The Airfix Difference

54mm U.S. Infantry by Airfix These poses feel almost animated

Airfix paved the way.

The first waves of plastic soldiers in the 50mm -60mm range were toy figures. The earlier ones by companies like Lido, TimMee, Crescent and Johillco were made as toys. Though some were realistic, the general run of plastic toy soldiers was hardly a scale miniature. The Louis Marx Company took things up a few notches with its 54mm lines. Some were very well detailed and quite realistic. Nonetheless, they were considered toy soldiers rather than military miniatures.

54mm 8th Army

Airfix raised the bar on plastic soldiers. Their 1/76 figures created a whole new field for the toy and model soldier hobby. Airfix pioneered the 1/76 scale in plastic and was the unchallenged leader and most prolific producer of them. The British company did it agin when it introduced its 1/32 scale sets of plastic soldiers. It had taken them from classic army men to quality hobby figures. These were a very different thing than the plastic toy soldiers by such firms as Lido, Tim Mee, Timpo and Crescent. The Airfix figures were scaled properly. had excellent detail and greater historical accuracy. Just as other companies decided to join the small,-scale figure market, so they eventually opted in to the 1/32 range as pioneered by Airfix.

54mm British Commando - another good action pose

The first set of Airfix 1/32 figures that I saw was the British Commandos. They were at Polk’s Hobby, somewhere around $3 a box of 29 figures. The set had seven poses. Sculpting was good. Soon afterward, I came across their German Infantry. Though the pose count was low, the sculpting and poses were solid. The same could be said when I acquired their set of Russian infantry. They were soon joined by the 8th Army and the Afrika Korps. The only complaint was the small number of poses in each set.

54mm German Infantry, circa 1938-1942 

Around this time, Airfix began updating several of its older 1/76 sets. The old Infantry Combat Group was replaced by WW2 British Infantry. The German Infantry, Afrika Korps, 8th Army and US Marines received an overhaul. In each set, several poses were copied from their new 1/32 sets. Other poses were added to the 1/76 scale sets.. I wondered why Airfix never added these poses to the 1/32 sets.

54mm Italian soldier (stonato) and officer (cafone)

British Paratroopers. Next to the Tim Mee "M16" infantry, one of the most cloned and copied sets of figures.

Ghurka and British support infantryman. The British soldier was molded in hard plastic.

54mm German Paratroopers. One of the few sets with more than 8 poses

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Crescent, Johillco (Hilco), Lone Star, Herald and Timpo were the British equivalents of Lido, Tim Mee and Marx. They were toymakers. Though some of the later Marx sets, such as the 54mm Marines, were high-quality sculpts, most of their output was toy figures. Airfix offered greater historical accuracy and sculpting. I was suitably impressed when I saw the British commandos in 54mm. They looked realistic and had some of the crispest detail I had even seen in a 54mm soft plastic soldier.

Well-detailed British infantry. A good example of Airfix's well-animated poses and solid detail.

As I have said many times, the biggest flaw in the Airfix 54mm series was the lack of poses. Most have seven or eight poses.

Matchbox came along to compete with Airfix. The 1/76 scale were good, but not as good as the newer Airfix series. The 54mm versions had only one advantage over Airfix: the number of poses. One reason for this is that Matchbox’s sculptors were required to make their figures narrower, so as to make it cheaper to make molds.

More articles on Airfix 54mm figures will be coming

For information and images of the Airfix 1/76 scale figures, click here

Medieval foot soldiers. That is a great pose!

Figures provided by Timothy Hall from the U.K. Thanks, Tim!

Paint the Eyes on Miniature Figures: Easy Tricks

Many collectors of toy soldiers and wargame figures like to paint their own. One thing that many find daunting is painting the eyes. Though there are experts who can paint amazingly realistic eyes, the average hobbyist does a fair job of it. All too often, they eyes are bulging as if the soldier just saw a ghost, or they are varying degrees of cockeyed.

Do not despair. Here are some simple tricks that modelers have used for years.

Eyes are not that difficult using these trick

The Better Paint Job.

This one is pretty easy. Follow the illustrations below, numbered 1 through 4. The oval in the middle of the image represents the contours of the casting’s eye. In other words, it is the molded-in eye.

2) Paint a strip of white over the eye. It is alright to go past the contours of the eye.

3) Paint a line downward where the pupil should be, in the eye color.

4) Following the molded contours, paint the flesh color as shown. Then follow up with eyebrows..

Using this trick, the Sikh soldier's eyes look natural, not the "I see a ghost" from too much white

Even a crude figure can have a good set of eyes

The Simpler Paint Jobs

Maybe you find that a bit difficult. Here are two tricks that were used by factories that painted the old toy soldiers. It can be used on figures 50mm / 1/35 and above.

In both examples, the oval represents the contour of the eye as molded on the figure.

Large Figures 

This one is good for figures from 50mm on up. One company that used it to good effect was Elastolin.  If you have an exceptionally well-detailed figure, you can do it on smaller miniatures.

1) Paint over the eye, where the eyebrow should be. You could use black or brown, or the figure’s hair color.

2) Paint a black line through the eye where the pupil should be

You can touch up with skin tone if your lines are too long.

Small Figures

This little trick is great for smaller figures from 30mm to 15mm.

1) Paint a black or dark brown line over the top of the eye contour.

2) Paint a short line underneath where the pupil should be.

Do not fret if you go over the “line”. You can touch up with skin-tone paint.

These are all good tricks for painting the eyes. With practice ,you can do more advanced techniques. These tricks will get you started in the right direction.

This Elastolin warrior shows the simpler eye method for large figures.

Popular Armies for Military Miniature Hobbies

What makes a particular genre more popular among toy soldier and military miniature collectors? I have thought long and hard about this. Several trends are obvious.  The most popular genre in the US at this time are World War II, the American Civil War and the American Revolution.  50 years ago, it was the Civil War, The Revolution, the Wild West and Napoleonics. Since the mid-70s, science fiction has grown into a niche of its own, while the Wild West has receded in the US. Napoleonics are common wargame figures these days, though there are still collectors of 54mm and larger figures. The biggest change is the availability of figures from various eras. Compared to 1968, the selection available to hobbyists is overwhelmingly vast.

The most popular armies from these genre include World War II Germans and both sides of the Civil War and the Revolution.

I had wondered why conflicts such as the Crimean War and Austro-Prussian, Franco Austrian and Franco-Prussian wars were not more popular. They had a wide variety of troop types and uniforms Also, what with the popularity of British Regiments in the hobby, why so few French troops here in the US? The French have an awesome assortment of attractive uniforms and troop types from 1840 to 1925. And what of conflicts such as the Seven Years War?

I have answers:

From the Old Kingdom of Egypt to futuristic Science Fiction, there are figures and people who like to model them. “Niche” is a relative term when discussing any genre of miniature soldiers. Every army and era has its fans. Most hobbyists, myself include, enjoy several eras and armies. Some of the discrepancies can be explained by location. The Seven Years War is mainly a European matter and so is most popular among German, British and French collectors. The facet of it fought in North America and know nas the French & Indian War has a following, but nowhere near as large as in Europe. As a counterpoint, the American Revolution is big in the US but has a small following elsewhere. If you are British or European, ti is the Seven Years War. For Americans, the Revolution.  One might say, “Six of one and half a dozen of the other.”

The American Civil War is very popular in the US. Contrary to the “Blue versus Gray” thing, the uniforms varied and some where quite ornate. There is also a smaller but ardent following in Germany and the UK.

Napoleonics are also a large genre, even if they have waned a bit among US collectors. Napoleonics are popular throughout Europe. Part of that is the fact that most European countries got caught up in that conflict in one way or another.

But why not Crimea or the German wars of the 1860s and 1870s?

For a genre to be popular, a few things are necessary:

1) The war must have lasted more than two years.

2) There must have been a variety of units, troop types, uniforms and equipment.

3) There must be lingering controversies about the war, its conduct (strategies, tactics), or events surrounding it.

4) The war must have been well-documented

You will finds all of these elements in World War II, the American Civil War, the Napoleonic Wars, the Seven Years War and the American Revolution. Things are less controversial with the German-French-Austrian Wars of the 1860s and Crimea. Also, none of the latter wars lasted long enough.

A friend brought up Vietnam,, which is still controversial and lasted over 10 years. However, there is no great variety of uniforms, equipment or troop types. The gear and uniforms on both sides were pretty much standardized. We had M113s, Hueys., Cobras and M48s, green uniforms and M16s. The VC and NVA had PT76s, T55s, green, tan or black uniforms, Ak47s and the SKS. Not much variety. The same can be said of World War I. Though some uniforms in 1914 were ornate, by 1915 they were pretty drab. Tactics were limited mostly to trench warfare. There is not much controversy there as compared to World War II.

The American Revolution lasted eight years, had a variety of uniforms and some aspects are still up for discussion. The Seven Years war lasted seven years, had a wide variety of troops, uniforms and nationalities. Ditto for the Napoleonic Era. The American Civil War lasted four years and had an immense number of units and militias. We are still arguing over its ramifications.

Of course there are a few flukes in there. Nonetheless, it all boils down to length of conflict, variety, documentation and controversy.

One remaining issue is why the British regiments are more popular in the US than the French. France was the oldest ally of the United States. Here I can only speculate. The US hobby was fed by British makers such as Wm. Britains Ltd, Johillco and others. Few lines of French figures were imported. Then there is the matter of language. France never supplied our hobby as much as Britain, specifically England. Had French makers more enthusiastically promoted and exported their miniatures here, I am sure France would be much more visible in the American toy soldier hobby.

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The most popular World War II figures are Germans. That army has the widest variety of everything, from belt buckles to tanks. They remain the most controversial. American, British, Soviet and Japanese armies where much more standardized and had far less variety.

The American Revolution has a wide variety of uniforms and non-uniforms. Different militias that could afford uniforms varied greatly. Consider also the Hessians, who actually came from six different German states. Each group included several different troop types, from fusiliers to grenadiers to jager and artillerymen. It was not a matter of Blue versus Red, but every color in the book. Even the British varied. having Rifle units, Rangers in green and Scottish troops.

The Civil War used standard troop types such as Light Infantry, regular infantry, cavalry and artillery. Each state sent several militia units, and many of these varied insofar as uniforms and equipment. There were standard uniforms for Federal and Confederate national troops,. Militia uniforms were varied, and many were influenced by French military fashion. These included various types of chasseurs and Zouaves.

Medieval and Ancient armies, have large followings, but they are not as popular as the armies from the 18th through 20th Centuries. A most interesting variety are the Heraldic K nights. These figures feature authentic historical heraldry of real warriors. The heralds of old kept great records of crests and liveries.

One French unit that has a following worldwide is the Foreign Legion. There is a mystique to it and a lot of controversy about its many conflicts. Movies, novels and televison series helped popularize the elite French unit.

Among Medieval collectors, the later centuries appear to be most popular, circa 1350 - 1550. The Hundred years wars and Wars of the Roses dominate, thanks to well-documented histories and heraldries.

Ancient Collectors tend to favor Hellenic Greek and Romans armies and enemies, but close on their heels are Egyptians, Assyrians and Persians.

Viking Age collecting focuses mostly on Vikings and Normans. There are fewer Saxon figures. Irish figures from the era are notably absent.