NZNAM is for New Zealand's National Army Museum - Gift Shop Figures

Reinforcing the figures in the museum's display cabinets are a small number of figures for sale, for which I have no details as to manufacturer if any NZ reader happens to know? Seem to be modern 54mm (that is closer to 60!), 'new metal'  to match K&C, Figarti, Gunn, Atkinns & co.?

WWI ANZAC's; interestingly, after the end of the previous post; the officer seems to be wearing a slouch hat, but un-pinned, the troops sport a slightly shorter 'spike' more like a Mounties, while - and it's not clear - the pack-mule handler, half-out of frame to the right, seems to have the standard 'British' service-cap?

A nice group of resisting Moari and two figures (also in service caps) who I suspect are not WWII, but - from the blue-ish shirts - WWI Mesopotamia or Gallipoli? There seems to be a WWII figure advancing out of the frame, to the right.

Many-thanks again to Brian for the images, he explained that they are all shot from the rear as the reflection on the glass-fronts of the cabinets was too bright for photography. Has anyone got some at home they can shoot for us?

NZNAM is for New Zealand's National Army Museum - Other Exhibits

Brain also sent me shots of other items of interest within the museum, along with some items from the gift shop (next post), and what we have here are a set of probably commercial metal kit figures painted to represent New Zealand military uniforms through the ages.

Colonising and 'colonial period in the two full line-ups with WWI ANZAC uniforms visible below. I don't know enough to start attributing units/eras, but the Cavalryman looks like the sort who might have been sent to help against the Zulu's or Boars?

I rather like the cavalry guards uniform - middle left - which looks like the Hampshire Yeomanry mess-dress, although I think the local version was more ostentatious with even greater swathes of silver-braid! The Victorian period seems to have made a big thing of formal dress . . . 'All those parties - don't you know, what-what!'

And what's Windsor Davis doing next to him . . . "Luverlyboy-luverlyboy"!

Some modern uniforms here, I don't know enough about metal production either, but would imagine some Stadden's, New Hope and Under Two Flags to be here, maybe the odd Cavalier or even a Scrubby? Anyone recognise any of them? I like the knackered dog.

The whole display; gluing them to a mirror is a brilliant idea, by moving your head slightly you get to view all the backs of the figures, so the equal effort the painter went to isn't wasted! Mr. B didn't get the artists name, but they all look to be by the same hand, and a different hand to those of the dioramist we saw earlier.

Note also the 'Lemon Squeezer' hat, from mentions in posts on the NZNAM fund-raising figures, which we saw after Glenn Sibald generously sent them to the Blog at the beginning of the year.

Another; from an alternate angle, you can see it's different to the US or Canadian versions, I think, with a taller, sharper point and wider head-band area? While it lacks the turned-up side of its neighbouring Aussie, smooth-peaked one (shared - with detail differences - with the Ghurkhas). However, it is similar to the old boy-scout version, but then Baden Powell would have worked with colonial troops?

There's a book in there somewhere? One of the little Shire Albums perhaps, or a rather esoteric Osprey! It would be interesting to know when which version was adopted, by whom and why, formally or casually.

The metal figure of the colonial cavalryman in jodhpurs (first image) has one more like the Australian slouch-hat, suggesting a common 'colonial troop' heritage, but was the Canadian Mounties' shorter-version also born out of 'Empire & Africa;, or taken from the US 'Smokey Bear'.

Or did the Americans take it from the Canadians? Were ex-colonial troops wearing their old hats while working on the railways, being built 'out west', or while rushing for gold? An 'etymology' of the squeezed-peak and/or slouch-hat, would be an amusing read, and not less than a little interesting!

I suppose the 'cowboy hat', Stetson and Fedora must be on earlier branches of the family tree, and the leather forerunner of Richelieu's musketeers or Cap'n Jack are ultimately to blame!

And thanks again to Brain for the images.

NZNAM is for New Zealand's National Army Museum - Dioramas

This is the first post in a contribution day, Brian Berke, of New York, a regular contributor to the Blog, sent these just before I stopped posting for family reasons, so they have been sitting here for a while, despite being meant - in part - as a follow-up to the contributions from Glenn Sibald back in Jan/Feb; there's four of them, so today, we rather hand over to Mr. B!

The first post looks at two beautifully modelled diorama's one credited to a Tim Ryan (1980) and the uniforms/paint-work of the other looks similar, so I suspect he did both.

First you have to find those recalcitrant native citizens who have shown so unwilling to subjugate themselves to the Great White Queen's Blue (?) Jackets! This requires going a' campaigning; a tedious business which involves yomping, tabbing, marching and wandering about in the uloo, bondu, sticks or boondocks, basically going for an organised walk in the woods - well; a disciplined camping holiday . . . with the odd ambush!

This is a lovely model, the greenery is superb, I feel there's probably a kakapo or two in there somewhere, watching, curiously! 'What are the pink-monkeys doing now?'

In the rear of the column is a GS (General Service) Wagon, this carries all the 'camping equipment', which often makes it a target for some of those pesky ambushes; as 'Tommy' likes his creature-comforts, he's quite keen to hang back and guard it! While the Maori are just as keen to separate him from any comforts!

"Why are you men falling behind Corporal?"

"Guarding the wagon Sir!"

"Oh, Yes! Very-good; carry-on!"

Officers like their creature-comforts too!

I tried to collage the two to give a better impression of the whole, if I lined the kneeling sentry up the horses were tailless, so this is the best compromise! It really is a lovely diorama, well laid-out and with lots happening, yet without it being too busy.

Once you've found the Pā or fortified village, there's nothing for it but a full-frontal assault to force the palisade and gain entry to the entrenchments, easier in those [claimed for the Great White Queen] countries where the locals hadn't provisioned themselves with modern firearms! Consequently; Afghanistan and New Zealand proved to be tougher nuts than others!

This is also a superb example of how adding uniform-equipment and headdresses and giving all the figures a matching paint-job can bring disparate figures together as a homogenous unit, in the centre I can see a Timpo-solid stabbing downward (Imperial Guard or 8th army?) along with Herald, Deetail and Timpo-solid ACW's! And is the being-shot-guy at the back a Lone Star Russian?

Another Herald ACW instantly recognisable here with 'multi-pose' kits in the foreground, but Napoleonic or FFL? The loader two is familiar (far left, I'm not sure they were still using ramrods in the Maori Wars, but the atmosphere is there - maybe he's clearing a stoppage!) however, is he Deetail or Airfix? Again, at the risk of repeating myself; the use of all these figures is both intriguing and instructional as to the secrets of the dioramists' arts - a few added items of similar accoutrement, straps and a matching paint-job (not to forget the headdresses) bring them all together beautifully.

The sense of chaos in the moment, yet of organised urgency in the face of opposition (on both sides) is got-across magnificently and this model is a joy to behold; It may have been an act of attempted genocide, or at the very-least; misguided dogma and doctrine on the part of the incomers, the 'illegal immigrants' and their 'state', or - on the other hand - an act of 'futile', too-late resistance or rebellion by the locals, but (as the late David Bowie put it) each man can be a hero, just for one day.

Can you hear the splintering of dry sappling-wood under the weight of rushing (or falling) bodies . . . the screams of the wounded and dying, the manic yells of frightened men, the shouted orders of command or warning, all over the cacophony of firearms, and - out of shot - artillery . . . can you smell the cloying, devil's breath of cordite, dust, fresh blood and fear, burning the nostrils?

Thank you Mr. Berke. It was a rare treat to find these in my inbox . . . and - quite by accident - due to the contributions of Glenn and yourself; 2019 seems to have become 'New Zealand Year' here at SSW!

NZNAM is for New Zealand National Army Museum Figures - Reds on the Bed!

So, more 'New to Hobby' figures, although - I'm sure - known already to other Antipodean collectors, hinted at earlier this week, here, and not my discovery; but sent to all of you reading Small Scale World by Glenn Sibbald, who then had to draw my attention to certain aspects of them - long after I'd taken the first set of shots for this post.

I'd clocked that they were a bit special, by dint of them not being mentioned in the original 1978 supporting paperwork, but I hadn't noticed the obvious differences, even when editing the images, apart from the runner being complete.

A quick look at the figures first; reds are a bugger to get right, photographically speaking, but a green background seems to help, as do neutral beiges! I angled them slightly to get the semi-flat nature of the sculpts across. And shot to match the order of the earlier issue - which is chronological.

Not only were they absent from the original competition paperwork and the collector's magazine review, turning up later on the secondary market, but they have had a cavity-shuffle with regards to the order in the injection-tool, and must have been sold in a different format as they don't carry a flyer and haven't had their runner's end trimmed-off to fit the original bag-sealer's setting.

As well as changing the order of the figures, the short channel-runners leading from the main frame-runner to the figures have been spaced more equidistant to each other and directed into the undersides of the bases, rather than the offset 'kissing the rims' (Ooh! Matron!) of the older tool's configuration.

Yet, the flattened terminal 'blob' where the 'real' sprue came in, is the same on both samples, so the outer components of the tool and the main frame-runner are unchanged.

One suspects they were actual National Army Museum stock and it seems the obvious conclusion, but why they chose red for the re-issues is anyone's guess as it's a bloody-odd choice? I suppose it's colourful - helping to attract kids in the age of action-figures and movie promotional toys (1980's or even 1990's? They've only turned-up on the secondary market this century), sparking a bit of pester-power at the gift-shop's checkout tills perhaps?

Now we come to my bit of 'spanner in the works'. Although they are clearly by different sculptors, it seems to me that the less skillful sculptor on the NZNAM figures had at the back of his mind (at least) the slightly more consummate sculpts of original 'early-Airfix' figures, the similarity of pillar-like statuesque, casual, upright poses, the small 'penny' bases - I don't think it's accidental, and it's definitely food for thought? Of course photographing all the reds together -rather [falsely?] reinforces the idea!

Further - I think I'm right in recalling Lincoln (who made the NZNAM figures) used to issue Airfix kits in that part of the world - there can't be that many tools of a Sunderland Flying Boat? If Lincoln had a relationship with Airfix, they might have produced the set we saw this/last Monday, borrowing the mould before or after Pierwood? More mind-food!

And if you don't like the idea of Lincoln being behind the earlier figures, we learnt from Les Collier's article in Plastic Warrior (Issue 162, pp.22/23), that the head/founder of Lincoln was a chap called Les Tolmer . . . of Toltoys . . . further sustenance for the grey-matter?

I shall leave these three paragraphs hanging here until more is dug-up and it all becomes clearer!

Finishing with another close-up, this is the dismounted Mounted Rifleman from the South African campaign.

Many, many thanks to Glenn Sibbald for all these figures (he sent the only pack with an original price label!), I can't thank him enough, and I hope you've all enjoyed these three posts, along with the early Airfix/Pierwood/whoever posts on Monday, the finalising of the board game pop-stars and  . . . .there's still an couple of Antipodean posts to come, with an NZ-angle!

And if you want some - he's still got a few on the runner, along with loose; sets and figures, contact me and I'll pass your eMail on (maverickatlarge[at]hotmail[dot]com).

NZNAM is for New Zealand National Army Museum Figures - On Guard . . .

. . . the magazine of the New Zealand Model Soldier Society Inc. Now sadly defunct it seems, I have tried to contact the named individuals through the NZ Military Historical Society, to no avail, however there may be hope, a call's going out to them in a forthcoming newsletter, courtesy of Jeff Atkinson at NZMHS? It's only to clear the use of the image, if anyone knows where they are?

Let's remind ourselves of the figures first, alongside the tan ones we looked at yesterday were sold these, in tropical OG's! The plastic is probably a dense polyethylene, but it's so dense it has the properties of a polypropylene.

Although in the late 1970's 'polyprop' wasn't being used in the toy industry like it is now, it was starting to creep-in through action figure components and Japanese space-toys, or larger infant-toys which needed a rigidity/robustness but without the sharpness or frangibility of polystyrene, so, with New Zealand positioned on the Pacific Rim and trading across it, either polymer could be the one used here.

Anyway I'm using both tags to cover my proverbial!

As you may have gathered in yesterdays post; from one of the prizes, these figures were made by Lincoln Industries Games (commonly; 'Lincoln International'), and having missed-out on (or passed-up the opportunity really) a boxed clip-together/readymade Thunderbird 2 by Lincoln a few years ago, I can say it's the same slippery-smooth plastic as that.

The set was covered in the NZMSS's magazine not long after the main launch of the promotion if yesterday's dates are any judge, and it's a fair appraisal from someone I'm guessing was more toward the BMSS's hollow-cast, flat or solid-lead collecting flock, than our polymer-loving branch of the hobby? 'Kit Review' text reads;

Dave Morris

"OPERATION HERITAGE"

     By now most of us would have seen the soldiers put out

to raise money for the Army Museum. The museum is to be

built at Waiouru; and in fact the foundation stone has al-

ready been laid.

     The retail outlet is the Woolworths chain of stores, &

Lincon Industries manufactured the models.

     They are sold conjointly with a competition, the entry

form being inside the plastic bag pack. The price of $2

a pack (6 soldiers) is not very good value for money. How-

ever nobody is filling his pockets as the proceeds are go-

ing to the museum.

THE MODELS

     There are six Soldiers in each pack, on one sprue ['runner' - ed.], each

depicting an era of military history.

1.     The Militia.

2.     Boer War.

3.     W.W.1

4.     W.W.2 (Desert)

5.     Post W.W. 2 Malaysia

6.     Today— Ceremonial. (SD's with Lemon Squeezer)

The soldiers come in two colours; Drab green and khaki

     As model solders the effort is very disappointing.

There are several errors which should not have happened.

1.     The height of soldiers are only 50mm.

2.     The soldier in Service Dress has breast pock-

        ets somewhere down around his lower ribcage.

3.     The bayonet on the WW2 soldier is depicted as

        a No 1.  Although not completely incorrect

        He should be better displayed with a No 4 bay-

        onet. Right alongside on the WW1 soldier is

        a No 1 bayonet.

 4.    The numbering on the accompanying leaflet of

        soldier identification has two numbers back to

        front; No 5 and 6. [On the artwork - ed.]

     However to look on the bright side, the soldiers have

A "now" vogue look of the original toy soldiers:     Thin,

lean, faceless and flat without dimension.     The packs on

their backs are merely a raised line.

     And flash; Surprisingly there was none.     There was also

no flaws in the manufacturing.

I take slight issue with the Malaysia reference as the SLR didn't enter service until after the Malayan Emergency was coming to an end (1960), and I think it's really Vietnam that's being referenced - if it's a campaign? Although the weapon could be an M16, or the reference could be for Borneo ('66). And - as we saw yesterday - the accompanying-flyer gave that particular figure a much wider spread than Malaysia, geographically, and 30-years to cover in one sculpt!

The fluidity with the weapons' ID (it's more SLR than M16) is mirrored in the bayonets, which are both modelled as mere sticks, but I know what he's getting at, one should be longer - if they WERE hollow-casts . . . it would matter - you can't do it with paint if it's not there! Neither has any connection with the musket at the bottom of the page which is just editorial decoration I think.

As with the Tan ones, Glenn kindly sent us both a loose set and a set still on the runner, you can see it's the same order and layout as the previously seen one, which you might think is obvious, but tomorrow we'll find it isn't!

Let's do the grizzled-old colonial settler with a very Victorian beard to death shall we (actually - it looks like a bee-beard!); on the left a close-up of the militiaman from the Maori wars, front and back and in all three colours; on the right a comparison with the garrison troop from Sanitarium's premium-regiment!

And a reminder Glenn can supply limited numbers of sets still on the runner and most figures in most colours loose - email me (maverickatlarge[at]hotmail[dot]com), for the passing of your details.

NZNAM is for New Zealand National Army Museum Figures - 'Operation Heritage' or Let's Build a Museum!

Many, many, many moons ago, back at the start of the blog (in fact ten-years ago; today - 22nd Jan, and that's a fluke co-incidence I only noticed posting this just now (Monday PM), while looking up the links!), I included in a post on unknown figures a few larger 'flats' (actually semi-flats) I had picked-up over the years, and they were identified by a couple of chaps from New Zealand; Al Clarke and Glenn Sibbald as being from the New Zealand National Army Museum, which reminded me that the figures had been in Plastic Warrior magazine a few years earlier.

Both correspondents offered to send me samples, and Al did so at the time, however Royal Fail/Parcel Farce managed to lose the parcel, and with real life intervening, as it does, both ends of the Earth - time rather slid! From time to time Glenn would get in touch and let me know he hadn't forgotten me, until a week or so before this Christmas just gone - when he was emailing me for an address to send to!

We've had Pink, we've had not-Airfix, but also in 'The Parcel' from Glenn, for the Blog, for you - loyal readers - to enjoy . . . were these chaps;

"Mint on sprue!"; actually mint-on-runner, but some myths persist! This is how the figures looked, in NZ Woolworths in 1978, when you rushed in after seeing the TV slots and handed over your NZ$2.00, six figures in an old, hollow-cast 'toy soldier' style, representing NZ forces over the previous 100-years or so.

Set-out on the runner in chronological order and we find a militiaman from the 1840-70 period, a dismounted Mounted-rifleman from the Boer War, A WWI Anzac, and WWII Anzac, a Vietnam era (SLR with 'Bren-pouches' and bum-roll) New Zealander and an NZ No.2-dress equivalent on 'Staff-Parade' from the 1970's.

Following the original comments and a return to PW's article (which is deep in the garage somewhere) I had/have (?) spent the years thinking they were sold from the/a/museum's gift shop, but with them is a flyer encouraging both individuals and school classes to get behind the fundraising, and while the groundbreaking and laying of 'foundation stone' had already occurred, it's clear that these were a sort of citizens subscription to 'their' museum - something probably very necessary in a country with a small population, and a good idea as it gives 'the people' a sense of shared-ownership in the enterprise.

Text Reads;

'OPERATION HERITAGE'

LET'S KEEP OUR HERITAGE

l. MILITIA 1845 - 1872

     Formed into battalions as a result of the general

alarm in Auckland and elsewhere at Hone Heke’s rebellion, the

first Militia Ordinance operated, as garrison troops in their

home districts, frontier outposts and took part in a number of

skirmishes with the Maoris.

2. BOER WAR 1899 - 1902

     New Zealand supplied ten mounted rifle contingents

comprising 6,500 officers and men, mostly volunteers.

     All ten contingents saw action and earned a

fine reputation- in battle.

3. WORLD WAR ONE 1914 - 1918

     New Zealand troops were despatched to Egypt and

fought in the desparate campaign at Gallipoli.

     Following the return of the NZ Expeditionary Force to

Egypt it was reorganised as an infantry division and a

mounted brigade.

     The division went to Francei while the mounted

brigade continued to operate in Palestine.

4. WORLD WAR TWO 1939 - 1945

     In September 1939 a special force was mobilised

which was to become the nucleus of the 2nd New Zealand

Expeditionary Force.

     A Division was raised and served in Egypt, Libya,

Greece, Crete and participated in all the major campaigns in

North Africa, moving to ltaly in 1943.

     New Zealand soldiers also served with distinction in

the Pacific theatre.

5. POST WORLD WAR 1946 - 1977

     From 1951 the New Zealand Army has served in

Japan, Korea, Malaysia, South Vietnam and Thailand.

     A New Zealand Contingent (Jayforce) formed part of

the British Commonwealth Forces in Japan from 1946 - 1948.

6. TODAY'S SOLDIER.

     Since 1845, the New Zealand soldier has earned a

distinguished reputation demonstrating skill, ingenuity and

adaptability in action.

     Today’s soldier carries on this proud tradition and can

look forward to unlimited opportunities in a professional Army.

I'm not going to bother with the entry-form stuff to the right of the page, but the dates are worthy of note!

I will however transcribe the competition details, as they hold some fascinating clues to some of the background, and raise questions like where the TV slots (video clips?) are now, what were the questions in the end and what happened to the winning dioramas, to wit; were they ever publicised or displayed?

Text reads;

WOOLWORTHS            SOUTH PACIFIC TELEVISION

YOU CAN WIN THESE FANTASTIC PRIZES!

1ST PRIZE:

     Return trip for family of four to Singapore, London and Copenhagen,

including accommodation.

A great way to fly

SINGAPORE AIRLINES

2ND PRIZE:

     Asian Affair Holiday for two - 15 days, including accommodation.

3RD PRIZE:

     Holiday for four at either Queenstown or Rotorua staying at b Vacation Hotels

SCHOOL PRIZE:

     Hanimex synch recorder and slide projector - value $425.

Plus 100 consolation prizes from Lincoln Industries Games.

THE COMPETITION

     South Pacific Television will screen six 60 second short sketches during the

weeks of March 20 to April 8, 1978 at times to be announced later.

     These short programmes will relate to the six model soldiers enclosed with this

entry form, and contain clues that will help you to complete your entry.

     In each sketch, a question will be asked which you must answer on this

entry form.

     Remember, it is important that you see all the sketches as they will provide

clues that will help you answer the questions.

     Competition closes April 14, 1978.

CLASS PROJECT

     1. Construct a diorama of a battle involving the N.Z. Army using models from

the Operation Heritage soldier kit.

     Details on how to construct a diorama will be shown on the

“Hey, Hey, It's Andy” show.

     2. Send a photograph of the diorama together with a short story about the

battle to the address on the reverse side of this entry form.

     3. Competition closes May 12, 1978, but entries postmarked on that day will be

accepted up to May 19, 1978.

CONDITIONS OF ENTRY

     1.All entries will be judged by an independent body, decisions will be final and

no correspondence will be entered into.

     2. Entries must be on the official entry form, and will be judged on correctness,

neatness, and originality.

     3. Proceeds to the Army Memorial Museum Trust.

     4. Prize winners will be announced on South Pacific Television on Anzac Day,

April 25, 1978.

     5. Employees of South Pacific Television, their advertising agencies and their

immediate families are not eligible to enter this contest.

The museum of-course; has a website here but seems remarkably lacking in details of/for these figures or the part they played in its funding/construction, it may well be that they didn't raise the cash hoped for (the prizes alone would have needed a lot of sales to pay for - unless they were donated by the airlines/hotels/travel agents involved, and while you only need to sell fifty sets to find NZ$100, equally (as we shall see in a subsequent post) two dollars was a lot of money for six rather inactive toy figures in 1978!

The eight figures off the runners and ready for their participation in the diorama building, it's a hard one actually (the competition parameters), given the breadth of the time period between the six figures and their neutral posing.

The best thing to do probably, would be to model an actual museum display, with the figures painted as mannequins and placed in glass (clear plastic cut from blister-packs?) cases, or painted as statues on plinths (from Lego?), or something like that.

The figures were issued in three colours' the red rarer than the other two, we shall look at the olive-drab/deep-bronze green ones next. Many thanks to Glenn Sibbald of New Zealand who sent not just the set on the runner, but also a lose set to photograph.

He's still not worthy! He's still not worthy! Under my tutelage the 'Berserker' has adopted a less-aggressive stance in dealing with his sizing role, where these Kiwi figures are concerned!

Glenn has a few sets on the runners and lose sets for anyone who needs them or would like them, eMail me (maverickatlarge[at]hotmail[dot]com) in the first instance and I'll pass-on your details.