Introduction / Explanation

This will always be a 'work in progress' as photographs are added or upgraded and missing bits are slotted in. Aiming to be no more than a guide to the figural production of Airfix Products.

Wherever possible it will quash urban myths or commonly held beliefs which are incorrect, most of which have grown-up during the 'Internet Years'.

As many search terms as possible will be used in order that anyone visiting whether familiar with Airfix or a new collector/casual browser will be able to find what they want, either singly or in groups of similar size, period or subject matter using the 'Click-on Index' to the right. Likewise the title-blocks will be as comprehensive as possible so they can be discerned in the 'Blog Archive' feature on the left of the page.

As this is designed to be a sort of second page for the Small Scale World blog, there was going to be no 'comments' feature, but I've enabled it, still, anyone with an issue concerning the factual accuracy of any entry can eMail me with supporting evidence and will be fully acknowledged for any resulting change or update.

I will also not use the Pink/Khaki thing here as I have on the general Blog, I want it to be cleaner and more streamlined, so people can find what they're looking for with ease, although I will date additions if I think it's relevant.

Eventually, every post/page will have the figure set complete, a one-of-each-pose numbered line-up for ready reckoning, a set on the runners ('sprues') - if applicable - box types/artwork, inserts, copies/piracies, comparisons with other versions and other makes, moulding variations, conversions, painted figures both my own (when I get round to them!) and tatty old OBE's (Other Bugger's Efforts) from way back when, close-ups of the vignettes and anything else pertaining to each set I (or you - contributions welcome) feel is relevant, interesting, funny or weird!

1977; [Cold War] Modern British Infantry, 51472-9 / 51572-8 / 9 51572 / 51572 / A02718 - 1:32 Scale (54mm)

Announced in the autumn of 1975 (1976 catalogue) I think, they wouldn't actually see the light of day until 1977, the modern Brit's, along with the Modern Germans and the Medieval Soldiers were among our favourite sets, even if they arrived toward the end of our 'playing' days.

Obviously with a too-long wait for the modern Russians and US troops, the scenario tended to involve the NATO Germans 'going bad' and having to be sorted out by the British set, a bit jingoistic maybe, but; kids huh?!

Limited to only seven poses, they were otherwise  a quite good representation of the British squaddie of the day, and only a few years later (1984) I would myself be garbed in a similar fashion! Consequently I know the weaknesses in the set only too well, and they aren't vast.

We'll look at the webbing/PLCE further down, but suffice to say the gunner is holding the bi-pod legs which he wouldn't because they just come-unclipped and spring-open, if you're going to hold them you hold them more firmly as a 'handle' away from the barrel, also they haven't been sculpted substantially enough, but it's a minor quibble.

More serious is the anti-tank gunner, who should be holding something several times the size! The Karl Gustav 84mm was a huge beast with idiot-legs on a big spring while it's replacement - the MAW80 (Medium Antitank Weapon) was A) equally huge and B) still years away when these were issued, so, like Cherilea's swoppets, the weapon depicted here is a fantasy 'Euroweapon' of the artists imagination, based on a conglomeration of any number of other weapons.

Puttee's would be phased-out quite soon after the issue of this set also; instantly dating it!

The real problem with the set is the belt-order, there are three basic types of belt-order, which - in order of lightness - are;

•  Range-day
• CEFO (Combat Equipment, Fighting Order) 
• CEMO (Combat Equipment, Movement (or 'moving' or 'marching') Order)

Range order would be the two front pouches, a water bottle and - depending upon the whim of the officer or NCO-commanding - the respirator case. Dropping the respirator case was rare (as we had to be ready for WWIII to break out in six minutes - even on a quiet day!), but did occasionally happen.

'Cefo' consisted of all pouches, but no packs or digging tools, while 'Cemo' was the whole bloody enchilada, the full donkey-load, large pack or 'Burgan' and digging tool with probably 50-rounds for the GPMG, maybe a couple of mortar bombs or a grenade or two and (if your luck was in) a spare battery for the radio!

These guys, without exception, have no water bottle pouch (always present) and no respirator case; almost always present? Now I think I'm repeating myself here, as the same criticism is true of the Deetail/Super Deetail figures from Britains, who we've seen on the home-Blog several times . . . and the explanation may have been the same there; the limitations of sculpting?

To wit; that there is no room in the relatively inflexible world of moulded (set) polymers for the respirator case at least, the water bottle should be there, and there is room?

Having just mentioned them; the first of what will be few comparisons, I'm not going to run them next to all that 1950's 'Khaki Infantry' output, they are two far removed from what the Airfix set represents, but maybe we'll look at the late HK additions to Herald's set?

Here you can see the Deetail figures suffer from the same lack of both water bottle pouch and respirator case, but do have the kidney-pouches closer together which is more accurate than the gap seen on Airfix's figures. He's a slightly better pose to, leaning into the recoil.

With all four common or 'production' poses; as mentioned already both ATW firers have some weird thing referencing most of the weapons of the time (1980's), but both are far too small to be the Karl Gustav 84mm of British army use at the time (and the SAS wouldn't have bothered faffing about with such an unwieldy lump of heavy shite), yet are equally too large to be the 'sixty-six' (mm) licence-built US 'Bunker Buster' or 'door-knocker', which doesn't have a venturi either - the cone-shaped bit at the rear.

You can see the Britains figures are heading toward 60mm, and while some of that is explained by the deep, die-cast alloy bases, not all of it is and they are actually quite big lads!

The gunner; as one myself, it's obviously my favourite pose of the seven, but the belt of link round the shoulders is a bit Audey Murphy, good in movies and likely to be seen in the ranks of the late 'Mad' Mike Hoare's mercenaries or their Katangese opponents, but frowned upon in the British Army.

A short belt (15-20 rounds) would be carried in the gun, ready for immediate action / return of fire, the rest of at least 200 rounds would be in the front pouches, with the No.2 having another minimum of 200 on his person (along with his four magazines of 20 for the SLR), the rest of the section being loaded with a minimum of 50-round (quarter) belts each.

The reasons for not carrying belts around like this are myriad, but the obvious ones are;

• Rounds get dirty/damaged and jam the mechanism when used
• Links get semi-parted/stuck/damaged and jam the mechanism when used
• Links break fully and rounds are lost
• Belt gets hooked up on equipment and can't be used quickly
• Belt gets hooked up on equipment which then can't be used quickly
• Percussion cap is accidentally detonated leading to injury or death of gunner or comrade/s
• Can be seen by snipers from miles away
• Are bloody uncomfortable after the first twenty yards
• The rounds and the carrying-strap (missing on the above sculpt but utterly necessary when carrying 26lb's of steel around) can't - practically - occupy the same space

Looks great on a Mexican bandit, but it's a no-no in real life, doesn't stop people draping the stuff all over themselves, whenever they get the chance though, usually around camp/bivouac when 'bombing-up'!

I think these are relatively current Chinese production rather than the Turkish Pilsen (who did pirate some of those later sets - thanks for reminding me Chris Smith), and their quality is too poor for the neighbouring Greece's Solpa, so China looks likely, but I stand to be corrected.

The swansong of Briatins Deetail was really more of a tragic tailing-off, as an attempt to stave-off the advance upon the play-rooms' of the world by ravening hordes of 4, 5 and 6" action figures was met with a stab at popularising 2" action figures, a situation not helped by Britains choosing to anchor their feet and paint them as if they were attending 'Military-Man Monday Mayhem' at the Blue Oyster Club! Indeed, I think the grenade thrower is already halfway through the YMCA dance!

1983; [Cold War/Modern] S.A.S. (Special Air Service), 51578 / 9 51578 / A02720 - 1:32 Scale (54mm)

One of the last figure issues to come out of Airfix, following the old pattern of seven figure sculpts and issued only in 14-figure boxes, you got two-each of most and you have to wonder why you didn't just get pairs of all seven, but actually the officer is 50% rarer and the kneeling firer is 33.3^r% more common than the other five!

And they are unnumbered so we don't know if you were getting most of two tool-shots, or a single runner-worth's of fourteen products? I suspect the latter; it makes sense.

Presumably they were aimed at a market or perceived market resulting from the May 1980 Iranian Embassy siege-break in London, coupled with a bit of Falklands/South Georgia mythology.

The small scale ones would be advertised the next year but never be issued - see section at end of page.

I shot these back in 2008 to shove on evilBay at a 99p-start and I think most went for a couple of quid-each, with the 'officer' maybe going to four-pounds-something? But it meant I had a set in Piacasa with a less than common - for the Blog - background (I know some of my backgrounds are a bit tired now!), it's all a bit sandbaggy!

They are not as rare as the used to appear to be, and often turn-up in mixed lots, while a re-issue in the last few years saw them in an awful troll-shit, purple-blue polymer which made them look like some demented Middle-Eastern SWAT team . . . which may well have been the corporate-thinking behind the choice of that colour!

The figures are wearing what appear to be the (and would still have been in trials) Boot, Combat, High [ankle] or BCH, which weren't fully adopted until August 1984, carrying a passable Heckler & Koch MP5 sub-machine gun (non-standard outside Hereford at the time, the anti-terrorist police still relied on Stirling SMG's or the odd M16), and they all have a rappelling/tying-people-to-chairs rope looped round their body.

A stun-grenade (big bang, few fragments) and a pistol (my father carried a Berretta . . . well, actually he left it under his pillow for my brother and I to find!) in its holster complete the weaponry and they are wearing black-fatigues with a tight hood (pull-cord) over a respirator with side-mounted (left) filter which may be the standard for the time or the replacement S10 which as part of the Combat-80 upgrade also (like BCH, SA80, Kevlar Helmets . . . et al!) filtered into service from the mid-1980's. It may be a non-standard piece, of course, certainly the nose-protrusion is too long for either of the referred service items.

They have thin leather gloves, and a four-magazine pouch for the HK's and a larger pack which seems to be the respirator case - in the infantry worn on the left hip, where it constantly got in the way, especially when vehicles were involved, these guys have their ammo-pouch there and have moved the respirator case round to the small of the back where it's out of the way.

I suspect the jacket (or a 'waistcoat' portion of it) had some padding/protection from fragments but it would have required flexibility not then available with the full 'flack-jackets' which remained bulky and solid into the late 80's.

The irony is that the embassy siege was probably the only time a unit of the SAS were deployed dressed as that, or these chaps, while the guys operating in Northern Ireland would have worn a mix of standard and aftermarket combats or smocks all made from the four-colour, regulation DPM (disruptive-pattern-material) of the time.

 

Late Britains swivel figures, not very nice, and it's only the non-general service issue respirators which make them 'special forces' for the purpose of this comparison. They came with either the milk-chocolate helmets and pale 'aqua' uniforms, or lightly more realistically outfitted with UN helmets, and at one point the same scheme or one very similar was used with late mouldings of the Deetail WWII US Infantry.

In point of fact the webbing is also non-standard, but since these were issued off the back of the Falkland's Conflict and 'The Embassy Siege', most armies have adopted forms of pick-and-mix webbing or PLC (Personal Load-Carrying equipment), and they are almost more contemporary now (2020's), then when they were issued!

The earlier Britains Deetail, however, were somewhat more accurate, but nobody would wear a beret in combat! Also, they are much larger figures, and I've addressed some more points about this line, on the Modern infantry post.

●○●●○●    ●○●●○●     ●○●●○●     ●○●●○●     ●○●●○●

1984; [Cold War/Modern]

S.A.S. (Special Air Service)

9 01761 - 1:72 Scale (25mm)

 

Because it didn't exist except as a marketing idea in a catalogue issued the autumn before the period to which it pertains, there is no point in a separate entry for the HO/OO (or by then '1:72' SAS set, so it might as well go here for those who persist in looking for such stuff!

Advertised in the 1984 catalogue, it never happened.

Had it; it would have been like the Cold War US or Russian sets and the WWII Italians, i.e.; a rather boring selection of multiples of six of the seven 1:32nd scale figures in sixes, sevens or eights, scaled down, with - probably - two officers, and while Airfix had by then adopted (or were about to) the 1:72 scale for packaging, they would almost certainly have been issued in a size closer to 1:76th scale.

But it never happened and that's that.

1975; [WWII] U.S. Paratroopers, 51464 / 51464-8 / 51564-7 / 951564 - 1:32 Scale (54mm)

One of the late sets which received all the poses of the smaller 1:76th scale or 'HO/OO' set, a set which - itself - had a high number of poses, also a set which quite quickly appeared in a second colour, and it seems to be also that like the HO/OO set, the first; Airfix 'neutral' light grey, is more common than the second; Airfix 'army' green colour, suggesting that a top-up (or end-of-run?) of both scales was produced in the green, to use up some green or because the Ghurkhas or someone else green were also going through the production plant?

Much looked-forwards to when I was a kid, it was strangely disappointing when it finally arrived, having far too many figures doing nothing, standing around doing nothing or prone doing not much. But that was an illusion caused by the number of poses and in fact six of them are fighting/firing, which is more than some of the seven-pose sets.

The bottom right-hand trio are Hong Kong copies we will return to down the page.

29 figures in total, all pretty clearly numbered, in a mint set a drum-like ‘sprulette’ should be present on the following prone/lying figures.

·         9 – on the heel of the right foot

·         10 – on the heel of the right foot

·         11 – on right foot

·         12 – on right foot

The set was pirated at least thrice, with interim second-generation copies also resulting, the near same-size copies were issued with a HONG KONG mark on the base undersides, these were further copied, smaller, and issued as generics.

In the UK the larger figures were carried by Henbrandt of North London/East Anglia, and while the card is similar to the generic there are enough differences, not lest that these are passed-off as Germans on a little label-box!

The generic version were probably earlier (but probably only by a few months or a year at the most) due to the fuller/co-ordinated artwork and at least the nationality matches the uniforms this time! Other than the artwork differences, however, these are the same figures as carried by Henbrandt.

Meanwhile, around 1986 (a bit later than the above sets?) the Artform Industrial Co., of the New Territories, also pirated them (probably separately to the other source) with heavier but neater bases and of a smaller size, matching one of my other copy-samples; which is probably a sub-piracy of the Artform set.

Here's a close-up of the three types with those probable Artform sub-piracies in the middle, the larger generic/Henbrandt to the left and Artform's on the right.

Fourteen poses would have allowed the duplicates to be blanked-off the tool when Airfix switched to the 14-figure boxes, ensuring that each box got all the poses.

The 1985 catalogue carried part of the artwork from the rear of the 29-figure boxes, showing a painting of one of the figure poses from both sides and some like-wise rendered militaria.

♪♫♪♪♫ Let's dance . . . pick up your best grenade and dance the blues

Let's dance; to the song they're playin' on the Werffer of Nebels
Let's sway, while color lights up the foxhole
Let's sway, sway through the line to a safe-throwing space!♪♫♫♫♪h

Further digging (in 2020) revealed Hing Fat to be the producer of another set of Airfix copies, almost certainly issued by several other brand-marks and/or as generics - both bags above are anonymised and . . .

. . . here we see a set branded to Billy V, the now defunct (and short-lived in any event) import-arm of the equally defunct Imex. When I say 'import-arm', most of Imex's inventory was import or joint-venture of one sort or another, Billy V were specifically their 'Rack Toy' arm.

Other revalations in late 2019/2020 have resulted in a 4th identified variation, so just when I thought I could put it all to bed, we're still looking for one's ID! Also a new colour, associated with the un-ID'd set has been sent to the Blog!

Courtesy of Chris Smith came these sandy-coloured figures, probably issued as one of two-sides in a larger rack toy, they are similar to the Hing Fat attributed lot, but (with both these and the larger green sample) there are base differences which point to a 4th source.

Base marks as I believe them to be attributable, but nothing is set in stone with this Hong Kong stuff! The figures from '2' & '3' are almost the same but the bases are very different, and it may be that one pirate supplied duplicate tools to two different makers, one of whom was Hing Fat.

Links

http://biblicrafts.blogspot.com/2020/02/airfix-ww2-132-us-paratroopers.html
http://biblicrafts.blogspot.com/2020/03/airfix-ww2-132-us-paratroopers-part-2.html

[WWII / Brush Fire Wars] Australian Infantry, 51458-3 / 1809 / 51558-2 - 1:32 scale (54mm)

At the time of writing (October 2019) I am still way behind with the 54mm entries (I think this will be six of 33?), while lots of the HO-OO stuff still needs text-blurb doing, but I'll keep plugging away and one day it will all be here!

Today it's the Australian Infantry, although they can just as easily be British, New Zealand or any of a number of troops in the Indian- or 14th Army's from about '42 through to 1945, and the main clothing and equipment carried-on into many of the end-of-Empire 'brush fire' wars.

The basic seven, like most of the early sets, all technically World War Two, and while some people credit Cameron with the sculpting I suspect someone else (Stadden?) may have been responsible for the first few 'sevens', Cameron doing the higher pose-count, later sets, and the additional poses for the [Stadden] sets which were reduced to HO-OO in the mid-1970's?

All the 1:32nd scale posts will get one of these (where applicable; not all the sets have obvious cavity indicators) from the never taken to fruition book project, and if you are bidding on an unsealed 'Mint'-described set, it needs to contain one each of the above, colour-matched to within an hair's-breadth of a gnat's-crotch!

While all sets will get one of these! This is the standard contents of a large or 29-figure box.

Compared with JIM's figures; being a French toy maker they are probably representing the troops who lost Indochina in the early 1950's, relying on a string of forts (like, err . . . the Maginot Line!) which the CT annoyingly went round! The chap in shorts could also suit the Algerian campaign . . . which went so much better!

Lone Star back here in the UK were producing a set nearly-all in shorts, which came as Aussies or African Rifles (darker skin tones), but contains mostly the short-wearers who would be unlikely to be found in the Jungle.

Shorts may have been OK back in India, but in the bush you need constant protection from leeches, ticks/kegs (keds), poisonous insects and spiders, ants, snakes etc . . . etc . . . etc . . . so long trousers, puttees, leggings or gaiters were an absolute.

The unpainted one is a Woolworth's sale and the white ones are recent re-issues, they are a tad heavier in the body as well, so while the marching chap (putting real effort into moving his tired bones) is a useful addition, the rest can be left in the Western Desert!

Also a bit well-fed, the Trojan figures do at least have the right apparel, if being a little dark in the material for the OG's (Olive Greens) issued, however the customary looseness of the garments is as well carried-off by Trojan's sculptor as it was by Airfix's.

Almost a better colour, these are believed to have been meant to represent the North African ANZAC forces. All the trojan's are nice sculpts but they lack the finesse of Airfix's figures, and this guy's damaged weapon-tip would make it longer than the Airfix SMLE.

Box art courtesy of Kostas; a solid and determined crew doing a serious job, but the burning hut in the background is rather reminiscent of the German push across the steps of Russia in '41, as covered by Signal magazine!

Timpo, we loved them at the time, but to be honest, they reveal their juvenile credentials when compared to just about any other figures (bar the Cherilea UN troops!) out there; also the fact that they are equipped with things vaguely resembling an FN and some experimental Italian SMG doesn't help! But the officer and the Bren-gunner can thicken the Antipodean ranks, while the rifleman (far-left) can go a bit  'Audie Murphy' with a Bren-LMG wedged in his mitts instead of his rifle.

With eternal thanks to Glenn Sibald we get to compare them to the New Zealand National Army Museum's fund-raising competition figures, neither of which are close, being a turn-of-the-19th/20th-century's colonial militiaman and a desert soldier, also they are a bit smaller, but they are out there.

The Airfix Ghurkha's probably are all Cameron's work, you can see some of the less comfortable poses he tended to include once the 'standards' had been ticked-off, particularly the Kukri 'challenger' and the chap on the far right, this set has more than seven poses but they will get their own page.

A bit of a problem with these; all of it stemming from Paul Stadinger's Blog and it's de' facto N^o2, one Erwin Sell, who though to tell everyone the Ri-Toys (Rado Industries) figures (insipid greens, lumpy sculpting and duplicated posing) were Blue Box, and that the Blue Box conversely, were Rado! Not content to state this as fact once, he managed to repeat it twice more in two different places, ensuring as many people as possible might believe the idiocy.

I can assure you the Blue Box are the better figures in a sandy-tan with the factory-paint typical of the rest of the line, and the smaller, pantograph-reduced lumps are a second generation copy with nothing-more than box-ticking to recommend them.

As they are mostly wearing shorts, it's off to Monty for some of 'em anyway! But note how the Ri-Toys officer is a cut'n'shut of the Blue Box grenade thrower and the Airfix officer (Erwin further claimed it was 'unique Blue Box'), while the marching guy, signaller and MMG-operator can be used with the Airfix and make useful additions, despite being slightly smaller, they fit in quite well, and would - more-so - if all were painted to match.

Although 'small-scale' the two main types of Hong Kong diminutives, were taken from the 1:32nd Scale set, long before Airfix reduced them to HO-OO and added the extra (Cameron) poses, so technically they belong here, being taken only from the original 7 poses, although the figure comparisons will probably go in the HO-set's entry. These are various brandings of the larger of the two types at around 1:72nd scale.

Hans Postler was a German importer (jobber) shipping stuff into France, Germany and the low-countries, from the early (?) 1970's, although enough of their sets appeared over here (before the onset of the Internet) to reason on either a deal with a UK importer, or stock-clearance? And this set is in their later 1980/90's graphics.

Aglow were a late (2000's) French imprint, while I was buying the Toy Galaxy stuff around 1993/4 at a shop in Clapham Junction which is sadly no longer there.

This set dates from the 1980's and was the earlier, smaller (approximately 1:76th scale) set, although the quality is so poor they look like 2nd-generation copies of the larger figures above, they were probably independently pirated. Hong Kong Toy Exporters had offices in Central District, HK, and - as their name suggests - were probably middle-men/agents or shippers.

There are not as many copies in the larger scales as there are of other sets, but with colour variations and the 45mm lot (who can stiffen the backbone of the Rado dwarves!), there's a few to track-down.

I don't have branding for these yet, but they are part of a wider line which includes equal quality/finish Afrika Korps, Japanese and German Infantry also taken from Airfix and they may turn out to be from the Wing Wah Plastic Factory (The inset logo)? I have even less idea on the two smaller ones, but it'll all come out of the wash one day!

 

More on these has been posted here now.

Bird-eye view of the seven figures to finish-off for now.

Thanks' go to Andreas Dittmann for the Aglow set, Glenn Sibald for the NZNAM figures, Kostas for the box-scan, and Bill B, Brian Berke & Peter Evans for info.