Airfix 1/76 Guards Colour Party (A00702V) In-Box Review

[Ratch]

The image of British Guards in their tall bearskins and red coats parading in London is familiar to everyone and has been a popular subject for toy soldiers for many decades. When Airfix began making figures, of which this set was one of the first, they were made to complement their ‘OO/HO’ scale railway range, so although this is a military subject, it is very much in a peacetime mode. However, the market quickly developed into one modelling war scenarios, so that even today, well over half a century after this set was produced, it remains one of the relatively few sets that show personnel away from any form of military campaign.

The mould for this set cost £2115.00 in 1959, and although there are only four poses plus the sentry box, it accurately depicts a British Foot Guards colour party on parade in full dress, the four poses deliver all that might be expected. The poses are of a sentry presenting arms, an officer with sword drawn, a colour-bearer and, filling most of the box, a marching figure with sloped arms.

The sculping quality of these early Airfix sets is poor by today's standards, and this was never retooled. Even though the uniforms are quite simple, detail is not good, the faces being almost featureless surfaces with a nose in the middle and hands that are no more than blobs. The only distinguishing feature between regiments would be the arrangement of buttons on the tunic, but here buttons are missing entirely, even on the officer, who directly faces the mould. Having most of the figures side-on to the mould makes matters worse, but the officer or RSM shows that good detail was never a prospect, although he does have a simple strip of medals on his chest. The rifle carried by the soldiers, which should be the L1A1, is here no more than a length of plastic devoid of any features, which must be imagined as a firearm. The mouldings look very clean with minimal flash. Finally, many of the figures have ejector pin marks on their right arms.

The full-dress uniform is simple enough, and dates to the 1850s, with only very minor changes since then. So, the uniform is accurate for the date of manufacture, 1959, and indeed it is still largely accurate today, given the simplistic nature of these figures. The size of the bearskin looks good, so there are no real accuracy problems here. What has changed since the 1960s of course is the rifle, but with such a crude rendition it is almost irrelevant.

The design of the sentry box must have been equally easy to research as these were standing in the streets of London at the time, and indeed boxes of this design are still to be seen there today, so this too is an accurate model. However, like the men, it lacks a lot of detail, being featureless round the side and back, with only the front having the necessary detail. The front part is a separate piece that fits onto the ‘box’ of the other three sides, making for a more realistic model, although still one that only looks decent from the front.

Having long been out of production, it might seem that few people were queuing up to buy this set even if it was in the shops today, yet Airfix have re-issued them, albeit in the limited edition of the Vintage Classic range. The RRP of £5.99 seems reasonable to me; - I paid the same for a damaged part set and almost three times for a full old set in the cheesy plastic. It will be interesting to see its performance. At this scale it has no real rivals, yet it is not the kind of subject that usually attracts a lot of sales from enthusiasts today, and since the rerelease is not a new tooling, the poor standard of sculpting may make it a hard sell. It is not a set that compares well with modern standards, but still, many older hobbyists will fondly remember their childhood when these figures provided hours of harmless amusement as they attempted to form them in neat rows and blocks on living room carpets and dining room tables. Given the limited production run of this set, if you really want one do not delay before prices rise again.