Q is for Question Mark - 'BRITISH' Composition

I posted one of these the other day as a comparison with the larger Brent figures (the opposite shot is below) and said at the time - we'd be looking at some more, which is what we are about to do, not many but enough.

These are they, and only the four have turned-up so far, now, this post was originally going to be entitled B is for Brent, Not!, for the simple reason that if you saw these alone, being maybe not that familiar with actual Brent, you'd be forgiven  for thinking they WERE Brent.

Points of similarity include the early war uniform with respirator-case on chest, the brown/green, contrasting-blob, paint-job on the bases and the nails/panel-pins for weapon-barrels.

But, Brent use the heads of their nails for muzzles/flash-eliminators in both sizes, this outfit hasn't; the uniforms date the figure manufacture to the war, not necessarily to a maker; while a lot of toys, both sides of the channel and the pond had contrasting-blob paint-jobs at the time, reflecting the types of camouflage found on vehicles since the First World War, and - at the time these were made - being applied to military installations, civil port and aerodrome facilities, hangers and whole factories the length and breadth of the land/s.

The front bi-pod is certainly Brent-like, or after-Brent, but Brent never marked their figures (or I've yet to find a marked one) while these all have a proud 'BRITISH', prominent on the edge of the base.

When he saw one the other day Chris Smith made the acute observation that they look a bit like the Lilo plastic lumps of the post-war, beach-toy era, and I think he's got a point! Not maybe the firm; Lilo (PB Cow & Co., traceable to 1815) were a rubber manufacturer, and even if affected by wartime privations, would have been too busy with respirators, rubber boats and life-preservers, to have the time or inclination to tool up for a few composition toys in an unused corner of the factory - and these are - overall - a better quality finish than Brent's production, partly due to their size, but nevertheless, decent tooling would help and that didn't come cheap.

So it's probably that the same unsung sculptor jobbed both sets of figures, particularly as the Lilo figures (which one would probably place after 1947?)* have the by then anachronistic uniform also seen on these. Certainly Chris's observation holds water - I'll tack the Lilo figure on at the bottom to compare.

* Graces have them exhibiting at the 1947 British Industries Fair, they had registered an inflatable air-bed in '36, but went on to become leaders in Air-sea rescue equipment (above mentioned boats and vests), as well as manufacturing parts for the De Havilland Mosquito, the air bed is in the '47 catalogue, and advertised in a beach-setting in the '49 (which does list "Toys & Games"), but (polyethylene?) plastic buckets don't appear until '52, a more likely date for other beach-toys which may have included the military figures, but Garratt (JG) does recon '49.

The opposite of the shot we looked at the other day; Brent's 60mm 'big-boy' is dwarfed by the unknown 80-mil giant, who is arguably better proportioned and has ears . . . and fingers!

The Lilo's (also around 75/80mm if memory serves?) in my collection, sorry; it's an old image we've seen before, but I've brightened it up a bit. To back up Chris's theory, he has the same Chuchillian 'boiler-suit' (so do the Brent's) and the weird 'step' in the respirator-case the unknown composition's also have, but the Brent's don't - in either size . . .

. . . while against; the Lilo has finer detail and almost no puttee, but it's a different technology and - if it is the same guy - the sculptor presumably had the best of half-a-decade to improve his style/technique?

And maybe he was going for a bloused-trouser end; there was a lot of it about at the end of the war you know, I think we got it off the Yanks? Bloody Yanks - coming over here, teaching us how to dress properly and dance the Swing; it was a slippery slope that's ended with Boris's daily-lies and Brwreakshit!