T is for Thin Composition Line!

Mentioned in passing once or twice recently, these are the latest 'probably' Zang discovery, made by Adrian at Mercator Trading, who spotted them while cataloging a recent SAS auction.  I say probably as there's no sure and certain guarantee they are Zang, but that applies equally to about half the stuff attributed to them anyway! For now; they are considered Zang.

Ceremonial Guardsmen (with pop-guns!) in a vague 40mm, composition, and - in a sample of 21 - all the same pose. Possibly used to accompany a coronation coach in lead as street-lining figures?

Did Timpo issue such a thing? We know of all the others with metal or plastic figures from both the 1937 (? '36?) and '53 coronations, and the '77 Jubilee, but I don't know about Timpo?

Here compared (above) with two other believed to be Zang's, the 35mm Colonial/WWI era Highlander and the 50mm'ish New York cop, while below are a few bases. The colour of the base material is the same on all - a brownish-khaki where weathered, a pale grey where newly damaged.

As always, these types look better 'en-mass'!

Have I ever bored you with my street-lining tale? 1985, President of Mexico, somewhere down Victoria Street I think I ended-up, anyway; it takes ages to march-up to where you're needed, then the chief drill-instructor of the Guards Division (sort of RSM of the whole known universe) comes down the line with his swagger-stick, pacing-out everyone to within an inch, telling the odd chap to get lost in the crowd (to rejoin in his spot after the motorcade passes - or the end-drill wouldn't work), and moving everyone else.

Then you stand there for hours waiting for something to happen, occasionally being told to change arms, or stand at ease, until eventually you start to hear shouted orders coming toward you from what you assume is the general direction of Heathrow, eventually you're brought to Royal Salute - Present Arms yourself, the motorcade passes (in about fifteen seconds!) and you have to do all the complicated drill (quarter-guards in threes, splitting to two's and counting themselves off from the rear - like the dying patrol in Jungleburger - "Goddamn motherfucking mosquitoes, goddamn motherfucking flies") in reverse and march back to Horseguards for a late lunch!

It's a good illustration of how we've got it so wrong - as a species - a street-lining for a foreign dignitary probably costs more than keeping several Primary Schools open for a year?

Thought for the day - gap for the unit, no gap for the place? Who'd learn English!