First Gear - Toy Soldiers

First Gear is a company that currently owns the molds for a few of the original Britians Deetail WWII sets. They have been issuing recasts of German, Japanese, British and US infantry since the mid 2000s. They have replaced the bases of the figures with plastic bases with round ends instead of the traditional square metal bases. They have also given the figures a different paint color scheme, which is more realistic. Britians Deetail would only paint the details on top of the base plastic color. First Gear paints the whole figure. I also read once that Britains Deetail would not use more than 6 colors. First Gear seems to be more flexible in that respect. There is another company in Argentina called DSG that owns the molds for Afrika Korps and British 8th Army. Initially I thought these figures were also produced by DSG, but I recently learned that they are actually made by First Gear. First Gear's figures are much more affordable than the original Britains Deetail figures and even those from DSG.

First Gear US Infantry

These are the rest of the Britains Deetail guys, as they are presently made by First Gear. You can see that they make them in a couple of different uniform color schemes. Note also the difference in the bases.

First Gear German Infantry

These are new production figures of the old Britains Deetail figures. They only make six poses and they have given them bases with round corners. The uniform is painted grey which makes more sense to me than the blue of the originals.

First Gear Japanese Infantry

Recent recasts of the old Britains Deetail figures. They come with round bases and brown uniforms. I actually like the new color scheme better than the original.

First Gear British Infantry

These are recasts of the original Britains Deetail figures produced in the last few years. I find the color scheme better than the original, but I don't like how they paint the eyes that much. Note also that the bases have rounded corners, not that it makes a big difference.

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British Reconnaissance Vehicles

Great Britain went reasonably well prepared for reconnaissance into the war. A few years before the war began they had already been working on vehicles for this purpose. They would prove very valuable during the long distances that they had to cover in the North African campaigns. The biography of Hans von Luck, a German officer who served in a reconnaissance unit in North Africa tells of the many challenges involved in patrolling such large expanses of terrain, and even though it is written from the perspective of the German side, it still sheds a good amount of light into why these vehicles were so important for the British side as well. In terms of models we have a couple of examples that we can draw from to outfit our units. Let's take a look.

Airfix Daimler Scout Car

Also known as Car, Scout, Mark I, or more affectuously as 'Dingo', this 4x4 reconnaissance vehicle was designed in the late 30s, so that it was ready by the time the war began. Despite carrying the Daimler name, this vehicle has nothing to do with the German car manufacturer. The Daimler Motor Company was a British firm. The Daimler's armament was a Bren gun or a .55 Anti Tank Rifle, as shown above. It had room for a driver and a gunner. It's top speed was 55mph. One interesting fact about it is that its tires were made of nearly solid rubber, so in theory it did not need a spare tire - Airfix's model comes with a spare, barely visible on the picture. Other than that, for a plastic model, it is a fairly nice and detailed vehicle. The one in the picture is a new production model, so evidently someone still has the molds and is casting new vehicles.

Britains Deetail Daimler Scout Car - Part I

This is another version of the Dingo. In this case, it comes equipped with a Bren gun instead of the .55 Anti Tank Rifle. In terms of its shape, I think this one might be closer to the actual model than the one from Airfix. For instance, notice the angles on the fenders. The detail on this one though is a bit shallow. In addition to dark green I have also seen it in tan, ready for the desert campaigns. As you can see, it has a two man crew. The officer in my case seems to have lost his hand. As is the case with the other Deetail vehicles, it is not a very common find and it certainly makes a good collectible from that standpoint.  

Britains Deetail Daimler Scout Car - Part II

The view from the back. Gives you a better idea of the many angles and sloping armor plates, presumably to help it deflect direct shots. The Dingo's front armor was 30mm, which was fairly decent for when it was introduced. For comparison, the German Panzer III only had 15mm of armor on its initial models, so considering that the Dingo was 'just' a scout car, it was well equipped for its task, and it did not come at the expense of speed, which is very important for a recon vehicle.

Lone Star Armored Car

This looks like it could also be a Daimler vehicle with some liberties in terms of the actual details. It is also not in 1/32 scale as you would expect based on Lone Star's figure sets. It is more along the lines of 1/40 or 1/43. If you are not too strict about scale it could mix in with the rest of your collection. 

Lone Star Armored Car towing Gun

This vehicle comes with a hook in the back to be able to tow a gun or some other equipment in the back. The gun is also smaller than  regular 1/32 scale. Together they go quite well though.

Crescent Toys Saladin

The Saladin is actually a post WWII vehicle that began service in the mid 60s. I did not know it at the time that I bought it though. I do find it quite interesting with its 6 wheels. And in terms of the rest of the design it would not look out of place in a WWII setting so I have decided to be a bit flexible and include it in the post. As you can see, there is a small lever on top of the turret which controls a spring that allows it to fire rounds through its main 76mm gun. 

Britains Deetail British Land Rover

This is a nice little set. The Rover comes with a driver and a Bren gunner in the back. I would have rather had the vehicle in a tan color scheme to use it for some long range patrols in the desert, but hey, we can still send this guy to scout the French countryside. The funny thing is that when I was researching the history of the Land Rover for this post, I discovered that it was initially designed in 1947, so it's actually a post-war model. Nonetheless, given the scarcity of scout cars, I think I am going to take some historic liberties and include it in some WWII scenes.

Britains Deetail British Land Rover - other side

From this angle you can see the Bren gunner better. Notice how his knee is resting on a little ledge behind the cabin so that he can lean forward and rest the gun on the top of the vehicle while he fires away. It's those touches of realism that make the set special. The Rover was initially built to help out on the fields. It was a 4x4 hybrid of a truck and a tractor, similar to a jeep. It was adopted by the military almost immediately thanks to its rugged off-road and on-road qualities.

Lone Star Willys Jeep

This is a Willys Jeep made by Lone Star. It is a bit on the smaller side of the 1/32 scale, but still acceptable. I believe it came with a crew of British Paras, so I am assuming that it could have been made available to the British through Lend Lease.

Lone Star Bren Gun Carrier - Part I

The only Bren Gun Carrier that I am aware of was produced by Lone Star. It's a fairly simple vehicle. The tracks are just decorative and instead it has little wheels underneath that allow it to roll. In terms of size it feel a bit undersized, but then again, the real Bren Gun Carrier was fairly small also.

Lone Star Bren Gun Carrier - Part II

Here is the view from the other side. My understanding is that the vehicle came with a crew of three originally. In their place I placed a British Para, but notice that he does not have a Bren Gun which is a bit of a bummer.

 

Lone Star Bren Gun Carrier - Part III

The view from the back. Notice that the back only has a seat behind the gunner.

Lone Star Bren Gun Carrier - Part IV

This view makes it clearer.

Timpo Bren Gun Carrier - Part I

Apparently Timpo also produced some vehicles to go with their figures. This is an all plastic model. The scale is adequate, but the level of realism is not quite the same as what you see from other manufacturers, but I suppose that has a lot to do with the plain plastic finish. Perhaps with a bit of paint it would look more real. 

Timpo Bren Gun Carrier - Part II

As far as the shape, it looks a bit different than other ones I have seen. This angle provides a better perspective to evaluate it. I am not sure if they just modeled a different variation of a real Bren Gun Carrier or whether they took some liberties in order to simplify the manufacturing process. The two figures that came with are in line with the style and quality of other Timpo figures.

Dinky Bren Gun Carrier - Part I

This is a metal model made by Dinky. It comes with two figures, a driver and a gunner. I should probably call them half-figures, because you only get from the waist up. Overall, the detail is superior -just look at the tracks-, and the proportions are much better. My favorite Bren carrier so far. 

Dinky Bren Gun Carrier - Part II

Here is the view from the back. I find it interesting that the above carriers all look very similar from the front, but from the back they all have different configurations. Did different manufacturers represent a different variation of the vehicle or did they just take some liberties in their designs?

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British Cargo Trucks

The British Army had several types of cargo trucks at their service during WWII. Many of them were manufactured by Bedford, a subsidiary of Vauxhall Motors. Bedford built about 66,000 smaller trucks (up to 1500 lbs) and about 100,000 larger lorries of the OX and OY type, which were used in a large variety of roles such as recovery vehicles, tankers, cargo, mobile kitchens and so on. Another popular type of Lorries were the QL series, which had 4-wheel drive and had the driver's cabin above the engine. About 12,000 were built each year between 1942 and 1944. Apparently some even were outfitted with a half-track to give them greater cross country capabilities. In terms of scale models there are not many options. Most of the ones that exist require much assembly. I've only found one that comes mostly assembled. Let's take a look. 

Airfix Bedford RL

This is a plastic model originally produced by Airfix. You can still find the originals on eBay. This one is a new production model which sells for a little less than the vintage models on eBay. I don't know who owns the molds nowadays. It does require a small amount of assembly but it is fairly easy to put together. Unfortunately, after I bought it I realized that this Bedford truck is the RL type which was built from the 1950's onwards. It does however resemble the Bedford QL series enough as the cabin sits on top of the engine, so I've decided to let it serve my WWII troops as they would otherwise have no cargo capabilities. Plus I already have them, so what am I going to do with them!? :-) Being 100% plastic it does not come close to the level of detail of FOV or 21C, but with some amount of paint work and detailing I think that it can actually look quite better.

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Matchbox - Toy Soldiers

Matchbox is actually the name of a brand, rather than the name of a company. The brand was introduced by a British company called Lesney Products in 1953. The origin of the brand name is due to the fact that one of the co-owners designed a series of toy cars that would fit into a small matchbox. He did this for her daughter as her school only allowed children to bring toys that could fit into a match box. The brand has been used primarily for die cast vehicles, but in the late 70s, Matchbox also produced a set of WWII soldiers which competed directly against Airfix. Matchbox offered more poses per set, but fewer figures per box. And even though toy soldiers were not their main focus they did a pretty decent job. I am grateful that they deviated from their standard products as these were some of my favorite figures growing up. In 1982, Lesney Products went bankrupt and the brand has since changed hands several times. It is not clear to me who owns the molds these days. I have seen recasts of the original figures so they must still be around. 

Matchbox German Infantry

One of my favorite sets ever. Note that to the right there is a bazooka/panzerschreck guy which to my knowledge is not part of the original set. It came in a bucket of clones, but it must be based on Matchbox figures as the sculpting and all his equipment is just like that of the other guys.

Matchbox US Infantry - Part I

Another really nice set. The machine gun could have been done slightly better as the legs of the tripod are a bit unrealistic. The bazooka guy is actually a clone, but I've never seen the original figure that it's been copied from. I really like the guy running with the sub MG.

Matchbox US Infantry - Part II

Another good, solid set. The poses and movements all look real and well proportioned. Note that the matchbox figures in general offer some heavy weapons like flamethrowers or bazookas that the Airfix guys sometimes lacked.

Matchbox British Infantry - Part I

The Bren gunner is one of my favorite ones. I really like how he is leaning back. The flamethrower guy tends to be harder to find than the rest.

Matchbox British Infantry - Part II

A few more heavy weapons. From this set I also like the prone man in particular. The officer with the sheepskin coat is turned out nicely when the paint job was done.

Matchbox British Commandos - Part I

I think this is one of those sets in which Matchbox outdid Airfix. They also have a very good variety of poses and weaponry. The only thing missing is some heavy weapons, but then again, these are commandos. I like this set in particular as it was brought back to me by my old man from a trip that he made to England. It was my only set of British Commandos growing up and I still have some of them today.

Matchbox British Commandos - Part II

The guy with the ladder is a nice touch, but I have to admit that I don't have much use for him in most battles. They do offer a good selection of prone guys. The guy in the middle is very similar to the Airfix guy. I wonder which one came out first. The kneeling guy is going to be my overall commander once I have them all painted.

Matchbox British Commandos - Part III

Here is a nice combo. The boat and rower are Matchbox figures. The bren gunner is an Airfix guy providing support. I guess there is some advantage to him not having a base after all. Like the ladder guy, this raft also requires a very specific scene.

Matchbox Afrika Korps - Part I

Matchbox, gave us a bit more variety in poses, but the sculpting is a notch below that of Airfix or some of its other sets. On the plus side, they included a couple guys with short pants, and they also included an important mounted heavy machine gun. My favorite guy in this set is the one on the very left. I really like that running guy, holding his weapon with one hand.

Matchbox Afrika Korps - Part II

Is that Rommel that we are looking at? He could very well be.

A few of these guys illustrate the point I was making about the sculpting. The charging guys' running seems a bit unnatural and the grenade man does not seem to lean back enough to be able to throw that thing as far as you'd want to.

Matchbox Afrika Korps - Part III

Painted as regular infantry... I needed them to complete 100 unique poses of painted German Infantry.

Matchbox British 8th Army - Part I

Matchbox gave us 13 poses in this set. Almost twice as generous as most of the other manufacturers. Their figures are mostly in good action poses. Casualty figures are not my favorite ones, but the guy in this set actually looks pretty authentic.

Matchbox British 8th Army - Part II

Even though the bagpipe guy is not an action pose, I have to admit that he will probably look really nice once he's painted.

Matchbox British 8th Army - Part III

It looks like this batch contains Monty. The quality of the sculpting in this set in on par with that of the German Afrika Korps. Not Matchbox's best, but as I said, they made up with the number of poses. Also, note the mix of helmets and berets -or more precisely, Scottish tam o'shanters, as contributed below by one of our readers-. That will mix things up nicely once they are painted. 

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Lone Star - Toy Soldiers

Lone Star was a British manufacturer of die cast vehicles and plastic toy soldiers. It was founded just before WWII and was in business until the early 80s when it went bankrupt. While its main focus seems to have been the vehicles and trains, it also produced a few interesting WWII sets. The sets came factory painted and the sculpting is of varying degrees of quality from one set to the next. The original figures are a bit hard to find and I have found it an interesting challenge to collect them. At least one of the sets -the ANZAC figures- has been acquired by Timpo and they have released new production figures using the original molds. 

Lone Star Afrika Korps - Part I

This is a rare set. Out of production and not easy to find. The poses are acceptable considering when they were made (50s or 60s). As far as poses they offer a good mix of fighting/non-fighting figures. The guy on the left is the only one I've ever seen waving a white flag.

Lone Star Afrika Korps - Part II

This other picture has the guys going on the offensive. It also shows the only flamethrower among all the poses across all manufacturers in this post, which is another reason why I am glad I finally got my hands on this set.

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part I

These are two figures that I stumbled upon on eBay. They are standing a bit too straight for my taste, but they are also old, so we can give them a bit of a break. Anyhow, once they are painted they will be a good addition to the unit, providing their specialized services. I wonder what the guy on the right is supposed to be carrying on his back. Does not look like the usual field pack. Is it supposed to be his parachute? But if he is already operating the mortar, doesn't that mean that he already jumped?

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part II

Here are some more guys from this set. They are not in the best shape. A couple of them have broken weapons but they still give an idea of what the original poses looked like. The guy on the right is an interesting pose. I am not sure what he represents. Is he supposed to be pulling his parachute? or maybe he is supposed to be in the air, in the middle of a jump?

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part III

A couple more guys that I recently got in a mixed lot. The guy who is crawling is interesting. He seems more like he is doing some push ups. I would have made him with at least one knee on the ground. The man with the binoculars is fairly decent. Too bad it has lost all its paint.

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part IV

A few more guys in much better condition. The bazooka guy seems to be based off the same figure as the standing man aiming with the rifle, or most likely the other way around, which explains why the rifleman is holding the rifle that way. The flamethrower guy is just a better version of the one in the previous picture which has the flame missing. 

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part V

Three more figures from the set. Well actually the guy on the left showed up already in one of the earlier pictures, but the weapon was broken, so I included him again since I just got the same figure in better shape. The other two are nice additions. I like the guy who is crawling quite a bit. The MG is also a good addition to the uint, giving it a bit more firepower.

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part VI

And yet one more guy who I found by chance, without knowing that I was missing him, in a large batch that I bought, also without knowing what exactly was in it. I guess every unit needs a good grenade thrower, and here he is. He does not seem to be winding up much for the throw though... let's see how far he manages to throw that. 

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part VII

This is one more guy I just ran into. He is just sitting down, as if he were riding on a plane waiting to jump. To setup such a scene, you would need several of them and they are not easy to find, so I doubt I'll ever get around to that. I should clarify that I did not see any manufacturer marks on him, so I am just assuming that he is a Lone Star figure because he really resembles the other ones.

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part VIII

So I think I found the set that the sitting para belongs to, or at least one where he can be used more appropriately. This is a Willys Jeep made by Lone Star. Presumably issued to the British Paras through Lend Lease :-)

Lone Star British Paratroopers - Part IX

Here is one more British Para. This guy happens to be the machine gunner for this Bren gun carrier, although his MG does not really look like a Bren gun. If he's not the actual gunner, then it's a big coincidence that he fits so well on the seat that has the MG opening... 

Lone Star British Modern Paratrooper

This guy came with some of the WWII paras. At first I did not notice that he was from a more modern set. As you can see, the only thing that stands out is the weapon. So if you are not too selective, you can include him in your WWII unit. I probably will.

Lone Star British Red Berets - Part I

These guys are post WWII figures, but if you overlook the automatic weapons, they could fit well with the rest of the guys. The flamethrower is a good complement to the other sets. I don't know exactly how many poses were produced. First I found these four and later on I found two more (see below).

Lone Star British Red Berets - Part II

I recently got these two other poses. The plastic is a bit brittle as they arrived in multiple pieces. Note how the arm holding the grenade is reattached as well as the head of the other guy. Too bad because there aren't that many of these figures left around. One thing that the figures in this set have been criticized about is the size of the beret which is certainly on the bigger side.

Lone Star British Red Berets - Part III

And here is one more guy that I was missing from the set. The guy firing from a kneeling position. A classic post in most sets. Fairly well executed in this case.

Lone Star British Red Berets - Part IV
Here is one more guy who I was missing. Also, one of those that I was not aware of and who came in  a larger batch of figures, so I guess I got lucky. He is displaying a good degree of movement, which is how I like them. BTW, this is almost the same pose as the modern para a few pictures earlier. Initially I thought all they had done was change the helmet. I think I'll let you find the rest of the differences!

Lone Star ANZAC Infantry - Part I

The sculpting on these figures is a bit coarse, but it's nice that they provide a bit more variety and poses. Luckily they are also wearing a tropical uniform. I am sure that once they are painted they will blend in acceptably with the Airfix guys. This set includes an officer with a cap, which looks a bit more official than the Airfix commander.

Lone Star ANZAC Infantry - Part II

This other set contains a bazooka guy, which is a welcome heavy weapon addition, as well as a radio man, which is also not present in the Airfix set. These Lone Star guys are sold in a blister pack which is branded as both Lone Star and Timpo, so if you look for them you might find them under either brand, however my understanding is that they were originally released by Lone Star.

Lone Star ANZAC Infantry - Originals - Part I

I got lucky and found some original figures in a large batch that I bought. I only got 5 of the poses, but I think they give a good idea of how the set used to look. Several of the guys still retain their original paint. It looks like the commander got a bit of a 'touch up'. Also, note how they were issued in tan uniforms. Compared to the green, new production figures, I think I like the originals better, even with some of the paint missing.

Lone Star ANZAC Infantry - Originals - Part II

Here is one more pose in the original color scheme. Again, much better than the recasts.

Lone Star ANZAC Infantry - Originals - Part 3

Two more down. Unfortunately, with the weapon tips broken off. 

Lone Star British Naval Infantry - Part I

This is a bit of a rare set. I am not sure how many figures came with it, but it is one of the larger ones. I have found 9 so far. Note that the two white figures are actually made by Charbens -I found this out after I had taken the pictures-. The poses are quite diverse and fairly well done for their time. The only thing that I don't like is how brittle the Lone Start plastic becomes over time. Out of all these figures, only 2 of them arrived in one piece. All the rest had broken limbs or weapons and had to be patched up. In fact, look at the man with the rope. He is missing a couple segments, which is quite unfortunate.

Lone Star British Naval Infantry - Part II

These poses show a bit more action, which is more to my linking. Even the prone man with the Bren gun is lifting his foot to make him look more 'into it'. The man on the left however is taking what seems like a very odd step. Usually when a leg moves forward, it is the opposite arm that moves forward along with it, but what do I know. Maybe he is getting off a boat in which case I can see how he might be stepping off and reaching with his free hand at the same time.

Lone Star British Naval Infantry - Part III

Here are two of the less common guys. The officer, which happens to have a movable arm that allows him to look into his binoculars and the helmsman. I actually don't have much use for the the helmsman without a ship to place him in. I would have preferred another raiding pose in the set. 

Lone Star British Naval Infantry - Part IV

Here two of the poses already depicted in the first picture, however this time I found them without any pieces broken off, which is hard given how thin and brittle the rope and flag poles are. Note also that the man on the right is painted in a different color scheme.

Timpo / Lone Star British Naval Infantry - Part 1

These are recast figures of the Lone Star British Naval Infantry. They are pretty much the same poses, except for the fact that they do not have any factory paint on them, and that they are made of a more resilient plastic which does not break. Now that I have found these guys, I will not paint my original/vintage Lone Star figures and paint these newer recasts instead. 

Timpo / Lone Star British Naval Infantry - Part 2

Out of the original nine Lone Star figures Timpo recast 8 of them. The guy who is missing is the helmsman, however I did not really have much use for him as part of a raiding party, so it's not like I will be missing him much, 

Lone Star Frogmen - Part I

A nice and interesting set from Lone Star. I don't know what country they represent exactly, and whether they are meant to be WWII or post war figures. As was the case with Lone Star, they were on the generous side in terms of the number of poses in the set. I don't know however if I got them all already.

Lone Star Frogmen - Part II

Unlke the Atlantic divers, these guys don't have any bases to keep them 'off the ground', so they must lie flat on their bellies on the sea floor when diving!

Lone Star Frogmen - Part III

As you might suspect from all the different colors, these actual figures are not originals. They are clones of relatively decent quality. Once they are painted it won't be that noticeable.

Lone Star Frogmen - Part IV

 I believe the original frogmen from Lone Star came with factory paint as did their other sets. Interestingly enough, the paint scheme that I have seen shows them wearing only a bathing suit, instead of a full diving suit. If so, I guess these guys would have to be used in the Mediterranean only! I am planning on giving them a full body suit when I paint them...

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