Intended for 3d print.

Swedish rifle squad from the the late-WW2 era, ca 1943-1945. The soldiers are using the following equipment:

• M/39 uniform.

• M/37 steel helmet.

• M/39 backpack.

• Ag M/42 Ljungman semiautomatic rifle. A swedish design, manufactured by the Carl Gustaf Rifle Factory.

• M/45 Grenade

• M/1896 Bayonet (doubling as a knife). To my knowledge a Swedish design, and mainly manufactured in Sweden and Germany.

• M/40 Pistol.

• NIFE Binoculars.

Overall, the early-war Swedish army arsenal was a hodge-podge of obsolete or hastily procured stopgap equipment, especially when it came to automatic weapons. A lot of the troops would have to make do with both weapons and clothing that were older than the equipment used for these models (like the M/21 helmet, or even the M/23 uniform). Despite never entering the war, the army would rapidly rearm and expand over the course of WW2, and ended it with substantially upgraded kit for the troops. A lot of the the small arms development would not be truly introduced to the armed forces until the very end of the war or the years following V-E Day, but saw limited use before that. The Ag 42 Ljungman rifle was, to my knowledge, hardly issued to the armed forces during WW2 despite beginning production in 1942. It was also never produced in substantial numbers, and never became more than a supplement to select members of rifle squads in order to increase firepower. The older Mauser M/96 remained the defacto army rifle until the end of the war, and for two decades following it. For the purposes of distinguishing this model pack from the early-war rifle platoon previously released, all models have been issued the Ag 42 despite it being (grossly) historically inaccurate. A justification might be that, in the hypothetical scenario that Sweden was actually invaded by one of the major WW2 belligerents, the Ag 42 would have immediately become a prioritized product and issued in greater numbers.

Rifle platoons were part of rifle companies (three to a company). The Rifle Company would also include a heavy platoon consisting of machine gun and mortar troops. The rifle platoon would also include a light 47mm mortar troop, and some machine guns and submachine guns. Models using these weapons are sold separately on this platform. The rifle platoon would eventually be reformed in 1943 and provided with more firepower. This included the addition of two Ag 42s to each rifle squad, which began in earnest in 1944. Domestic hand grenades were also developed to replace the imported M/39 stick grenade, eventually resulting in the M/45 egg grenade introduced in 1945. I am unsure how common the M/45 grenade had become before VE/VJ Day, but I'm guessing not very. Again, it is included in this model pack for boardgaming and distinction purposes.

I haven't done the exact math, but a rifle platoon consisted of around 50 men. So you'd have to print several of the included models twice to create a full platoon. Or just print a couple to bulk out your early-war rifle platoon (available in the link below), if you want more historical accuracy.

Finally, the late-war soldiers have been kitted out with backpacks. This is, once again, only a way to visually distinguish the late-war models from the early-war models. Obviously soldiers had backpacks in 1939 as well.

Early-War rifle platoon available here:

https://www.cgtrader.com/3d-print-models/miniatures/war/swedish-ww2-rifle-platoon-early-war-era

Printing instructions

Recommended printing scale is 28mm. The default scale of the models is also approximately 28mm when you first load them into your slicer. Note that you can easily alter the size of the models prior to printing. No models are currently pre-supported. Personally I think this gives the customer greater flexibility (as well as saving me quite a bit of effort...) , but you are welcome to send me a request to pre-support all models, and I'll upload them to the product free of charge. If you have any additional questions, for example re: various historical aspects, you can also contact me. I'm no expert, but I do have access to some fairly credible historical sources I've used when designing the models.