British 8th Army
Review of H0/00 Scale Airfix Reproductions
The miniatures shown here are poor reproductions “Made in Hong Kong” of Airfix British 8th Army (1st Edition) in H0/00 scale. The Airfix set of British troops in tropical uniform released in 1961 originally contained 44 infantrymen in 18 poses and two .303-inch Vickers Machine Guns. The playset “Made in Hong Kong”, on the other hand, only provides eight different infantrymen, but none of the specialist types that are still popular with collectors and wargamers today.
Contents
Figures in 8 Poses – 21,5 mm equal 163 cm Height
- Officer with Webley .38/200 Service Revolver
- Sergeant with SMLE, advancing, signaling
- British Rifleman with Rifle, Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield – SMLE, standing
- British Rifleman with SMLE, advancing
- British Rifleman with SMLE, standing, firing
- British Rifleman with SMLE, kneeling, firing
- British Rifleman with SMLE, in mêlée
- British Rifleman with SMLE, falling
Evaluation
Good choice of subject, Airfix 8th Army (1st Edition) is quite popular with collectors, particularly because of the prone observer and the two LRDG soldiers on stealth patrol, which were sadly omitted from the 1974 Airfix re-release of the 8th Army (2nd Edition). However, the playset “Made in Hong Kong” only offers eight of the 18 Airfix figure poses, and none of the aforementioned specialists.
Six of the eight steel helmets are reminiscent of medieval kettle hats, they hardly look like the British Brodie steel helmet which evolved from them. This is actually a great benefit if WW2 infantrymen are to be easily converted into medieval foot soldiers.
These miniatures are smaller than later 2. Edition Airfix figures, they are surprisingly compatible with 1:87 scale ROCO trucks, tanks and artillery pieces.
Mould lines across helmets, faces and weapons need to be removed prior to painting. The plastic material smells noticeably of plasticizers. A defect, which may be somewhat alleviated by painting and varnishing. However, some of these miniatures in our inventory already show signs of brittling, and it is probably just a matter of time before wrists and ankles break.
Compatible with Fujimi, Matchbox, Milicast, Cromwell Models, Ostmodels, MMS, and Vac-U-Cast.
The British 8th Army playset “Made in Hong Kong” does not provide any really interesting figures that are worth painting. However, these toy soldiers are so cheap and numerous, they may be armed with spears made from broom bristles and used as orc extras for the Battle of Minas Tirith.