Airfix RAF Personell 1/72

[Planes123]

I was really quite disappointed with these. The plastic was quite soft and rubbery and the it was difficult to scrape and sand the many bits of flash. The paint adhered fine. 

 

There was a good variety of figures though.
 

I think I used Revell enamel colours , 78, 9, white, 46? 
 

 

[Hook]

Well, of course the molds are almost 50 years old by now... looks like you did a nice job!

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[Cyberduck]

Nicely done.  Unfortunately, the Airfix toy solider figures have to use a soft plastic to comply with UK/EU laws.

 

Some hard figures are available in the various Airfix vehicle sets

[Graham Boak]

Other companies don't seem so restrained.  However, Airfix have always used soft plastic for their toy soldiers, for fairly obvious reasons involving the removal of small objects from small respiratory tracts.  If these are being sold as toys they do have to meet regulatory standards, for which only child-haters will disapprove.

 

It has been commonly suggested that Airfix re-produce their figures in hard plastic , but the problem here is the soft plastic makes for easier removal from the moulds of shapes that would be difficult to impossible to remove were they hard.  I suspect that the market for small hard subjects is too small to justify the redesign.

[Cyberduck]

I don't believe that Airfix has done any new 1:72 toy figures sets since the 1980s and maybe earlier that that

[AWFK10]

Airfix issued a new set of 1/72 WW2 British infantry in 2011, which got a mixed reception. To be pedantic that was the only set they ever issued that they originally claimed to be 1/72. All their previous small scale soldiers had been labelled as "HO/OO scale", which made no sense as HO scale is 1/87 and OO is 1/76. Before that, their last new sets (contemporary Russian and "NATO" infantry) had been produced in 1982. They did announce that they were planning to produce some 1/72 WW1 figure/artillery sets for the Great War centenary but nothing came of it.

[Niall]

HO/OO comes from Hornby which uses HO gauge track with OO scale rolling stock.

[Ratch]

I find it best to airbrush with Vallejo Polyurethane Primer then paint with acrylics, and handle as little as possible