Heller is for Forma-plast and probably not Xiloplasto...

. . . but they might still, also be Chromoplast, but not now actually Heller! And they may only be Forma-plast in late, unpainted, rack-toy style carded bags? This is pulling together everything from two or three (?) previous posts going back to the early days of the Blog, along with my efforts in Google Translate and leaves just as many questions hanging as previous stabs at it, but also . . . maybe . . . a little more clarity?

The box again but collaged more sensibly than last time! This was why I had pencilled them in as Heller (and why Heller will remain in the tag list!), but translating the text below the giant 'a' gives us;

Auguri di mondadori, Per dipingere I soldatini si consigliano le vernici Heller

(actual text)

Mondadori wishes, To paint Toy soldiers are recommended Heller paints

(direct translation)

Mandatory advice

For painting the figures we recommend Heller paints

(full translation?)

So it seesm Heller were only mentioned in passing, although the large logo being included would suggest money crossed palms somewhere?

Also we have the large a-logo, as none of the brands (Forma-plast, Heller, Landi-Cromoplasto, ROplast Partenopea, Xiloplasto) previously linked with this set start with an 'A', that only serves to confuse? Is it a logo; does anyone know the branding?

The contents of the box; As unpainted figures, they are not rare, appearing as these boxed sets (I've seen or know-of four or five over the years), as rack-toys on runner and as rack-toys loose in sets and singly-packed with the artwork of the specific figure on the card. They are a dense 'Hong Kong' style polyethylene or -propylene and depict Italian Carabinieri through the ages.

From left to right the figures are

Carabinieri

012 - Carabinieri in Cavalry Uniform, 1814
013 - Officer in Full Dress, 1833
014 - Carabinieri in Cavalry Uniform of 1838
015 - Marshall of Carabinieri, Foot, 1876
016 - Carabinieri Officer in Dress-down Uniform, 1927
017 - Carabinieri Officer in Full Dress Uniform, 1938
018 - Carabinieri of the Viceroy's Guard, Occidental Africa, 1939
019 - Carabinieri Officer (Colonial Administration), Africa 1939
020 - Officer in Cavalry Full Dress Uniform, 1940
021 - Carabinieri Staff Officer, Foot Guards Dress Uniform, 1940

I despair for the state of the pink monkeys!

Carabinieri [Carabineers] are (or were) heavily-armed cavalry of the Napoleonic (and other) periods, but I think I'm right in saying they survive in modern-day Italy as a Gendarmerie-equivalent national or federal police, or paramilitary police-force.

Carabiners or Karabiners are climbing aids!

The painting sheet included in the box; also reproduced on the backs of the card hangers of the rack toys, or singly with the individually-bagged figures. A correspondent in a previous post suggested there was never a painted issue, but I disagree, as the figures depicted here in the photographs are as-good-as if not identical to . . .

. . . these figures, and both others I've seen elsewhere and others further down the page! The painting is also too constant, too practiced, yet too formulaic to be an amateur's work, whether a good painter or bad! These are commercially painted by the same workshop/team who painted the figures for the card, the only difference is the lack of 'coverage' of the dark blue paint.

Also; there's the obvious link between these and the sculptor of the Atlantic Greeks (probably also the Egyptians) and late sets in the WWII and Wild West lines, which is why I raised the ROplast connection, as they cleared old/surplus Atlantic at some point.

I happened to number the small scale versions of the next lot first, so I'll lead with them and then we'll look at the larger ones. Again I originally though these (or some of them) might be French (St Cyr, Presidential Guard or plain Cuirassiers), hence the keenness to link them with the logo'd Heller!

At least I got the cavalry type right -

Cuirassiers

037 - Cuirassier in Service Dress, 1910
038 - Cuirassier in Campaign Dress, 1910
039 - Cuirassier Officer, Ceremonial Parade Uniform, 1910
040 - Cuirassier Brigadier, Ceremonial Parade Uniform, 1910
041 - Cuirassier Trumpeter, Ceremonial Parade Uniform, 1910

The smaller yellow ones are from the Carabinieri set.

This quintet are clearly larger than the Carabinieri, and while the tallest of one and the shortest of the other are close, they are - as sets - two stand-alone groups; the masters may all have been to a similar size, but the pantograph or human pattern-maker/s used to produce the commercial moulds set them to different scales!

Another thing I missed last time - the fact that this whole set has different coloured bases! And the first of the last two (second from the right) could be home-painted.

Another set, they were actually five lots of feeble bay about 15 years ago, but I've collaged them a little better than last time. These may well be home painted with the extra gold on the helmets and some uniform differences from the others we've seen.

While the two sets are interchangeable for the purpose of display, if lined up by set they are different sizes, and above was my original picture with approximations, below it a more fastidious measuring of those which are closer together.

The green figure - looking more Cané or Atlantic-like - is still apparently a rarity, I have yet to see another, despite the commonness of both the harder grey ones and painted examples, he is manufactured in a softer 'Airfix' polyethylene

How they come-in, in the rack-toy bags; still on the runner and arranged according to the artwork on the cards, the smaller ones likewise but with a different runner, they (runners) tend to be machined, quite brutally, straight into the tool. Some bagged sets of the larger scale have loose figures.

Various other figures were announced and this (above image) translates (less than fully-accurately; any help appreciated) thus;

Collection of Italian Uniforms

Series 1) Carabinieri - 10 poses/pieces

Series 2) Cuirassiers - 5 poses/pieces; doubled

One Set

Series 3) [10 poses]

·         Grenadiers - 3 poses/pieces

·         Bersaglieri -  4 poses/pieces

·         Alpine Troops 'Alpini' - 3 poses/pieces

One Set

Series 4) [10 poses]

·         Carristi - 2 poses/pieces (Carlists?)

·         Paratroops - 2 poses/pieces

·         Lagunari - 2 poses/pieces (divers, spacemen?)

·         First series of cavalry - Academy - 4 poses/pieces (?)

One Set

Series 5) [10 poses]

·         Second series of cavalry -  Lancers - 5 poses/pieces

·         Third series of cavalry -  Heavy Cavalry - 5 poses/pieces

One Set

Series 6) [10 poses]

·         Officers of the State Maggiore - 5 poses/pieces (Magistrati - magistrates?)

·         Officers of Artillery - 5 poses/pieces

The artwork on the box contains most of the figures from the two sets listed here (also in the common paint scheme, but with all green bases), and the odd Bersaglieri appear on feebleBay from time to time, but it seems, or looks like the rest were never issued? But they may well have been mastered?

Comparison with a lone Lintek they happen to share a tub with, like an idiot I put them away without adding the Lintek set which came-in a while ago . . . ho-hum, next time!

When I looked at them the second time here at Small Scale World, and after a series of possibly less than accurate comments (he went off to run a hideously plagiarist site using text verbatim from Wikipedia or other historical websites/travel sites, using everyone else's images, while pretending to be a woman!), we ended up with this as a provisional listing;

25mm - Hong Kong (?) - ethylene (Yellow and ...) [No. of poses unknown]
30mm - Formaplast (?) - ethylene (White, Green, Orange) [3 poses (?)]
60mm - Cromoplasto - harder styrene/ethylene alloy (factory painted)
60mm - Xiloplasto/Landi (?)- unpainted (various colours - 50's style!) [50 Poses]
60mm - Heller - grey nylon type plastic [14/20 poses (?)]

This can now be rewritten as follows

Carabinieri [10 poses]

30mm - Forma-plast - ethylene (red, yellow, orange, blue, green, white - bagged)

60mm - Forma-plast - harder polymer (grey - bagged)

60mm - a / Heller tie-in - harder polymer (grey - Boxed)

60mm - Cromoplasto - harder polymer (factory painted - packaging unknown)

Cuirassiers [5 poses]

35mm - Forma-plast - ethylene (red, yellow, orange, blue, green, white - bagged)

35mm - Forma-plast - harder polymer (orange, green, white - bagged)

65mm - Forma-plast - harder polymer (grey - bagged)

65mm - Cromoplasto - harder polymer (factory painted - packaging unknown)

65mm - Xiloplasto/Landi (?) - ethylene (pale blue, mint green - packaging unknown)

Bersaglieri [4 poses (with 3 each Alpini and Grenadiers?)]

55/60mm - Xiloplasto/Landi (?) - ethylene (pale blue - packaging unknown)

And (in my inquisitive mind at least) ROplast are still hovering in the background somewhere possibly with Cané, along with between 35 to 41 additional poses? Forma-plast will do for now!

The only other text on the box not yet translated is the colorami e gioca which means 'Paint & Play'.

H is for Heller (and others)

Covered some smaller versions of these a while ago, Here and dug out the original photo I took a couple of years ago.

Picture shows painted versions (could the painted ones be Cromoplasto as in 'painted plastic'?) in 60mm hard plastic, an unpainted original in green (Xiloplasto/Landi ?) soft ethylene and a complete Heller Paint-your-own set in a dense nylon'ish plastic. Formaplast has also been mentioned in relation to these. Thanks also to Ron Chiasson.

Although Heller are (were!) French and a couple of the figures look like Saint-Cyr cadets, the rest do have an Italian feel to them, anyone got any ideas? I'm pretty sure they are all modern (ish) ceremonial figures rather than Napoleonic era officers but what do I know!! Indeed - more info on these would be gratefully received and posted here with acknowledgements.

For instance there are 14 poses here, last time I hinted at a possible 20. Anybody know the true total?
So - Following a protracted session of comments, and what came to light last time, we have a potential list of manufacturers-to-figures as follows;
25mm - Hong Kong (?) - ethylene (Yellow and ...) [No. of poses unknown]
30mm - Formaplast (?) - ethylene (White, Green, Orange) [3 poses (?)] *
60mm - Cromoplasto - harder styrene/ethylene alloy (factory painted)
60mm - Xiloplasto/Landi (?)- unpainted (various colours - 50's style!) [50 Poses] **
60mm - Heller - grey nylon type plastic [14/20 poses (?)]
* Previous article Unknown Military
** Green one above

while R.O.Plast Partenopea had nothing to do with them!

Added 01:09:2010

The left hand one is a 15th pose, and some are in 'alternate' paint schemes, they seem to be factory painted again?

Added 02:09:2011

The long lost Heller box which started this post has finally turned-up, so a couple more pictures to add to the mix.

Both sides of the Heller painting guide sheet included in the box, and being the 10 unpainted figures above.

The covers of the box, again hinting at only one or two more poses (the photographs) while listing around 50, (printed list) some of which sound like Atlantic or Co-Ma figures ...'paratroops'... which would bring R.O. Plast back in the frame!

T is for Truck Part 1; Overview and Odd Sizes

There are trucks that are lorries, trucks that are vans, trucks that are wagons, trucks that are big cars and trucks that are rigs, there are even trucks that are small wheel assemblies on skateboards, and then there is the US Military 'Deuce-and-a-half' 6x6 two-and-a-half-ton General Service Vehicle...Now that's a TRUCK.

Made by everybody (GMC, Studebaker, Ford, International Harvester, Chevrolet, Mack etc...), they have carried countless body types, taken weapon mounts, towed everything and in so doing - have become an iconic symbol of American military power, as they growl past in a cloud of blue exhaust fumes.

Here are some of mine (one day I'd like a real one, but I'd paint it gloss black, I'm no combat wombat!)

From your 'six' going time-wise; Polistil, Marx, Heller/Airfix, Marx, Airfix 1st version readymade, Hasegawa, Airfix 2nd version readymade, Jonny Lightning, Roco Minitanks, Marx, Comic advertised flat, MPC 'Mini' and Skytrex/Davco (?).

Missing; The T Cohen truck (just colour variants of the Airfix 1st version readymade), the new Pegasus and Academy kits and a bunch of kits from the new Eastern manufacturers. Plus various resin/white-metal efforts.

The Marx trucks, two dime-store quality toys and a Roco piracy made in Hong Kong. The copy is almost identical, but is spoilt by having lose axles, that also - in the case of the front wheels - are far too long.

Here she is next to her originator, clip-together construction meant you could have it open or closed, cab and/or body. There was a tractor version as well, and various body types were issued over the years. As far as I know the Marx copy only came as a GS body.

The rest; The Politoys one is around 1:48, but the crew are 1:76/72, the Johnny Lightning version is a bit long for it's width.

The comic book flat looks more like the front end of a half-track grafted on to a farm trailer! MPC's Mini is a single moulding, while the Skytrex/Davco (I'm not sure which trade mark this is) one has a removable tilt, unusual at this scale (1:300)

T is for Truck Part 2; Kit Stuff

What those below will hopefully look like if I ever get round to finishing them! The Hasegawa tanker body with a Cooper Craft Taskers tanker-trailer. This is one of my more recent efforts...I finished it about 15 years ago, Hey, it's a fits-&-starts thing!

Weathering was thinned gloss chocolate and gloss black for the spillage and a quick dry-brush with pale sand. Taskers were still making trailers when I was a kid and my cousins had a few on the farm for hauling grain. I reasoned that trailers were cheap and easy to produce, and with the US shipping heavy gear like tanks over the Atlantic, they might have bought/sourced some stuff over here?

Not one but two unfinished projects (the Hasegawa's are one project the Heller is another!). The Heller/Airfix kit is really nice once you get it together, but it's not easy to produce, given it's a recent moulding with all the new technology available during the design/manufacturing process, it suffers (like the Jeep released at the same time) from very poor joining points, some of the stud & holes are barely visible, and while it's a while since I built it, I seem to remember the long 'shelf's' to run the glue down and rest the other/larger parts on were problematical.

The Hasegawa ones I'm building as differently as possible, so it's screen down and no tilt for one, full cover for the other, and one's going to be dark olive, the other olive drab.

Comparison shot of the Heller/Airfix truck and Hasegawa sandwiched between the two versions of the Airfix Polyhthene readymades. On a war-games table there's nothing in it, in a line there are differences but they are slight, although the Heller truck is a bit slimmer than the others. I lined up longest at the front, I should have put it at the back but I can't be arsed to re-do the photo!

The full range of the Airfix readymades, the two colour variations of the first version on the left with a carded example behind, on the right the three main colours and a boxed second version. For a guide to the two versions see Part 3 below.

U is for Unknown Military - Pre 1900

This is another lot of unknowns, mostly Knights and Pirates, with a couple of Napoleonic subjects and a nice pair of Samurai. An Airfix Guardsman is used as a height/size indicator.

The first (top left) should be French, he certainly has a lot in common with plenty of French plastics but may only be a Hong Kong copy? To the right of him is a rubber figure which for some reason; I have a hunch is Spanish. Beneath him are two Samurai, I suspect these are Kinder, although they aren't in any of the Kinder catalogues, Kinder issue some items unique to specific countries [They are not from the MB Games 'Shogun' game]. Finally a Napoleonic officer who will not look out of place next to some of Italeri or Zvezda's latest 'tall' production.

I'm told these are from Italy, and the horses do display a passing resemblance to the Res Plastics horses supplied in two parts to kinder in recent years, but any idea on the maker? 15th November 2017 - PRB, after Manurba, two sizes, both now together in  their own post.

These were issued in 54mm by an Atlantic offshoot (Gigi? the one with a puppy and laurel wreath logo and/or Heller; see below) in two sets of 10 poses, showing Italian, Neapolitan and other states 19th/20th C ceremonial uniforms. In 30mm you only find the three poses although I have some orange ones somewhere - the colours of the Italian flag!. [The others have turned up, they aren't orange! (I think the orange ones were in the sample with these, which were split with the finder, he had one of each pose including the orange one's) they're yellow and they are closer to 25mm AND are three of the other poses! the 54mm sets were issued by Heller as a paint-your-own set with some phials of paint and a brush]

More Italians? The top three seem to be the ends of sweet tubes, or lolly-pop stick covers? I feel the sculpting is quite Italian in execution [they are similar to Bonito tube tops]? The guy on the left is - I suspect - a Hong Kong Christmas cracker toy, but quite fun, while the one on the right is obviously from a board-game, but which one? I can't find him on Boardgamegeek (a link is to the right somewhere). [Ron Chiasson did find him on BBG; He's a pirate from the board game 'Skull and Crossbones, by Paul Lamond Games, thanks Ron]


This is the complete strip 'F', after the figures have been separated, there is also a strip 'A', not sure if there were others. The 'A' strip includes a cartoon'ish captain similar to the one on the left in the previous group above, so they may be from a kids TV cartoon? I'm feel they were issued in UK breakfast cereal, but no one knows which? Equally they could be game playing pieces as they come in the four primary colours of red, green, blue and yellow.