Well, as it's Christmas I thought I'd cover an oldie but a
goodie! Issued in 1958, these were supposed to be the first of a range of plastic figures to be added to the metal range of
Trooscale '
Lilliput' model railway figures by
William Horton (for
William Britains).
They were first issued in this slightly '
Toblerone' shaped triangular prism packaging, and a counter pack of 48 figures (6x8 poses), fully painted in the same scheme as their 54mm brethren (upon which they were based, if not just
pantographed down from!).
They were also sold as an unpainted set in this small 'envelope' sized pack with eight separate windows, the range/series/set (?) was pretty much dead at birth as
Airfix had already started producing 40/50 figures/items per set for about the same money as these!
The eight poses. As can be seen they are not only the same size as their larger donors, but bare a remarkable resemblance to the
Airfix Combat Group issued a few years later. They are - like most 1950's toy 'khaki' infantry - modelled on the School of Infantry 'Demonstration Battalion' down at
Warminster, being
equipped with the experimental/trials
EM 2 Bullpup design Assault Rifle, the - then - brand new '58 pattern webbing with large pack, 'bum-roll' & kidney pouches and the late WWII helmet, which would soldier-on (excuse the pun!) until at least 1987 (when I surrendered mine for the itchy-piss-pot that was/is the Kevlar replacement!).
Rear view of three different colour treatments, some collectors think the gloss ones were not issued by
Britains as the 54mm never got such a painting, but as they keep turning up in different shades - as above - I think they did, probably toward the end of their period of availability, to try to make them stand out on the shop rack and sell?
They were first issued in this slightly 'Toblerone' shaped triangular prism packaging, and a counter pack of 48 figures (6x8 poses), fully painted in the same scheme as their 54mm brethren (upon which they were based, if not just pantographed down from!).
They were also sold as an unpainted set in this small 'envelope' sized pack with eight separate windows, the range/series/set (?) was pretty much dead at birth as Airfix had already started producing 40/50 figures/items per set for about the same money as these!
The eight poses. As can be seen they are not only the same size as their larger donors, but bare a remarkable resemblance to the Airfix Combat Group issued a few years later. They are - like most 1950's toy 'khaki' infantry - modelled on the School of Infantry 'Demonstration Battalion' down at Warminster, being equipped with the experimental/trials EM 2 Bullpup design Assault Rifle, the - then - brand new '58 pattern webbing with large pack, 'bum-roll' & kidney pouches and the late WWII helmet, which would soldier-on (excuse the pun!) until at least 1987 (when I surrendered mine for the itchy-piss-pot that was/is the Kevlar replacement!).
Rear view of three different colour treatments, some collectors think the gloss ones were not issued by Britains as the 54mm never got such a painting, but as they keep turning up in different shades - as above - I think they did, probably toward the end of their period of availability, to try to make them stand out on the shop rack and sell?
2 comments:
if i´m not wrong the brand A Call to arms does these exact figures in 1/72
Yes they got hold of the mould and re-issued them in a rather fetching dark jade green!
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