P is for Potpourri of Plastic Peeps! Modern Combat Types

Toy and Model soldiers; where it all started! Onwards and upwards as they say, with the next batch of donated figures from Chris Smith's last parcel, and we're into khaki military, but as I've added some sailors it's really 20th/21st Century!

 

Two Toy Story chaps flank the last Blue Box WWII figure I needed to complete an at-least-one-of-each sample of them, and it wasn't the usual 'I don't need this so you can have it' donation from his purchase sorting, it was a 'I have one you can have' from Chris's collection, so double thanks for this chap. I have quite a few, painted and unpainted, but they are all missing their mine-detector, which is too easy to pull-off, or be short-shot in the moulding-tool.

 

Not sure if I have the other two, but there were several sets over the years, and until I get them all together, I won't know!

I think these are Pilsen from Turkey, but the Solpa figures from Greece (next door) can also have the contouring on the base some of these have, and as Solpa also sourced capsule-toy robots and Hong Kong small-scale stuff, it may prove to be that Solpa were using Pilsen?

A mixture here, with a Galloob Micro-man, some HK chaps, a bubble-gum premium and what appears to be a homemade/home cast clone of a French plastic? The two HTI's (right) both have the base marks we looked at briefly a few years ago, but they are different marks, so when I get round to an HTI A-Z page, there will be a few of them to study!

These are second generation copies of New Ray, I think, I got quite excited about a couple of the poses a few years ago, following one of Chris's earlier parcels, but more have come in, overtime, and they are less exciting now, maybe, but there seem to be two tranches/sources, so there will be a full article one day!

Arguably common, but there are many, many variations of these mid-80's rack-toy clones of Airfix British paratroopers, with or without beret/helmet conversions (at the factory) and in dozens of sizes and many plastic colours, so always welcomed for the final sort-out!

Kit figures, two Aurora Russians on the left, and two early (1950's) 'box-scale' on the right, but the chap in the middle is new to me, a scale-up of the Nitto 1:76th German (which was a copy of the earliest Tamiya German set I think?), and in a 'German' blue-grey plastic? All five are glueable, brittle polystyrene.

Probably Kwong Shing  (Kamley-Kositoys-KS) figures, but these coloured ones are less common, and well worth adding to the stash for the final A-Z line-ups! Here, oxide red and grey, rather than the silver we've seen before, I think?

Still need set titles or a maker's marque for these Hong Kong sailors, originally thought to be Navy or Police, for a while, and in discussion with other collectors, the turning-up of the semaphore chap rather confirms the former at the expense of the latter, and probably from a 1980's big-box naval vessel or aircraft-carrier playset? they are around 18/20mm.

B is for Beach Buggys [sic]!

When I was a kid I always wondered what '[sic]' or '(sic)' meant after a word or phrase, and while I did ask the odd adult from time to time, I clearly didn't ask the right ones (with 4-billion people to the left of the bell-curve [phrase du jour!], there's a lot of pretty thick adults out there, people; be careful!), and while I kept meaning to look it up, I'd never remember to, when a dictionary was nearby!

Eventually, when I started my Encyclopedia of Military Abbreviations (don't ask, several box-files of shite, all in long-hand, several formats/part-drafts and unlikely to ever be finished, but it probably kept me out of various troubles!), I did finally look it up! I'm sure many of you, too, now know what it means, but for those who don't - from the good old Oxford English;

 

Used in brackets after a copied or quoted word that appears odd or erroneous to show that the word is quoted exactly as it stands in the original, as in a story must hold a child's interest and ‘enrich his [sic] life’ or a hero of antient [sic] Rome.

 

In our case, here, the word should, correctly, be 'Buggies' or 'Buggy's', not the given Buggys. Now I know one or two idiots across the pond will assume I'm having a go, specifically at America/American and that therefore I'm being "racist" (again!), but I'm not, I'm just correcting an incorrection* in the correct manor [sic], because I like a bit of correctness!

*Noun. incorrection f (plural incorrections) a fault, default or impropriety, especially of language. State of what is incorrect. (dated) Character of what goes against courtesy and politeness (Heeheehee! The Rubenstein card is impolite!).

 

Rubenstein's Dune Buggys [sic]; As you can see, they - like ALL Rubenstein sets - have a stock code (3004), and you can find them in single colour sets and multicolour sets, two production tranches or one quirky production run? If anyone knows it will be Kent Sprecher, hopefully he'll tell us, with empirical supporting evidence, in his forthcoming, world-saving, Hugh-beating, article of grand-importance?

Six different designs, very much in the style of Rosenhain and Lipmann from Australia, but are not R&L, and are not claimed as such by the R&L experts. R&L did do vehicle sets including the Dragsters which are certainly in the same vein, but where R&L have lots of fine parts (or several per kit - wheel hubs and axles in particular), these are much simpler kits.

Unlike some of the other vehicle sets from Rubenstein which are a softer polyethylene, mine are in a hard 'kit' polystyrene, however the multicolour set may be the opposite, and it might be that they all got issues in both plastic-types/colour-ways, I don't know, but hopefully Kent will tell us everything, about everything, all at once?!

 

I should point out, before some bottom-burping oaf in Pennsylvania hysterically reports "Ah-Haa, they've all got a name he didn't tell us!", that they all have a name and I haven't told you, only because I forgot to write them down before they went to storage, life is too short and it gives us an excuse to return to them another day! Like when I build the other four . . . I was in a hurry, this all happened about a year ago, you know? I can't presage the idiocy of idiots, 24/7/365.

 

R&L did however, supply Aurora with their little kits, at the same approximate time Rubenstein were carrying their Dune Buggys [sic]! Sold as Snap-a-roos, they were the cereal premium sets, as sixes, sold in little boxes, which is how these (and similar domestically produced) sets were also issued in Italy.

But then 'Burns' reports this group of three, apparently simple, small, clip-together kits as being announced in the 1973 Lindberg catalogue (or catalog, not a '[sic]', but an accepted foreign variation of English), which was subsequently never issued. The feeling being that they were supposed to be, or seemed to have a connection with; the eponymous 'Kilroy' of World War II fame.

 

Which, applying TJF's logic must mean there's a Kilroy 'of The World' fame, out there too! And can you hear that scratching noise in the background? That's Sprecher quickly adding a paragraph to his Magnum Opus! He's probably added several in the last seven days.

That they (the Aurora set) never appeared and Rubenstein's wouldn't appear until sometime in or after '77, suggests that the Rubenstein set, was whatever was left after the above three pre-production artworks went through the production process, those driver/Kilroy figures would have required much more complicated (and therefore expensive) tooling for undercuts &etc . . . so there is a possibility they were simplified into this set . . . but I stress, that it's casual musings on the subject, not canon-history or any fact of any kind.

Another candidate for the Aurora no-shows is this similar set from R&L, but again, not these, and again; fine parts, a feature. However, there are similarities in one or two of the main-parts, with both the Lindberg drawings and the Rubenstein set, so who knows; Burns didn't, I don't, Sprecher doesn't, The R&L guys don't and TJF never will!

H is for How They Come In - April I - Chris - Combat Armymen!

So to actual toy soldiers and military model figures, for those loyal readers with stricter criteria to their collecting! And this lot had some real treats in it . . .

I've seen the two on the left somewhere in a catalogue I think, they are copies of Airfix (obviously) but quality is a cut-above the usual rack-toy 'armymen', the material too, which is probably polypropylene rather than 'ethylene and paint has been added at the production stage - anyone recognise them?

The mine-clearer also is interesting as while he pulls from both Tim Mee and MPC sculpting, he seems to be a unique pose, while in the background three Kamley/Kosi/KS types, in blue, for the Khaki Infantry page which is overdue for a major update (stuff from Chris, Brian and others), but which won't now happen for a while yet.

These were a real treat, and that's the official paint-job! Polands PZG copied the Airfix Paratroops and issued them in several colour-schemes, of which this was the leeriest by a country mile! Seven poses are known - click on 'Żołnierze' and then 'Spadochroniarze brytyjscy'.

It took me a minute to remember why I'd shot this guy in close-up, but Chris reminded me it was marked Macau (yes, I should have shot the mark and collaged them, but they are off in storage now!), I think I may have had another come-in, but can't remember if it was the same pose or the running guy, nor indeed, if it isn't the same figure confusing me as everything was being sorted and moved back in the summer, but unusual to have rack-toys marked Macau.

Aurora Sherman, a spring-loaded pistol, they also came as key-rings and are plastic copies of die-cast novelties, also from Hong Kong and also available carded or as key-rings. Another revolver; a cheap action-figure pistol (or Christmas cracker prize?) and a helicopter who probably belongs on the deck of a largish-scale aircraft-carrier, 'big-box' toy? The tank-trap (Czech hedgehog) is Matchbox I think, but fully compatible with the similar Aurora ones.

The de rigueur seated figures - the more the merrier as there seem to be lots of originators beyond the Payton history, and many colours! The larger one may be Hong Kong, while the yellow chap is jeep crew , definitely from HK, and again several variants. A Marx soft-plastic Brit' from the later window-boxes and a 1:48th scale German tanker completes the line-up.

The kit figure could be Bandai or Nichimo, who both had ranges in that size back in the 1960's, as I know more of the Bandai kits; I suspect he might actually be Nichimo? But other 1:48th makes were around, and in recent years it (the scale)'s seen a resurgence, so I'm only musing out loud!

Already seen elsewhere, a nice line-up of parachute troopers, they will - in time - all be sorted onto that page, which is on sabbatical for a while, due to real-life circumstances, but of interest here are the two on the right-hand-side with their weapons in their hands, the smaller ones tended to get a few issues - gum-ball machines, Christmas crackers and make-weights in larger carded rack-toys.

The small one on the end is almost certainly a cracker prize, and as always - I couldn't share it with all of you if Chris hadn't sent it in the first place, so many thanks to him.

L is for Look Upon Our Wonders Ye Hobbyists and Purchase!

A real oddity today . . . and a real survivor! I believe this is an old Aurora shop-window display model, from the early days of both model kits and hobby stores, and has managed to survive a transatlantic crossing with no more damage than two broken block & tackle lifting-rings, both of which I have in a little self-seal bag somewhere!

And the transfers, the original waterslide transfers are being slowly shed like the last fragments of a snake's old skin! Although the modern Atlantis re-issue has the same sheet on better quality stock!

Back in the day, the early plastic kit manufacturers - Adams (Revell/Frog), Hawk, Monogram, Pyro, SNAP and Aurora, (among others) - would set out-workers to constructing so many of each new kit, which would be sent out to adorn the windows or display cabinet's of selected hobby shops to show the finished article.

A basic paint job was added along with a full set of transfers (as per the instructions!), in this case a reasonably austere scheme of black and silver . . . yes, I know, but you should see the gloss Buckingham or racing-green some of them got! It was a different era, and the companies knew 'little Johnny' might be using a tin of household gloss from the garage!

A few highlights. The construction is professional (clearly liquid-poly has been used - long before it was commercially available), everything has been properly trimmed back, all flash and gate marks cleaned-up and the paint seems to have been airbrushed on the runners and touched-up only where necessary, the highlights on the rear deck achieved with a printers roller and only a team building the same kit all day could get the tracks that perfect . . . oh, is that just me . . . Mr. Gardenglove Fingers!

I don't know if these are worth much, after-all you can still buy the kit  most days of the week somewhere on the secondary-market as about three Aurora boxings, two (?) Lindberg or the current [full price!] Atlantix and make it how you want it, so it's probably more of a curiosity? And . . . when you find those 1:30th/1:50th hard 'styrene crew figures in a rummage box, with a basic flesh, silver and gloss black paint-job, they probably came from display models?

1:48th scale, M-46 General Patton Medium/Heavy Tank . . . it just managed to be an M-[19]45! And if you do find one the Atlantis is a slightly different moulding (but matches late Aurora tooling) with the MG placed forwards, two (too thick) aerials added and some other, lesser changes

B is for Brexidiocy

So, today is my Birthday. I don't need congratulations, it comes round all too regularly and the recurrence can't apparently be stopped, or even slowed down, so I am rather resigned to its annual appearance, tap-tap-tapping away at my left-time!

However; our useless premier had decided to make sure the day is forever seared into my brain as one to avoid by choosing to make it Brexidiocy Day too! At some point in the course of today, our relatively unelected Prime Minister will tell the rest of Europe we don't want to play in the same sandpit any longer.

For those who haven't been following UK domestic politics, or European wide politics; Brixidiocy Day is the day when the Brexidiots (just over half the voting population) subject the rest of us to their naive, politically ignorant, economically illiterate vision of a future of flag-waving little-Englanderism, where Albion shall march forward unstoppable toward a bright future as the head of BE2.0* as it sheds first Scotland, then Ireland and eventually Wales and Cornwall (or Kernow as it will likely be renamed).

* British Empire Two-point-nought

Yes, we are to leave the organisation we spent 20 years trying to join while the French said "NON!", the organisation which - once we had jointed - we then spent every waking hour whinging-in, complaining about, upsetting the other members- and/or vetoing the legislative program- of! When we weren't negotiating a rebate no one else asked for (or got) or trying - in the latter years - to get the Poles and Hungarians to help us push-through something legislatively ugly, intolerant or slightly fascist!

The nationalism of the Brexidiots is worn as a cloak to disguise their bigotry and xenophobia, their fantasy of BE2.0 at odds with 2,000 years of democratising and 100 years of pulling back from Empire which has lead to the relative safety of globalisation - what are we going to do? Renationalise Kenya, re-conquer India?

They hate that Nigerians, or Brazilians or even Canadians might have or can have what they have, or that they can compete in the boardroom for it, or the chance to have it, or that in order to both help the less fortunate AND save the planet, we might have to get by on slightly less, or accept reduced levels of consumerism.

It is the ending of 'Great' Britain, the beginning of the break-up of the Union and an isolationism which will leave us on the fringes of International affairs, ignored, ridiculed or pitied by turn.

While I would not want to be accused of trivialising or denigrating the terrorist attack on Westminster the other day, it is a fact that Mrs. May's speech that evening from the steps of No.10 was cringe-worthy, equating a nutter's misguided strike against what he perceived as 'Christian Authority' with Britains reputation around the world! Apparently written by someone else - and irrespective of how stilted her reading of it was - it was clearly a party election broadcast on behalf of the Brexidiocy.

And far from 'not winning' the terrorists are having a massive effect on 'Western Democracy' as we have seen in Britain with the Brexidiots and in the USA with Trumpton. The dumb descendants of the dumb people who put monkeys on trail as French spies, or who decided a drowned woman wasn't a witch, but a bedraggled, choking one, still tied to a wet stool, was; are now dictating national policy!

To talk of not running away; even as we run away, is obtuse, to talk of unity as we herald break-up and disharmony is fatuous, to pontificate about togetherness as we push away is retarded.

The 52% are guilty of manifest cowardice, and they will find that there is nowhere to run to, we've just left our mates in the next room while we lock ourselves in the bathroom and ring Uncle Sam: "Will you come and help us out?"!

Happy Brexidiocy Day! God could help us . . . but he doesn't exist!

I'll spend the day sorting Aurora for my sins. 

A is for Aurora, Allied & Axis Armour, Amphibious Assault on Anzio and Anti-Aircraft AFV

Today's topic was the subject of the first ever post on this Blog (dated now!), and while a few people would have seen it while scrolling, when it was still on the first few pages, the last time I looked it still only had 26 targeted hits! As we clear the million hits and approach the 1,500th post there will be occasions when we revisit something that was pretty-well covered the first time, and this is one of those occasions...

I only have the three cards, I'm assuming there was at least a fourth, for the Patton, maybe (but unlikely) a fifth - with a jeep; or two? Clearly copies of Roco-minitanks, they are each attached singly to the same card, which is overprinted with the content's title.

The Anzio Beach kit, filled - in the American style - with lots of 'stuff' to make it more of a 'play set', reused the Pz.Kpfw.IV chassis for a Whirlwind self-propelled flack-platform, but the tracks and wheels were really buggered-about with, and no hidden carpet-wheels were provided.

Comparison between the treatments of the underside, I can only conclude that a second vehicle was copied with little or no recourse to the first design . . . and that's assuming the better one came first, maybe it was a latter improved addition. As far as I know the Flakpanzer never got a carded issue, and the Mark Four never got included in either of the two kit/sets which carried the other vehicles; Anzio Beach and Rat Patrol.

The Panther however, came carded AND in both kit-sets, with one at Anzio and two more trying to prevent a pair of 'Rat Patrol'  jeeps from conquering North Africa or; a bunch of tea-time entertainment, Hollywood forgettable's forgotten's take credit for the exploits of the LRDG (Long Range Dessert Group) and SAS!

Again the carded vehicle has hidden wheels while the kit version has none, but here - the Panther - is of better quality overall than the Wirbelwind, but still of poorer finish than the carded example.

Part counts of the kit vehicles are simple; indeed the jeep has more parts than any of the tracked vehicles and even the landing craft! The carded versions getting the additional two hidden wheel/axle combo's.

Again we see a drop-off of quality with the kit version, the two locating slots and the tabs that connect with them being particularly obvious, much rougher and needing cleaning to work properly, apart from the Pz.IV as noted above, all the others seem to be copies of the originals, that is: the carded copies of Roco were then copied for the kits...maybe someone had scrapped the moulds in a moment of madness, however as also touched on above: it may be that the carded ones were letter, cleaner re-designs?

When HO worlds collide!

The Aurora road-tanker in the US slot-racing scale of 1:64th HO, refuels the tank copied from a European 1:90th'ish railway HO which through the late sixties/1970's would be formalised at 1:87th, while an Airfix 'tankie' in a nominal 1:76th HO/OO looks on, he's actually toward the OO/1:72nd end of that particular HO scaling!

Yet they all look OK together . . . the AFV a bit small, but . . . who cares? A few more figures spread about would pull everything together a bit better.

The Patton which I assume had a carded version, these are the two colours of the Anzio Beach sets (the Germans always in grey), and neither have carpet-wheels. Rather anachronistic for Anzio, it was nevertheless the star of many 1960's/'70's war movies (sometimes on both sides . . . the Germans always in grey!), courtesy of the Spanish, Greek, Turkish or Portuguese armies!

Below them the equally anachronistic M38 (?) jeeps, which I suspect didn't get a carded version. Interestingly, the rather tatty Rat Patrol one at the back is a different moulding from the two Anzio variants, with tabs on the otherwise finer windscreen, so again; to get it on the Rat Patrol frame/runner ('sprue') it was re-cut.

The final vehicle from the two kit-sets; A landing craft, which would look more at home on an African river-crossing (sans pom-pom!) than a WWII beach assault landing, but it's a useful asset to war-gamers none the less!

Aurora - rather cheekily - actually included the copy of the Airfix 1st version US Marine's rubber boat in their vehicle total for the Anzio kit, but I'm proceeding on the assumption  you know what that looks like! If you don't: it's on the Airfix Blog.

T is for Tanker Truck

The 1956 Ford F800 V8 Big Job with 'Conventional' cab to be exact...I'm informed? By Aurora. The same tanker-trailer 'semi' ('artic') was made available as a gasoline (petrol) tanker with a 1951/3 White's CoE (Cab-over-Engine) unit which now looks like a 1930's Sci-Fi movie model rather than a real truck!

In this configuration it was sold as a Milk Tanker and I have the transfers, but feel wont to use them when they are probably of more value/interest remaining on the backing paper...and they've yellowed quite severely so would probably break-up if I tried to slide them of the sheet?

They were sold as 'S-scale' (actually a gauge; 7/8ths of an inch between rails representing 4'8"s) which equates to 1:64th (one of the two US 'HO' sizes!), with figures around 27mm, this was a popular gauge between HO and O, with American Flyer being one company that specialised in the size.

Chunky parts, wheels turn, hood (bonnet) opens that's about it really, bit of a box-ticker, due to it's size it could be seriously 'Mad Max'ed' for Road Wars or something in 28mm Role Play...but find your own...vandal!

S is for Sherman

"General" Sherman to the soldiers of the North, "Ronson" to the soldiers of the Normandy breakout! The most common toy/model tank after the Tiger, and coming in all scales and levels of accuracy!

Left to right we have the Matchbox 17lbr. 'Firefly' the Airfix ready-made Firefly and a HaT Sherman. The Matchbox model is a nice one and I've stuck a few sandbags on the front as they did!

This is an Atlantic clip-together (their answer to ready-mades, but with little bits to lose!), she's sitting next to two of the recent Corgi die-casts, one in desert/Tunisian colours, the other more suitable to the Normandy bridgehead.

This slightly more eclectic line-up consists of an 'antiqued' pencil-sharpener 'gift' (with a crude dozer-blade and the suspension of a Pz.II Luchts!!! Not to mention a copy of the Matchbox commander?), next to that is a Hong Kong toy around 1:80, this has a late war turret, and similarities with the Playart toys, but is not from the same range, nor is it marked with anything familiar (W.T. 310?). Finally the little Sherman from the Aurora Anzio Beach model kit/play set, compare this with my first post which showed the carded version of this model.

A comparison shot between the Airfix and Atlantic polythene models, detail on the Airfix one is much better than the Atlantic offering, but the Italian toy has better proportion, the British effort seems a bit flat and/or too wide, so giving the impression it's been trodden on by a giant!

A is for Aurora

I wanted to put something special up for my first post, and have spent some time looking for interesting things to post. Now being settled in a new home and busy putting the equivalent of three collections together as one, I came across the old box marked "Tubs, 24, 1 of 3 - ready-made vehicles" and the top tub was these Military Midgets from Aurora, which I think are pretty unusual?

They seem to be Copies of the old Rocco-Minitanks vehicles, and are basicly the same as the vehicles in the two sought after playsets; Rat Patrol and Anzio. Very simple clip-together construction and a poor finish coupled with the scale (approximately 1:87/HO guage) makes them curious toys rather than 'models'. All are marked under the base with the Aurora oval logo.

They were not the only people to copy these vehicles, and unmarked versions turn up from time to time. The Midori push-and-go 'kits' were also based on Roco, and I sometimes suspect Manurba (Manfred Urban) of up-scaleing the Panther and Sherman, as produced by Roco for their larger (closer to 1:72) range. Blue-box also copied some Roco stuff, mostly the post-war US tanks.