L is for Lose-ends

Commonly you would save the lose-ends for the last post in a series, but the lose-ends with Spencer Smith (as opposed to the question marks which litter each post anyway including this one!) are clear; combat and ceremonials.

Starting with the ceremonials and we have err . . . the one pose! It's a nice pose, I'm not sure it was done with Holgar Eriksson's touch, but it may have been? Standing at 'Royal Salute - Present Arms' it may have had the ulterior motive of an 'in' to the tourist trade, but I don't think it ever took-off as such, however a bag of guards was in the lists for most of the plastic years, both from Camberley and Norfolk.

Their real use is for spectacle, line-up a few dozen painted with scarlet jackets and black top n' tails; they would look good . . . I can imagine . . . and err . . . well . . . that's it really; there's little to say about one pose when you have photographs to boot!

And look! Here's one with the equivalent Airfix pose . . . err . . . Did I say they were 30mm? Well - They are 30-milimeters! . . . Does anyone else have anything to add? . . . No?

Early 1980’s Production (approximately 1981?)

Standard Range (1980’s)

- Bag of 30 Grenadier Guards (ceremonial - at ‘Royal Salute/Present Arms’)

Norfolk Years

P27 - 30 Modern British Grenadiers in Full Dress Standing at the “Present”

Not much in the catalogues either!

These were covered here years ago, and it's a poor shot of a few scraps that have come-in over the last few years so I'll only repeat the basics to box-tick.

The sculpts are from Holgar Eriksson, being poses recognisable from various ranges - SAE, Tradition and the Comet's copied by that Argentine outfit Birmania and they actually pre-date the guardsmen above, being advertised by Spencer Smith quite early.

There was a small re-issue of these toward the end of the plastic era, although I'm not sure when (late 1990's?), they are in the shiny grey plastic of a lot of that era's stuff, and have striations or machine-marks on the bases making them easy to separate from the earlier figures, especially the grey ones! They weren't listed at the time?

Mid 1970’s Production (approximately 1974)

Standard Range

Modern Army

- Bag of 80 Infantry (assorted officers, riflemen, mortar gunners, machine gunners etc., etc.)

Early 1980’s Production (approximately 1981?)

Standard Range (1980’s)

Modern Army

- Bag of 30 Modern Infantry

Internet/Metal Years

[Unlisted but available?]

Spencer Smith – Combat Infantry Poses, 30mm range

Generic US M1/NATO helmet, 1950/60’s

- Officer, running, waving, taking pistol out of holster

- Kneeling mortar loader, with bomb, loading

- Kneeling MG No.1, firing

- Kneeling mortar/MG No.2, with binoculars

- Kneeling, Bazooka No.1

- Kneeling, Bazooka No.2, with round, loading

- Kneeling with shell, medium (60mm/25lbr type)

- Standing with shell, large (100/120mm type

- Throwing grenade, SMG

- Standing ready, ammo box and rifle ‘easy’ [smooth base or finger-print base]

- Running, bayonet fitted to rifle, right foot raised high behind

- Advancing, bayonet fitted to rifle, both feet on the ground

- Advancing, SMG

British Mk I-II/American ‘Brodie’ Helmet

- Advancing, Flame-thrower (double-tank type)

- Kneeling, firing rifle

- Kneeling, loading bomb in 2-inch/51mm ‘knee’ or trench mortar

Equipment

- Machine-gun (Hotchkiss?)

- Infantry-mortar (Generic 80mm/3 Inch)

Colours – so far identified