How Airfix Created a Hobby

Comet / Authenticast Panzer IV wit hbox

There is no doubt that Airfix (and ROCO) changed the hobby. Prior to them, the only small scale vehicles and figures were metal castings. Comet / Authenticast and Denzil-Skinner produced military identification models in the 1/96 to 1/109 scales, Authenticast also produced three ranges of figures about HO size: US , German and Soviet infantry. Each sets had a prone rifleman, kneeling rifleman, charging rifleman. charging submachine gunner, 2-man prone machine gun team, and small anti-tank gun with 2 crewmen. German set had one extra charging rifleman and a kneeling panzerfaust man. The US had a bazooka man.

Authenticast US Army

About this time, Britains also offered a “Lilliput” line about this time which was about 20mm scale. These were miniature copies of the Herald  post-War khaki infantry.

There were a few companies making unpainted 20mm figures. These were close to HO size. Most were Civil War figures.

Size comparison: Authenticast M4 (left). Airfix Solider, ROCO M4 (right)

At the time, most miniature figures sold via hobby venues were model railroading figures scaled for O (1/48 to 1/43) and HO / OO (1/87 to 1/76).

Original Airfix Box, circa 1961

When Airfix launched its initial run of small figures, it caused a stir. They were imported into the US. There were model railroading sets (Civilians, Farm animals), Marching troops (Guardsmen, Colour Guard Party) and combat troops (Infantry Combat Group, German Infantry). Introduced with the first run of ROCO Minitanks, these were an instant hit. They were attractive, affordable, and allowed for dioramas and battle games. Model railroaders were also pleased to find a good set of civilian figures and animals at a low price.

Airfix did not rest on its laurels. Following quickly after its first offerings were Civil War infantry and artillery, cowboys, wild Indians, the 8th Army, Afrika Korps and US Marines. ROCO also  began expanding its line. Small scale military modeling and Airfix went mainstream, unlike earlier makers who purveyed onto to the niche elements among hobbies.

Airfix US Marines, original series

It did not take long for wargamers to latch onto the small plastic figures and tanks. Previously, small-scale wargamers relied on cast metal figures from a handful of manufacturers. These were not widely known beyond the small wargaming communities in the US and UK. The wide availability of Airfix took wargaming from a limited, specialized hobby to the mainstream. Wargame proponents such as Featherstone, Morschauser and Grant used Airfix figures to illustrate games in their books. Had it not been for the affordable, widely-available Airfix soldiers, wargaming might have remained a small hobby for many years,

ROCO M47 (first version)

Indeed, Airfix was dynamic. Its next series of 1/76 figures were more detailed and covered a wider spread of history. Starting with the Russian Infantry, Japanese infantry and Arabs, Airfix’s figures made a large leap in realism. They also spread into other genre. Already established in World War II, the Wild West and the Civil War, Airfix expanded into World War I, Ancients, Medievals, the Napoleonic Wars and the American Revolution. Cheap, available figures were met enthusiastically by hobbyists.

1/32 Man-at-arms

Airfix also expanded its line of model kits to meet the needs of the toy soldiery. 1/76 scale military vehicle kits appealed to wargamers, military collectors and diorama makers. The original kits were very basic, but more vehicles were added. Most were World War II-era tanks and support vehicles. A few Cold War era vehicles were added, as well as vehicles for dioramas. Just as it pioneered the popularity of small-scale soldiers, so Airfix was the catalyst that launched 1/76 - 1/72 scale military vehicle kits. (This was followed in the 1970s by Matchbox, Fujimi, Hasegawa and other makers) Without Airfix, this may never have happened.

The next coup by the British hobby maker was to enter the 1/32 field. Their first set was make by pantographing their 1/76 Paratroopers into 54mm scale. They were nothing spectacular. Not content to try that again, the company issued all-new figures. The first set I saw was the British Commandos (29 figures for about $3.00). Soon after came the Russian and the German infantry. The detail and realism exceeded that of the toy manufacturers. Airfix took plastic army men to a whole new level.

Airfix 1.32 - 54mm British Commandos

Several of the early HO / OO were upgraded soon after the introduction of 54mm figures. The German Infantry, Infantry Combat Group, US Marines, French Foreign Legion, 8th Army and Afrika Korps were replaced with more detailed figures. Several of the figures in each 1/76 set were copies of the new 54mm figures. These were supplemented with new poses. The 54mm sets themselves were mostly limited to 7 or 8 poses. Additional new poses were not added to them.

Airfix 1/32 -54mm Russian Infantry

To its credit, Airfix kept making new sets. Modern soldiers entered the inventory. These were 1980s-style US (billed as NATO), British, West German and Soviet troops. There were also Sci-Fi figures, and 54mm US cavalry, Indians and Cowboys. Soon afterward, the introduction of new sets stopped. Airfix ran into hard times. Heller, the French model kit company, bought the molds. Lately, Hornby took over and moved production to India.

Airfix 1/32 - 54mm US Infantry

Will Airfix ever start expanding its line again? That is hard to say. Its variety of models and figures is already vast. Airfix kicked off the small scale military hobby and the raised to bar on 1/32 scale figures. It launched the 1/76 - 1/72 military model genre. The company also produced a vast range of model aircraft, mostly in 1/72 scale, as well as ships and space models. Perhaps a new management might expand things, but that remains to be seen. There is a lot of competition in both the 1/76 and 1/32 scales.  Even at that, Airfix is not likely to fade away. The are still the favorite of many. (That includes this author)

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A sad. part of the hobby is willingness of Chinese makers to copy or clone better figures. The most copied and cloned set of modern soldiers is the Tim Mee Vietnam-era troops. Following closely on its heels are the 54mm British paratroopers and  German Infantry, who have been copied and cloned for over 20 years. In other genre, the Airfix Cowboys & Indians have been pillaged mercilessly by Chinese copyists. Clones and copies tend to be undersized, less detailed, and increasingly disproportionate.

Matchbox figures have also been cloned, mainly by toymaker Hing Fat. These are the US, German (Infantry and Afrika Korps) and British 8th Army sets. Atlantic Japanese were cloned, as well. As the cheap Chinese molds deteriorate ,figures get smaller and less detailed.

The fact is that serious hobbyists should avoid clones, if possible, and get figures made from the original molds. This assured detail and scale consistency. Leave clones to the kids.

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I have seen Airfix from its first sets in `61 or `62 to its current status. I like the product as much now as ever. When I need small-scale figures, that is where I look first. Through Airfix, I was introduced to small scale hobbying and historical wargaming. My original collections of figures and kits was lost over 30 years ago. (Of course, I wish I still had them.) Nonetheless, I have always liked their products.

One thing I miss are the old structure kits. Favorites were the knightly castle, Roman fort, Western cavalry fort and Foreign Legion fort. A smart hobbyist could take two or three of those kits and built a larger fort.

Favorite sets? Hard to say. I will always have a find spot for the original Infancy Combat Group and German Infantry, as these (along with the ROCO tanks) introduced me to a wonderful hobby. Thanks to the hobby, I made a lot of friends and had many good times.



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I remember scrambling to the hobby shop with some change in my pocket, hoping to buy another ROCO tank or box of Airfix soldiers. There would be other boys like myself, looking at the display and trying to decide what to buy next. When you were a little boy in the early 1960s, 25¢ was good money and 50¢ was a major expenditure. We drove the hobby shop owner crazy as we tried to make that decision. Do I want another Sherman tank? A Panther? Or maybe a box of Airfix Marines. Decisions, decisions.*

AirfixInfantry Combat Group, circa 1961

Airfix and ROCO came out with new things every few months, so it seemed. My friends and I were thrilled to see each new set. The Sheriff of Nottingham set was a change because it included knights rather than Western figures, Civil War guys or 20th Century troops.  We took releases of World War II figures in stride....Russian Infantry..Paratroopers...Commandos. The Romans and Ancient Britons were thrilling to see.

While we tried our hand at our made-up games with the small figures, we were not very good at it. A friend lent me a copy of Featherstone’s War Games. That changed everything. We could have little battles for World War II, the Civil War and Romans versus good guys . Half the fun was painting the model tanks. We could also paint faces and details on the Airfix figures.

One big side effect: friends. Lots of them. Building models together, painting figures, sharing modeling tricks. We liked to show off our stuff. People developed all sorts of tricks for making their small models more detailed. Things like “stretch sprue” antennae and handmade bundles made our models look better. That somehow improved the games.

Time certainly have changed. The old model-building and wargaming pals are scattered to the four winds. Adulthood brought other concerns that sent us hither and yon. I lost touch with them long ago.

( Perhaps that is why I could never get into the micro tanks at 1/285 and 1/300 scale. They were too small to make enhancements worth seeing. Kits from the 1/100 Roskopf to 1/76 Airfix were preferred because we could make them look great.  )

1/32 - 54mm Westerm Indian

1/32 - 54mm - US Cavalryman

Review BMC D-Day Playset - Part 1

Part I - Terrain, Boats and accessories

20 Years Later

I first saw the D-Day playset by BMC some 20 years ago. The set was sold at Toys R Us. I had also bought the Rough Riders set there. Both were a pretty good set, all in all. There were three pillbox bunkers with AAA guns, a bombed out Norman farmhouse, barbed wire fences and beach obstacle. The landing craft were excellent. My only complaint concerned the soldiers. The set included American, British and German figures. The sculpting was less than mediocre.

Jeff Imel, current owner of BMC, sent me his reissue of the D-Day set for review. The box art is new. Also new are stickers for the landing craft and pillboxes. Everything else is there, too: Dragon’s teeth and Czech hedgeghog beach obstacles, barbed wire fences, and rock piles are the obstacles. Three pillboxes, each sporting AAA guns, and a bombed out Norman house are the structures. The Higgins boats are excellent and sized right for 54mm to 60mm soldiers. And the soldiers themselves have not changed. There are also a dozen small sandbag piles.

1 Norman house
3 bunkers with AAA guns with stickers
2 Higgins boats with stickers
3 barbed witre sections over 12" long
12 Dragon’s teeth tank obstacles
12 Czech Hedhog obstacles
12 small Sand bag positions
3 rock piles
3 flags -US, British, German
American infantry
British Infantry
German infantry
4 mortars (2 each for US and German infantry)
Tray-type box

Includes 3 pillboxes with flak guns

The Good News

I first must admit a bias. I have had the Marx playsets as well as similar products by MPC, Tim Mee and Ideal going back to when I was a little boy. I am also an experienced model builder and figure painter going back many years. I got my “basic training” building the old Aurora monster models and painting ROCO minitanks and Airfix soldiers. I know what is good when it comes to scenery, terrain, vehicles, boats, heavy weapons and soldiers. Therefore, I am prone to err on the side of my experience. And yes, I can be fussy about authenticity and detail.

Set includes 2 Higgins Boats, and they are big

The whole tenor of World War II playsets is altered significantly by this set. Those of us who grew up with a mix of soldiers, offscale vehicles and an odd medley of terrain are in for a surprise. Everything in this set fits  scales ranging from 1/35 to 1/29 (50mm to 60mm). There are no undersized vehicles. Terrain pieces are also consistent. In place of the handful of undersized landing boats and vehicles, this set has two large, realistic landing craft. The little barbed wire fence sections common to the old Marx sets are not here. Instead, three long sections of barbed wire fencing cover at least three feet of play battlefield. There are three realistic pillbox bunkers with antiaircraft guns on the roof. And then there is the Norman farmhouse in full scale. The set also includes anti-tank and beach obstacles.

Barbed Wire pictured with my Homecast figures, 54mm - 60mm

Dragon's teeth and Czech hedgehogs

Sandbags pictured with my homecast soldiers, 54mm troops

Yes, it is a playset, but for those of us in the toy soldier hobby, this one is for the big boys.

For those doing skirmish gaming with 54mm figures, the D-Day Playset is a great asset. It provides the kind of accessories that are needed for games. They make game set-up faster, too.

I cannot stress enough how much I like these large, realistic landing craft.

The Bad News

A few concerns. The house is difficult to assemble. The plastic is too hard and the snap-joiners are awkward. Putting it together, it flew apart like the old Lionel exploding boxcar. I prefer to cut off some of the snaps and use glue.

The soldiers use a stiff plastic. I am surprised that only one arrived with a broken rifle. Sculpting is poor. Some of the US and German figures could be salvaged with head-swaps from more proportional figures.

Pillbox pictures with my painted homecast 54mm - 60mm figures

Overall assessment

The D-Day Playset by BMC offers toy soldier collectors, modelers and wargames a variety of good accessories, scenery and equipment. These is raw material for diorama-makers and lots of goodies for skirmish gamers There is also consistency insofar as scale. Granted, these are toys, but they are some of the most realistic, scale toys in the plastic soldier hobby.

The two concerns do not diminish the D-Day playsets’s value to the toy soldier hobbyist. Get while the getting is good.

Stickers for landing craft

D-Day Pillbox Stickers

Some advice

For sci-fi fans: the barbed wire can be used a laser-barriers. Paint the upright posts black or dark metallic “gunmetal”. Paint the horizontal “wires” in day-glo colors. Shades of Forbidden Planet!  A ray-beam barrier to beat the band!

For troops debarking the landing craft, the Marx 54mm Marines have a lot of running poses. Most of the BMC poses for American and German troops are soldiers in place

You can use the landing craft, barbed wire and bunkers (without AAA guns) for landings against Japanese forces. BMC’s Iwo Jima Marines and Japanese are perfect for this. Even better, add these to the BMC Iwo Jima playset.


Tomorrow- Part II: Day Playset Soldiers

BMC New Civil War “Battle of Appomatttox”.

Jeff Imel, the new owner of BMC toys, sent me a copy of the “Battle of Appomattox” Civil War soldiers. I have wanted to review these soldiers for awhile. They are quite different from their original Civil War figures. Packed in a bag with large header card, the troops looked promising. The card advertises 26 figures. There are 24 regular soldier in Blue and Gray, and figures of General Grant and General Lee. The blue is close to Swedish Blue; the Gray is a medium shade.

Along with the two character figures of Lee and Grant are line troops. They come in four poses: standing shooter, kneeling shooter, reloading rifleman and standard bearer. There are three of each in each color. Size is within the 54-56mm scale. Grant and Lee run taller. From bottom of foot to top of hat, Grant is about 64mm. Lee is about 62mm. Both officer figures are very well-detailed.

The standard bearer is a two-piece figure. His flag is molded separately. This is one of the most dynamic poses I have seen for a toy Civil War standard bearer. Because of his pose, he could be a good basis for conversion to other poses. The simplest would be to put a pistol in his free hand.

The kneeling rifleman is looking over his right, a realistic detail. The standard rifleman is looking over his rifle, as if he fired and is getting ready to step back or is firing as he steps back. Face detail on these guys is good.

These are toy figures. And as such, they succeed. The figures have a degree of character thanks to the detailed faces. Hands on the rifleman remind me of the hands on the fellow in the Lido set of WWII GIs, specifically the guy with the submachine gun. Come to think of it, BMC sells a set of those figures, too.

For a game in a pinch, the “Battle of Appomattox” set has its merits. Just enough troops on each side for a game of OMOG 19C. Just add dice, rules and impromptu scenery and there you go!

There are going to be more standard bearers than one needs, so consider conversions. With a little work, that empty have can be holding a pistol, a rifle or a bugle.

This image is from the BMC Toys site

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As I understand it, many of the original BMC molds were owned by the factory, not BMC. When the factory owner died, the molds were put up for auction and sold to someone else. The figures are now sold under the brand name Americana.

Get OMOG 19C Skirmish Game Rules free here: http://www.thortrains.net/downloads/OMOG19C.pdf

The Best Set of Vikings

I have always had an interest in Vikings and the Norsemen of old. There were not many toy Vikings back in the old days. One could finds other soldiers by the bag: army men, cowboys & Indians, Space men, knights, Civil War guys and French Foreign Legion & Arabs. Vikings were rare. Unless your local toy store carried the Marx playset with the tin-litho castle, knights and green Vikings, well, no Vikings for you. Frankly, I do not even know if the Marx company had made their green 54mm Vikings in 1963.

The Louis Marx Company had several innovative lines of toys in the early 1960s. Several catered to the junior collector. For example, Marx’s Golden Guns were miniature historical weapons that came in their own unique plastic cases. A footlocker for the M1 rifle, a simulated-wood box for the Derringer, and so on. Television commercial encouraged boys to “...collect them all!”About the same time, Marx offered its “Warriors of the World” figurines. These are hard plastic soldiers in the 54 to 75mm range. Part of the description was ‘hand painted by artisans.”

Many of the Warriors of the World were a recycling of some older sets that had originally been made in soft plastic. The sets had about 8 figures and came in a small, colorful box. Each figure was accompanied by a card with its picture, a name. and a fictitious history for that character. The sets included Cowboys, Indians, Civil War soldiers from both sides, Revolutionary War figures, World War II troops, World War I troops, Pirates, Romans and some others.

I can only remember the ones that our local stores carried, though I know they also made Rough Riders, Navy sailors, War of 1812 troops and Mexican-American War figures.

There were two types I wanted most: Army guys and Vikings. My brother was of a different temperament. He wanted a few Romans and the Cowboys & Indians. One store sold them to us for a dime each. My grandmother bought us a few, too.

The Vikings made a big hit with me. At the time, I had six poses: two standing spearmen, a charging spearman, Viking with war club, Viking with a mace, and a swordsman whose face reminded me of Captain Kangaroo. Somehow I missed the archer and axe-wielding warrior. Nonetheless, those six men were the core of my small Dark Ages army. At that time, one of our Cub Scout projects had been to make a toy Viking ship using a cheese box, a wad of clay, a stick and colored construction paper. The toy boat was the right size for my Vikings.

Times changed and all those old Vikings were lost. A few years ago, I managed to get a set of the same figures cast in soft plastic. And to my delight, I was soon able to acquire the eight original Warriors of the World figures and a few spares.

Let us acknowledge the obvious from the start. Vikings did not look like these fellows. Vikings did not have horns or wings on their helmets. They also did not wear long tunics that looked like a girl’s jumper. The fellow with the club was the most accurate of the bunch. Even then, the shields on the Marx figures were held by straps. Original Viking shields were held by a handle inside the boss.

Accurate or not, for me, this will always be the best set of Vikings.

The size of Warriors of the World Vikings matches well with the Elastolin Normans. Alongside the Knights in plate armor, they come up small. A person concerned with historical accuracy could easily convert them into Gauls. A bit more work would erase enough inaccuracies to make them realistic Vikings. Of course, when I was 8 years old., these were the most realistic Vikings I ever had.

Call it Nostalgia, but I prefer the Warrior of the World Vikings to Marx’s 54mm Vikings. The larger figures are more robust. Granted that the smaller Vikings have better detail and more animated poses. I still favor the 65mm figures.

Currently, the Vikings are made in Russia and cost a pretty penny. The molds ended up in a place called Donetsk. Some American companies carry them thus sparing you postage from the former USSR.

The Warriors of the World set of Vikings would do well in skirmish games such as OMOK (One Man, One Knight), They have a good assortment of weapons and equipment for Ancient and early Dark Ages fights. Fifteen of these fellows would be just right, be it Norsemen battling Saxons or ancient Germans straightening out the Romans.


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The Word War II G.I.s were the old 60mm Marx Army Men, with several poses identical to the Lido figures. For the Warriors of the World Series, two poses were omitted (crawling and grenade thrower). Six figures were given bases. There was also a prone sniper and a sitting sniper who needed no base. Of course, I also acquired more than a full set of these troops! But then. they are a story for another day.

Homecast Soldiers: A Little Paint Makes All the Difference

When I got back into homecasting back `05, I acquired molds in bits and pieces. My first acquisition were Guardsmen mods from a friend. The molds included Castings / REB and Prince August Molds. Soon after, I added other molds., One of the first was the old Rapaport /Castings / REB mold # 5681 “Air commandos.” The mold makes copies of the Lone Star / Harvey British paratroopers. These are an advancing rifleman with the British Bullpup rifle, a man with a submachine gun and an officer with pistol. The figures wear the familiar Dennison smock and British field gear with the long ammo pouches.

I cast a lot of figures from that mold. And I got creative. The uniform is like many of the era: field jacket, combat books, basic helmet and webbed gear. The faces are crude, but the figures have good, animated poses. The profile did not look much different from American troops circa 1944 - 1980. I tried painting the solders n various different schemes and they all looked great. A little filing of the helmet led to another type: fallschirmjager. A little effort makes a plausible set of German paratroopers for toy soldier gaming.

Let us be clear at this point. These are toy figures. They were never meant to be accurate military miniatures. The same can be said of our paint and file conversions. They look good enough, but are not accurate models of US troops or German paratroopers. The figures are passable. The advantage is that this mold can churn out small armies for games like OMOG Advanced.

The set illustrated here is my latest. They are painted to imitate the “chocolate chip” camouflage issued during Desert Storm. As I had already primed the figures before deciding on a color scheme, I was not able to file the helmet to resemble the modern US army helmet.

Here are links to some of the other soldiers I have made with this mold, a little paint and sometimes a little filing:

http://www.thortrains.net/toysoldierart/colors2.htm

http://www.thortrains.net/toysoldierart/colors3.htm

http://www.thortrains.net/toysoldierart/colors4.htm

http://www.thortrains.net/armymen/newpic04/hcww2pomair.htm