ITALERA WW2 RUSSIAN INFANTRY

ITALERA

WW2 RUSSIAN INFANTRY

(Winter Uniform)

1/32 Scale 8 Figure Set

I saw this set a while back and I hummed and hawed as to whether 

I should acquire it. Well now it is mine.There are 8 different poses by 2 so 

you get 16 figures. The sculpting is very good and the set is pretty imaginative.

There are four men with helmets and the other four have fur caps plus long coats.

There is a nice selection of arms too, varying from PPSH sub machine gun, 

Tokarev rife, Mosin-Nagant rifle, Degtyaryov light Machine gun and a small mortar.

The faces of the men are very sharp and the poses pretty natural. Italera make

Elite German Troops too as an a companion set and there is even an anti-tank

gun set for both sides with servants. This is a great set and it's nice to get 

Russians in winter gear for a change. The plastic is hard but much better

than the Hornby Airfix reissues of recent. Oh, and they are actually 

made in Italy! 

The box is dramatic and depicts "The Russians are coming"!

Box rear with painting guide.

Two of these in the box! They were pretty hard to get 

off the sprue. Be careful with that Stanley knife Eugene!

Free from the sprue the 8 poses! Nice!

A lick of paint and they ready to fight for the Motherland!

Fighting a relentless enemy!

Nice coat you got sir!

IN THE FIELD

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

AIRFIX FOOTBALLERS 1/32

I didn't realise these existed until I got a lash of them in 

a lot of figures on eBay last year. I have no particular interest in them 

as I have zero interest in football. These were the only football set Airfix 

made in the 1970s and they were very well sculpted and moulded. Maybe 

with the popularity of Subutteo table soccer back in the age before gaming 

consoles, these figures were hip and could be painted like your footy heroes, 

who knows! I just made do with a Kevin Keegan colouring book!

If they made modern versions you would have to get the

managers and W.A.Gs in the set too! 

Itsa gooooooal!

The earlier box artwork

And here are two I prepared earlier!

WALKING ON THE MOON

AIRFIX HO/OO ASTRONAUTS

Even though I bought a fair share of HO/OO, 1/72 and 1/76

in my younger model making days, 1978 - 83, I was never

really too mad about those scales, but in saying that they are ideal
scales for large projects and dioramas. I do not have any more stuff in

such scales now except these Astronauts. I stumbled across them last year
again from a box in storage and feeling slightly sorry for them I decided
to paint them and photograph them, so here they are in all their
glory, an 1980 pack of spacemen!

Giant steps are what you take, walking on the moon!

Moon Rover!

Take me across town!

Help! I'm lost!

Let's make a Space Movie!

Space Hopper!

I think I found something here!

Time for a moon picnic!

One small step...

MISSION DATA

These photographs were taken with a Panasonic Lumix

digital camera. To make the 'lunar' setting, a few shovels of sea sand 

were placed on top of a black PVC refuse bag. A black bed sheet was put in the

background and then the figures were put in place. The lights were turned

off and a large flashlight was used overhead, shining directly down

to create sun shining on the surface of the moon. This gave excellent 

blackness behind the sand and then I took the shots!

WALKING ON THE MOON

I used these figures in a stop motion film 

which can be viewed on you tube.

The URL is here:-

http://www.youtube.com/user/KRAZEEIZATION?feature=mhee

A collection of stills from the film.

SPACE IS THE PLACE!

SPACE WARRIORS

Star Date: 1981 

Co-ordinates: Planet Airfix

Mission: Highlight Space Warriors 

Sorry, for getting carried away with 

the heading, but these figures warrant

a little Sci-Fi don't you think? With the 
success of Flash Gordon in 1980 and Star Wars 
before that it was inevitable that Airfix, 
now struggling financially should knock out 
some space figures, and a great set they are too.
They were originally moulded in grey but also
beautiful silver plastic in 1995 which is superb! 
Space on the other hand gives one artistic 
freedom to do whatever they like, and these 
figures are proof of that!

Original grey set from 1981 

 

Silver set from 1995

The Super-Cool box is worth 

pursuing alone. You see 3 figures 

on the front...

...and 3 figures on the back. 

The being with the ring is on 

the side of the box!

The Cosmic Seven 

Lazer guns are plenty, a robot resembling 

a Samuri and a leggy blonde, resembling 

Jenna from Blake's 7, possible the only 

woman in the Airfix 1/32 range!

The names were made up by myself

and are totally fictitious!

Space Commander Ryder

Looks like Buck Rogers in a skirt!

Clia Andromorra

No space film can ever be complete 

without a girl in a mini!

Lizerat

Half man, half reptile with 

disco boots!

Zak Orus

A fine Android with a Dracula cloak!

 

R101 B3
The robotic one, but armed with
a sword?

Zargon

A contestant for the 

Space Olympics!

Ardatt Orion

Let's face it, an Android with

a Dyson hoover as a head!

His weapon tip was missing 

and I improvised!

An artistic impression!

Boldly going where...you know the rest!

Space Art

You can paint these any colour 

you like which is great!

TIMPO

TIMPO

SWOPPETS

Ahh, don't these bring back memories? Timpo made a great range of figures 

covering all the major ages of conflict. They were sold as singles so you

could choose the best ones. There was vehicles too so the range was great.

I had quite a few back in the day but I sold them all a few years ago.

They were not as durable as their solid plastic counterparts and the hands

could break off and then it was time for Super Glue! 

GERMAN

The Germans were probably the best of the WW2 figures but

the problem with them was that there was only a few leg poses so they

were limited by this, as were the other sets. The man with the binoculars and the 

man  with the MP40 were my favourites. The rifle man's hands are the same colour

as the gun and I like the officer because he is wearing a helmet and

not a cap like dozens of german sets. 

Note:- 

The Germans had detachable helmets and the same heads

as the others, but then they came with fixed helmets, red hair, 

and the faces were more menacing than the others!

BRITISH

The British poses were less realistic just look at  the man 

throwing the grenade, and the man with fixed bayonet! 

The mix of steel helmet and beret is cool no doubt. The bright 

green webbing is ridiculous to say the least. These figures 

like the rest lacked water bottles, bayonets, entrenching tools, 

possible due to the manufacturing process.

AMERICAN

The Yanks were pretty gormless too, while the 

firing poses are passable the men pointing, running and throwing

grenades are cartoon quality! I loved the silver automatic pistol the captain

was firing. The good thing though is there is a black man in there and this

is an often overlooked issue when dealing with WW2. Blacks did fight in the 

U.S. Army as well as other armies around the world, but for a long time

toy companies were slow to portray this.

CRUSADERS

I guess I should not have sold them!

THE TIMPO SCRAPYARD

Here you can see the remains of the swamp boat,

Bren gun carrier and manned torpedo!

ACTION PACKS

These came out around the same time as Airfix Series 2 and

they covered a big range from all the historical ages of warfare that were.

I must admit they had a comic book style to them. Some of the poses are

pretty awkward looking and clumbsy. Still they are worth having as the

detail is good and they look better painted. 

British 8th Army

Typical box contained 20 figures

This machine-gunner looks excellent!

Comic book heroes!

Admit it, the boxes have a certain charm!

There was even footballers!