There's something vaguely organic about painting Airfix figures (yes I know these are the Dapol re-hashes) something which reaches back to pre-teen years trying to get khaki paint to stick to unwashed 8th Army soldiers with too much flesh on show. Yes there are alternatives now. The Monty's and Modleu items are crisper, but to my eye are a little on the big side, not to mention a lot more expensive. The Airfix figures which are now 50+ years old do still stand up to scrutiny and for their day are beautifully cut. The only thing that jars is their ubiquity. This is outweighed by the adaptability: The pinch bar chap bottom right is a shoe -in for a signal man, the two with the lift bars are likewise easily put to sweeping or hoeing.
While the Modleu cab figures are tempting, I can't see rejecting these for general background duties anytime soon.
I agree whole heartedly, this from a dyed in the wool HO Preiser user! The figures are in natural poses, the "Civilians/station personel" ditto. The ideal poses, not running, jumping etc. Being made from styrene is great for lopping off the odd limb and figure matching for new poses.
ReplyDeleteAndrew K (AKA Unknown)
I'm sure I used to know the name of the man who sculpted these. He was very well regarded in military's modeling circles and the quality of these was outstanding for their time - which is what, unfortunately, led to their ubiquity, along with the civilians set. Looking at them now it is the arrested in motion poses that are probably their weakest element
ReplyDeleteThey still stand up to scrutiny now I reckon, although I'm not keen on the frozen-in-motion poses. The gaffer has real character, and the rest actually look like they've been based on real working men, and the bloke with the sledgehammer, he looks well 'ard!
ReplyDelete