Blue Water Nuclear Missile

[rickshaw]

I think the NATO Ground Crew set by Airfix might fit the bill BUT they are all wearing gasmask as far as I can tell! http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=561

Its also a fairly rare set

"A Call to Arms" do a WWII set but which is actually 1950s and includes EM2 rifles for that bit of extra WHIFFery!  - http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/review.aspx?id=13

Esci used to do a set entitled "NATO infantry" which included British figures:  http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=110

However they appear to have Helmet M1, not 1943 Pattern Helmets.

Matchbox did (but I've never personally seen) a set entitled "NATO Paratroopers" but as the review below points out, they're really British Paras.  No helmets though, it seems but weapons and equipment are right.

http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/Review.aspx?id=242

[Weaver]

Cheers Rickshaw - I'm aware of most of those, but they don't suite for various reasons.

I didn't know about the "Call to Arms" set though - that's very interesting: whiff-in-a-box infantry! (contrary to the blurb on Plastic Soldier Review, the EM2 was never issued at all).

[Mossie]

I've got the Airfix NATO ground crew set, it's pretty good.  The SLR's, NBC suits & respirators put them in the 70's to 80's timeframe, I think they could easily stretched back to the 60's.  I disagree with the reviewer on Plastic Soldiers, the NBC Mk III suit was pretty barren & the respirators look like the S6.

They were recentely available as part of the larger Modern RAF Airfield Set, that's how I got them.  It contains a vacform base, Harrier GR.3, Scorpion/Scimitar & the NATO Ground Crew.  It's an expensive way to get them, but if you want a handful I could send you a few.  If you want a more standard kit, you could chop the helmet to put on the Matchbox set if you can find it.

Another option, is to flesh out some late WWII figures.  The helmet could be well represented with some putty to soften the curves a little reshaping of the brim.  BW Models do some kit accessories that might be helpful, SLR's, Brens, GPMG's, backpacks, radios.  They also do a crew for the Bofors that might or might not work.
http://www.bwmodels.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=232343

[rickshaw]

Bedford and Stalwart truck launcher models.

[Mr.Creak]

(contrary to the blurb on Plastic Soldier Review, the EM2 was never issued at all).

Hmm...
Maybe not issued, but certainly adopted.

It was briefly adopted by British forces in 1951, but the decision was overturned very shortly thereafter by Winston Churchill's incoming government in an effort to secure NATO standardisation of small arms and ammunition in the face of American intransigence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EM-2_rifle

the British unilaterally adopted the EM-2 rifle and the .280/30 cartridge in August 1951 following the decision in April of that year by the UK's Minister of Defence, Emanuel Shinwell.

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_EM-2_rifle.html
(Although Churchill rescinded that decision in early '52).

Brief... but it was officially adopted, to the extent that it received a service designation: No 9 Rifle, Mk 1.

[alertken]

During 1949 Shinwell visited US to promote EM-2. As a promo stunt he judged a female beauty parade and was reported in US Press as preferring legs to arms.

[NARSES2]

During 1949 Shinwell visited US to promote EM-2. As a promo stunt he judged a female beauty parade and was reported in US Press as preferring legs to arms.

I'm old enough to remember the man and he always seemed to have a twinkle in his eye, so he probably did 

[Daryl J.]

Is it possible in the missile world to have an air launched anti submarine Blue Water-like missile?    An Avro Arrow just happened upon The Doorstep and the use of a Blue Water in the anti submarine role popped into my (rather dim) head.     Yes, this is the Whiffverse but is there a moderately reasonable chance of reality standing behind it?     

[pyro-manic]

Question is, why would you use a ballistic missile on a submarine? And how, for that matter? The launch aircraqft has no way of detecting the sub at that kind of range, so it would rely on a search unit (Neptune/Orion/Nimrod etc) to find a target for it, and said search unit would then have to get clear very fast before the missile hit. A depth charge (nuclear or othewise) on the MPA itself is much easier and cheaper.

Maybe an alternative to Buccaneer/Green Cheese (or the tossed Red Beard they ended up with IRL) for bashing Sverdlov-class cruisers (and later Kirov/Kiev class) and their escort groups? Again would rely on a searching unit to find the target, but that's much easier with surface ships.

[Daryl J.]

Got it, thanks.   

[AS.12]

"A Call to Arms" do a WWII set but which is actually 1950s and includes EM2 rifles for that bit of extra WHIFFery!  - http://www.plasticsoldierreview.com/review.aspx?id=13

Even more oddly, two of the soldiers in the second row of that article appear to have SUIT-scoped SLRs... which would not have been a concept in 1958.

Or are they AR-10s?  Hard to say.