Airfix 1/76 Guards Band (A00701V)

[Ratch]

The first British military band appeared in 1678, and today they are a familiar sight at many state occasions such as Trooping the Colour. The poses in this set are as follows:

·         Drum Major

·         Tuba

·         Flute

·         Side Drum

·         Saxophone

·         Cymbal

·         Trombone

·         Trumpet

·         Bass Drum

The actual mix of instruments varies considerably between bands, though all the instruments here would normally be used. Several others could potentially have been chosen, with perhaps the most common missing instrument being the horn. However, this remains a reasonable selection. The cost of the mould in 1959 was £2320.00.

Such a set as this must have presented Airfix with some real problems in sculpting. Musical instruments are normally complex in shape and difficult to produce in a two-piece mould. Some of these figures are face on to the mould, and some side on to it, but still there are compromises. Perhaps the most obvious is the tuba, which is nowhere near the soldier's mouth. Both sizes of drum are separate and slot into the figure using a peg. The fit is not tight, and glue should be used to fix them.

The uniform must be the easiest to research, not least because it has not noticeably changed in over 150 years. This set was designed in 1959, well over half a century ago, yet the uniforms are still basically the same today, and given the basic sculpting the full dress of the British Foot Guards is almost correctly depicted here. The figures do not have ammunition pouches (as normally worn) but have bayonet frogs (which are not usually worn). There is no lace or other detail which you might expect on some such as the drummer or the drum major, so some detail painting will be required here! Wings normally worn by musicians are correctly moulded on the drummers but missing from the other figures.

This set is of course a real antique by the standards of plastic figures, and the quality of sculpting is short of today's products. The anatomy is fine and well proportioned, but detail is very basic and often missing entirely. Faces and hands are featureless, clothing has few folds if any, although there is little flash on the supplied set. This set was last issued in 1975, and may not appeal to many enthusiasts today, but given the limited manufacture of the Vintage Classics, it is advisable to snap them up early before they disappear from the range again. The set will provoke nostalgic memories in collectors of a certain age!

[Valhalla]

Now that's put a smile on my face 🙂 Great to see such variety in what we put together.

Good to see such military precision ... not one of them is out of step 😉

Ian

[paul71]

its an impressive set, you need some space for all of them

[Ratch]

They've gone straight into a storage box 😁

[A J Rimmer]

That's really cool  - very nicely done.