliput/putty of your choice to the thickness of the drum mag.

3) Punch out several discs with my tube from 1).

4) Wait until the putty sets up a bit, then impale my discs on the stick mags of the Tommys.

Brilliant!

If you're going to do a mod, and you want it to be functionally accurate, the M1 Thompson issued in 1942 is an entirely different SMG than the earlier model Thompsons. On the M1 the charging handle, which is very prominent, is located on the side rather than the top and it will not accept a drum magazine, so you'll have to modify the charging handle if you want make it look like an earlier model. The barrel on the model 1921, which is the model that I assume that you're trying to duplicate, also has a longer barrel with cooling fins, and of course it doesn't have the horizontal foregrip. It has a pistol grip.

Good luck. (-:

Thank you, all!

The intent was to arm some pulp robots (hence: "no hands") with Model 1921 "classic gangster" Thompson SMGs, but not to kitbash the weapons. Yes, it would solve many problems if Bob released a few weapons packs – Gats, MP18's & BARs. I'll contact Lon and see what options are available, otherwise this project is on hold until further developments. Not like there aren't a couple dozen other projects sitting under the painting table. Right, Grimm? ;)

Al | rivetsandsteam.com

If they're robots, why not just cut the hands off of some figures holding tommy guns, add a little putty over the hands to disguise the fact that they are human hands, and then shape it to resemble the mechanical "claws" of the robot figures you have? You could then cut those claws off at the robot's wrist, and make the swap (The tommy gun claws wouldn't even have to match the robot's claws for that matter, since the tommy gun holder could be considered a special attachment. Even just building up the putty to square the underlying hand into a block would work.)

Mulligan

Cannonfodder makes beautiful MP18, and BAR, along with a number of other weapons. The only MG08/15 German WW1 LMG I know of. In the pic I posted, above, third row, 3rd from right.

canfodmins.com/WEAPONPACKS.htm

Mulligan – Good idea, but too much like work. :)

Bob and his dog – I have emailed Cannon Fodder Miniatures for images of some of their products from their weapons page. O_o I may just go with the MP18s and call it a day. Great looking Chinese, by the way!

CmdrKiley – The Darkson Designs' American Robot Troopers have entered the order cueue, and NOT for bits.

Al | rivetsandsteam.com

Bob, your Chinese look WONDERFUL ! I particularly like Copplestone's Student Militia leader converted to hold the parabellum drum-fed MG !

Chick

Yeah y'all, Al has a task to have completed for Fall In which is creeping up. He gets distracted and sidetraxked enough as it is. Dont give em too many ideas now. :-)

Grimm

The Shadow was dead on with some good info on the M1 version, but up until '42 the 1928A1 was used and it could use drums and there were plenty of them in circulation as lend-lease guns.

…and for the love of pete, magazines, or if you must abbreviate, mags, Not clips. It is a minor thing but it is like finger nails on a chalk when I hear it. I know, I have a problem, and I am taking massive amounts of medication to try and fix it, but until they get my dosage dialed in, please refer to the ammunition storage and feeding devices as magazines not clips before I rupture an artery in my brain. ;^D

oops, chalk board