T is for Twenty-five...Pounder

For anyone contemplating the Tamiya kit or it's scaled-down Esci counterpart; I think this is the old gate guardian from the Airborne Forces museum at Browning Barracks in Aldershot. When that museum was broken-up and the bulk moved to the IWM at Duxford, I imagine they found they already had various versions of 25lbr, so the good Burgers of Rushmoor got to stick it on a traffic island next to the stations and forget about it!

The business-end, for early WWII, you need to drop the flash eliminator, like the simpler Airfix kit.

 Shield and axle with inner wheel-hubs.

 Traversing plate and connecting rods.

 Hitch and spade.

 More undercarriage 'stuff'.

Mounting and elevation mechanism.

 The maths...range calculator and inner shield.

Walk round, rear and starboard!

Walk round, port and front view.

B is for Better, or Best!

I'm not going to cover the Germans this time round, they are too bad, little dwarven lumps of war gaming metal, albeit in plastic! They will appear here one day (if I live long enough everything will appear here 'one day'!), but to finish the current look at these sets; the best of the bunch....

I don't remember the Jeep's runner ever being included in the box, but I guess they were thinking of it when they commissioned the artwork? This set is also marred by a large chunk of plastic crap, but a more useful piece than the British bridge to nowhere, or the mini-bunkers the Germans get.

Basically a mix of pose-lifts from the Britains Deetail and Airfix 1:32nd scale US Infantry sets with a couple of leg changes and a radio-man. I clearly gave the Bazooka to the wrong pose...but then a man running with a Bazooka would look a bit awkward, so...

On the runner, 10 poses is not a lot (for all these sets), when you consider that at the same time you could get a pack of 48 Airfix for 18p, or 100-odd Hong Kong copies for 10p! Kits like this being around 40/50p (I'm talking about 1973-4 here), and that differential continued for years, even know a pack of Airfix 2nd version US is around £4/5, while this kit - if you can find it (and it does get occasional re-issues) - will be around £6/6.50.

Scan of the box-art, another last-stand, with useful helmet painting guide to half the US army!

"Everyone to me! Fall-back on the Jeep, make very shot count! Get that .30 barking!" yelled Master-sergeant John Audie Wayne-Murphy!

I forgot to scan the instruction sheet, I'll try to remember to do it next time I get them out.

News, Views etc...Exhibition

Already running in Southampton if you're in the area or passing between now and the 10th of May...

I am hoping to go at the end of the month ('proper' birthday present!), but has anyone been? If you have drop an idea of your visit in the comments; is it worth going? Are there any howlers in the captions? What rarities are on display? Is there a booklet or exhibition catalogue worth having?

I'll try and get photo's when I attend, for a follow-up. There's bit more here: http://www.seacitymuseum.co.uk/?p=3003

and for the 4-11 age group there's a money-box making workshop thing: "Inspired by the War Games exhibition we will create personalised money boxes, complete with action figure to guard your pennies!", so get the corduroy shorts on and have a close shave...."Please, I'm only eleventy-eleven!"

S is for Searchlight?

I was going to finally get the French figures published but Google have not only managed to loose one of the posts, but automatically replace it with an earlier-edit duplicate of one of the other three posts! Despite the fact they've been saved dozens of times, or that I uploaded the images 14 months ago! Now they are not answering my eMails!

Probably my last post for a week or two...a cry for help today...

..Rob eMailed me yesterday with a description of a searchlight he'd acquired and - without photographs I suggested Astra or Lone Star, photo's were forthcoming and it's neither, it doesn't seem to be Britains so can anyone Identify this searchlight for Rob? I'll tag it if we can get a definite maker.

The - originally silver-painted - dish is Lone Star 'like', but I don;t remember this in the range and it's not the same mounting as the vehicles...could it be a minor make like Kemlows or Benbros maybe?

Any help or contribution gratefully received by Rob, me and anyone else who might be interested!

G is for Galoob...I think!??

Modern vinyl kac-ka, so text light, and image heavy! The only problem with these is their heritage...they are regularly listed on feeBay as Galoob, they half-mirror the Galoob small scale figures in both pose and the mid-1990's numbering under the base...but I can't find them in Galoob packaging? Hopefully someone seeing this will be able to confirm or deny...

Comparison shot between the subjects of today's post and some of the Galoob MicroMachine figures, the sailors share a paint scheme as well as pose similarity, and both the earlier unmarked figures from 1993/4 and later figures are 'twinned'.

They came (come?) in five types of decoration, the sailors unique in their blues, the combat figures in an 'urban' DPM of the type that came out of the Soviet Union in the 1980's, in blues and greys, along with less common sand or light-olive versions...

...and (top right) an even less common temperate/desert camouflage. There seem to be 20 numbered poses, of which I have still to track-down five by the looks of it. The airbase/sailor/MP type is a home re-paint, his arm has also been cut and glued, but the Internet suggests it was glued back roughly where it started life...still; it means I'm looking for 6 poses in all...not a priority I must say!

The reason for the question mark over them being definitely Galoob, is that they are still available on the internet under Realtoy and Daron labels (Googling 'Daron Action City' or Realtoy likewise will take you to these screen-capped images - I haven't tested them for live-sales status though). Both seem only to be generic rack-toy brands and to carry only the same three poses (in a standard insert) in the least common colour variant, so it may be that they only got these, and that the rest ARE Galoob...can anyone confirm this?

The two Hummers are very useful for 25/28mm war games, while the VAB and chopper are good to go with 20/23mm figures, the truck's nice, but small, the tank is charity-shop fare, along with the accessories!

H is for Hungary

This is a collage of copyright free images (which doesn't mean you can use them 'as is' - the manipulated collage-image is (C) this blog) taken from a pre-war book issued by the Hungarian equivalent of the V&A or British Museum, and shows some of the items in their collection and archives.

It's hard to tell what size they are, I suspect about 50/60mm, and I'm not 100% sure if they are hand carved from wood, slate-cast 'traditional' lead flats, or zink-lead spelter castings? I suspect normal lead castings from slate moulds, but they seem to have a decorative purpose, rather than for use as toy soldiers so they may be spelter, and the detailing on the cavalryman's casting could be hinting at sand-casting. Meaning that they could be sand-cast, lead-based spelter from carved-wood pattern blocks? They're all in the tag list anyway!

The lady looks to be a little more fully-round, so a semi-flat (or demi-rond?), possibly with a flat back (I think they may all have blank rear faces), the other two are wood-cut patterns to work from. Uniforms of the three cavalrymen point to the 19th century.

Can anybody add anything else?

G is for Greyshaw

Greyshaw Incorporated of Atlanta, Georgia to be precise...and that's just about all I can tell you about them.

Carded, two 1950's pulp sci-fi dime-store space-car-ship things...with their wheels outside the aerodynamic fairings! Hard to tell if they are polystyrene or an earlier cellulose/phenolic resin? Like the Lido ones we looked at the other day, they can tow each other round the carpet or that lovely cold 1950's linoleum!

They're nice aren't they?

D is for Digging in the Dirt

More treasures came out of the veg-patch this summer....well; more little scraps of shite reappeared! More pre-loved items were rescued from their abandonment?

A very useful set of Cherilea Union Infantry legs, half a Lego (Kiddy-Bricks TM) towing hitch and a bucket seat from a large 'garden' tractor - best place to find that then!

More Lego, a plastic Mecanno nut, a small blow-moulded mouse...sans eyes, sans tail, sans everything! Another chunk of large tractor...or large chunk of tractor? if I keep digging long enough I may end-up with the whole machine!

The paratrooper nearly got thrown on the bonfire, I thought he was a muddy piece of chopped holly tree, but as I picked him up to chuck him flame'wards, my middle finger slipped behind his knees and my brain though "just like when you're inspecting one of those Hong Kong paratroops", looked down; and he was saved!

M is for Multi-coloured Motorway-making Motor-vehicles

Another one I shot years ago. This was clearly a common beach-toy type thing and lots have survived (by comparison with other toys of the same era), and they do appear on evilBay occasionally, sometimes with the enclosing cellulose-foil wrap still extant.

It was the slot-in figures that drew me to it as they are just the type of thing that turns-up in mixed lots and 50p bags, so I'm always looking to identify them, I also have a soft touch for Tudor*Rose.

Standard polyethylene (here described as polythene) toys of the time, around 1:48th scale. These toys are sometimes described as polypropylene, but this is erroneous as PP is a denser, more expensive plastic used where fine detail is required in the moulding.

B is for British Infantry

Continuing with the look at Fujimi's little figure kits, we arrive at this offering. The figures can be a bit gawky-looking after assembly, but the set appreciates a bit of effort and I quite like it, not least because for nearly 20 years it was the go-to set for a boys anti-tank rifle in small-scale!

The box-art is a spectacular scene of last-stand grit and determination in the best traditions of British defeats since 1066, in a painterly style, while the side of the box hints at the larger oddity contained within...a hollow bridge taking-up half a runner ('sprue') and going from nowhere to er...nowhere!

We are all nowhere...Now, Here!

Instruction sheet is similar to the Japs, with a B&W colour guide, NCO's ranks, assembly instructions and line-drawings of the runners.

The figures - I did this set pretty-much as per instructions, and you can see the uncomfortable poses are the guy standing with his arm up, the chap with the range-finder and the advancing fellow at the back. But a bit of 'multipose' work with knife, glue and limb-swaps can improve greatly.

The MG team and Boys, both make-up nicely and weapons can be swapped between the prone figures. I have used the suggested range-finder matey as the kneeling No.1 and he works well, the awkward pose can be improved by being lent-back a bit so there isn't a 90% angle at the back of his knees.

The Vickers is a week sculpt though, far too small, thin and girly and best replaced with the 2nd type 8th Army one from Airfix.

The runners - one of figures and one of a bridge! If we hadn't had the bridge we could have had a double set of figures with the lovely little 'bits', what were they thinking...the instructions even wanting us to make the ends from cardboard...best used as opposite tunnel entrants on a model railway! Leaving a nice piece of plastic 'card'.

As well as a sheet of plastic card; he bridge at least contributes long lengths of round cross-section rod for the spares box.

Not so important now but back in the 1970's when Plastruct were still making their range primarily for professional/architectural modellers in some weird ABS that wouldn't glue with the stuff on our workbenches (and it cost a fortune), useful lengths of virgin runner were er...useful! Now Plastruct are in a styrene polymer and Evergreen are relatively cheap it's not an issue, but every modeller knows...never throw anything away!

L is for Landspeeder

According to the predictions of the 1950's we'd have had anti-gravity vehicles by the year 2000, if not the 1980's, yet we are still waiting! And despite various 'mag-lev' train systems (some of them dating back to the 1950's - I think? 1970's?) and the recent announcement of a floating skateboard; there's still not much sign of Landspeeders, or plain-old 'Speeders' any time soon...

 ...luckily George Lucas took care of it in 1977..sort of! On the left of each pair above is the original Kenner toy which although dated 1978, is probably based on pre-production artwork, as it's not exactly accurate.

On the right is the Galoob 'Action Fleet' version, a much better rendition, which although almost the same length is a smaller scale. I'd say the Kenner effort is about 1:48, the Action Fleet model being around 1:56?

A few comparison shots, it's interesting to see Kenner described as a division of General Mills (who went on to buy the rump of Airfix), what might have been huh? And Kenner went on to give Hasbro a run for their money...for a while, only to be swallowed by them!

Quite a traffic jam of Speeders in down-town Coruscant, the plastic Galoob being joined by a later die-cast - technically from the same range - of a Royal Naboo Security Force patrol/staff car (?) and two Tiger Electronics 'Real Sound' models of the opening chase scene's vehicles in the 2/5  movie.

The Naboo machine is scaled more toward the MicroMachine end of the spectrum, and a small part of Kenner's problems was likely the clear failure to control the brand franchise when the three new movies came out. If they hadn't had two similar yet partially incompatible ranges (MicroMachines and Action Fleet), if they hadn't had various sub-contractors and subsidiaries producing bits and bobs (like the solid-window Tiger Electonics car), if they hadn't experimented with die-casts (twice), pre-production prototypes and other nonsense, if, if, if.

If - instead - they'd stuck to one range and expanded it into a gaming system (before Wizards of the Coast did exactly that with a third scale and few vehicles) at toy prices with a broader range of figures and vehicles, the range might still be with us, even though; under Hasbro's name. With the subsequent demise of the Wizards range, we are still waiting for a decent set of small scale Star Wars figures and accessories from the expanded universe!

As a postscript...the 54mm people are also still waiting, as Paul Stadinger was saying the other day; new range of figures in that size is being scaled-back after less than a year! It was the same with Horrible Histories...the manufacturers don't give them a chance, like Spartan babies - if they don't turn an immediate profit, they get the chop!

P is for Raphael Lipkin...no; Pippin...no; Plastron or...Modern Toys!

How many brands did this company use?! In their day (the 'pioneer' period of plastics for toys) as big as Tudor Rose or Kleeware, this set dates more toward the end, judging by the packaging?

I photographed this years ago (2007), and it's not in my collection to inspect further, so I'll let the pictures tell the story...suffice to say it takes baking-soda toys to the next level! Approximately 100mm figure?

F is for Fujimi Mokei Ltd.

Starting to get the required comparison shots together for the Airfix blog, lead me to get the Fujimi-Nitto box out the other day and while they were in front of me I took a few photographs of the figure sets to get them box-ticked here, too. This is the Japanese Infantry kit.

And it was a kit, not a set of toy soldiers. So it has an instruction sheet with that particular form of English common to Japanese model kits of the 1970's! There's also a colour guide....in black & white! rank badges are given and a potted history of the uniform.

Japanese kit box-art was a cut above ours, and this doesn't disappoint (until you buy and open the box!), with a mountain gun being manhandled while an Infantry thrust 'goes-in' behind. Both the box lid and the line drawing hint at a nifty little gun within and an Infantry section to look forward too...

...but, Oh Boy! What a blob'tastic pile of rejects await! These make the Airfix Combat Group look positively sculptural! The gun defies full identification, there are only 7 poses and of 14 figures (there's a MG gunner missing in the above line-up...he went AWOL for a re-sculpt); 5 of them are for the artillery piece!

However...I was there! And in the mid-1970's these were exotic additions to one's army. A Japanese 'vehicle' was as rare as rocking-horse shit, and it gave the very reasonable Airfix set something to answer all those Lee/Grants bulldozing their way through the palm trees (rhododendrons by the school swimming pool!). By the time they'd been de-seemed and painted to match the Airfix battalion, they grew on you...or were they just easier to forget?

On The Airfix Blog - I'd forgotten to tag them, so they couldn't be found!

T is for They Don't Come Much Bigger Than This!

Oh yes they do! [5th December 2015]

I photographed this (likeness of Mr. Thomas Radford?!!) in a tobacconists in a little arcade in Reading the other day...

I didn't measure it, but it was about two or two-and-a-half feet tall, so about 1:4th scale? I'm guessing it dates from the 1970's or early 1980's, and has survived remarkably well given the frangibility of both the 'clay' pipe and the cane.

The blurb on the back, although Radford's was once a British tobacco brand, it seems that the whole concern is now (or 'was'?) a German based concern, it would be interesting to know if the statuette was made in [West] Germany or commissioned from Hong Kong or somewhere similar?

I can find trademark stuff and an address (John Brumfit & Radford Tobacco Ltd. Dieselstraße 1-84144 Geisenhausen, Germany) but no website?

T is for Two - Timber Toys

Have we had that title before? Probably...hey-ho!

Returning to a recurring favourite of mine; wooden toys - Traditional, timeless, lots of play-value, robust material that ages with more grace than plastic or die-cast alloy.

Still going strong, now as a managed cooperative (History here) Dregano was one of the main marketers for the craftspeople of the Erzgebirge region of North-eastern Germany, falling behind the Iron Curtain for a while, they none-the-less managed to export abroad to 'the enemy' as this English language boxing shows.

It's a whole story in a box, how cool is that! Pigs can be visited, pigs can be fed, pigs can escape! Pigs or people can hide behind trees, the child rides the big pig quite well...of course I tried! Loads of play value, and something like this was pennies when I was a kid.

Another export piece. If you follow the links there are lots of catalogues to download as free PDF's, and while neither of these pieces are in there, plenty of stuff is including my favourite tractors! They still make them with all the different trailers/loads, although they seem to have more modern steering wheels, and no flywheel, but then some of mine don't!

The range of wagons with 40mm drivers are all good for 20/25mm war-gaming once you've unglued the figure and haven't changed in a hundred years, while there are some lovely sports ski-shooters in the monochrome range. The trees are lovely, and the little matchbox range is vast, but they don't seem to carry one of my childhood favourites any-more - the little sets of architectural building bricks in a matchbox?