airfix multipose German infantry *DNF*

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airfix multipose German infantry *DNF*

Post by rob_van_riel »

I wasn't going to do a whole mob of figures, but I tend to fuss forever over Napolonics, and this is suposed to be an Airfix forum, so I'll tackle a mob anyway. Quick view of the box and it's contents:

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This is probably the single most frustrating re-issue I ever ran into.
A lifetime ago, in the early 80's, I got my hands on a set of the original issue, loved what I saw, but somehow, the build failed. I don't recall what went wrong, but the result was that I wanted a re-match. Don't for one moment believe a replacement set was available anywhere within my reach. So I searched, for years, and came up empty handed. This particular set was apparently released in 1990, but this too never showed up in my range. In the late 90's, I finally stumbled into a set of the original issue, and pounced on it. This was now the closest thing to a collector's item in my stash, and was torn between building it or keeping it around for it's nostalgia value (I wasn't doing a lot of bulding at that time).
A couple of years later, internet, and in particular, eBay took off, and suddenly, this re-issue was available everywhere. Woohoo, I could have my cake and eat it! When these re-issues arrived (all six sets, of course; I now had a budget and a source..) I was rather disappointed. OK, you effectively got two sets per box, but the plastic used is some of the worst I've ever seen. Rock hard, yet with no particular desire to hold detail. Not at all what you want for kitbashing or conversion, and I had ambitions in just that direction (never got beyond ambition, of course). This generation of multipose figures went onto the "who knows, maybe someday I'll find a use for them" pile, while I built up a supply of original issue sets.
By the time I'd built up a decent supply of originals, Airfix did another re-issue of the multipose figures. Not expecting a whole lot, I bought some, and was pleasantly surprised these were once again in old style plastic.

So, in the end I had more good quality sets than I'll ever use, plus a bunch of rather dubious sets from the 90's. Just before the 2005 re-issues, I decided that since these weren't going to be much use for anything else, I would start building them OOB, in the rare cases where I take some kits with me to build in the field, so to speak. Slow going then, but I did manage to complete the British infantry set eventually. The 8th army set is in a "just started" state.

Background aside, what do I have here..
If we ignore the plastic, and the rather incompatible scale, this is still one of the nicest sets of WWII figures around. The multipose sets beat anything out there in terms of animation, detail, and flexibility when they came out, and can, in my opinion at least, still hold their own against kits 40 years newer. I consider that pretty impressive.
On the down side, even a relative amateur in this field, like me, can see these are early war uniforms, yet they are combined with relatively late war weapons. To the expert, there's probably half a million other things wrong with them. I'm no expert, I just like the figures :-D

I should point out that building six figures at once in as many weeks without the benefit of a vacation brings with it an annoying probability of a most embarrassing DNF, but I don't intend to let that ruin the fun :roll:
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Re: airfix multipose German infantry

Post by Ratch »

rob_van_riel wrote:the rather incompatible scale
1:32 scale is a traditional scale for models and miniatures, in which one unit (such as an inch or a centimeter) on the model represents 32 units on the actual object. It is also known as "three-eighths scale", since ​3⁄8 inch represents a foot. A six foot tall person is modeled as ​2 1⁄4 inches tall (55 mm) in 1:32 scale.

1:32 was once so common a scale for toy trains, autos, and soldiers that it was known as "standard size" in the industry (not to be confused with Lionel's "Standard Gauge"). 1:32 is the scale for Gauge 1 toy and model trains. It was the scale of some of the earliest plastic model car kits. It is a common scale for aircraft models and for figure modeling, where it is called 54 mm scale, from the height of the human figure. 1:32 was used for equipment to match 54 mm toy soldiers for miniature wargaming and was common in scale military modeling such as tanks and armored cars until it was largely replaced by 1:35 scale.

1:32 is now considered to be the 'Normal' scale for agricultural models such as Britains or Siku

1:32 is a useful scale for scratch modelling or railways. As well as standard gauge gauge 1 using 45 mm/​1.772 in track, narrow gauge modellers use 0 gauge (32 mm/​1.26 in) track for 42", 1m and 36" prototype gauges. Also H0/00 track at 16.5mm is used to represent models of 20 in/​508 mm gauge railways.

Today, 1:32 is associated with slot car scale. A standard for tabletop rail-racing in the mid-1950s, it was adopted by the original slot car manufacturers, Victory Industries and Scalextric.[1]
[copied from Wiki]
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Re: airfix multipose German infantry

Post by JohnRatzenberger »

IMNSHO, the modeling world would be a better place if Tamiya hadn't decided on 1/35 (see Wikipedia article) and used 1/32.
Odd thing is that 1/32 is just slightly bigger so battery fit would have been less an issue.
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Re: airfix multipose German infantry

Post by rob_van_riel »

jRatz wrote:IMNSHO, the modeling world would be a better place if Tamiya hadn't decided on 1/35 (see Wikipedia article) and used 1/32.
Agreed. This whole 1/35 for military, 1/32 or 54mm for the rest of the universe is just silly, especially since it pretty much prevents mixing vehicles and aircraft.

Funny, how most of the vehicles in the stash are old 1/32 Airfix and Monogram, 1/32 Japanese car kits, or, further back in time, 54mm Historex. Very little 1/35 over here, just a few kits I have unfinished business after earlier defeats with. I wonder if that has anything to do with my old preference for Airfix figures.. :-D
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Re: airfix multipose German infantry

Post by rob_van_riel »

Ratch wrote:figure modeling, where it is called 54 mm scale
Unfortunately, that doesn't match the definition of 54mm scale as I know it, and which seems to be confirmed by measurements of some of the 54mm figures I have lying around. Here, 54mm is not the total height of the figure, but the distance between the floor and the eyes. Rough calculations show 54mm to be roughly equal to 1/29. Certainly, placing a 54mm besides a 1/32 will show a very noticable difference in height, comparable to that same 1/32 parked beside a 1/35.
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Re: airfix multipose German infantry

Post by Ratch »

I've just compared a 1/32 US Infantryman next to the 54mm Foreign Legionnaire and they're equally tall :ha: I've never heard of Airfix 54mm being referred to as anything other than 1/32 so I don't know where your definition comes from Rob :roll:
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Re: airfix multipose German infantry

Post by rob_van_riel »

Ratch wrote:I've just compared a 1/32 US Infantryman next to the 54mm Foreign Legionnaire and they're equally tall :ha: I've never heard of Airfix 54mm being referred to as anything other than 1/32 so I don't know where your definition comes from Rob :roll:
The definition cames from this link, posted previously by jRatz. Never taking anything from the net for granted, I did some measurements.

Airfix seems to have followed the "54mm to the top of the head" definition (and their 54mm are indeed perfectly matched to their 1/32), while Historex perfectly matches the "54mm to eye level" definition. Art Girona 54mm are even bulkier than Historex, New Hope is a bit smaller than Historex but still larger than Airfix. Haven't got anything by Andrea handy to compare right now..

In summary, it's a right total mess :roll:
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Re: airfix multipose German infantry

Post by rob_van_riel »

The first steps are taken ;-)

Image

Although the leg-to-torso joins seem large and sturdy, it's entirely too easy to push them out of alignment if you continue too soon, and once they are completely set, they are indeed all but impossible to correct. Just to be paranoid, I'll leave them to set for a bit; I don't want to start this build by messing it up :roll:
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Re: airfix multipose German infantry

Post by rob_van_riel »

I've reached the point where I'm ready to apply the first helping of primer, primarily to help spot any remaining problems before I take the next steps. All the men with rifles will have their munition pouches fitted before further construction, as these might get in the way of further posing. The (sub)machinegunners will be painted with only one arm attached, as will the man with the panzerfaust. The second arm will be painted separately, and attached at the same time as the weapon.

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Re: airfix multipose German infantry

Post by TimJ »

Off to a good start.
2020 A:35 B:18. 2021 A: 51 B:25 C:21 2022 A:63 B:23 C:11 2024 A:4 B:4 C:13
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Re: airfix multipose German infantry

Post by rob_van_riel »

I finally got some bench time in again yesterday, and started putting cartridge pouches on the ones that carry them. These pouches are mounted tightly against the belt and as such take some fitting to line up with the rest of the figures. This took a certain amount of bending parts, and grinding off bits of coat detail and folds that would be flattened in real life. The officer (where the pistol holster has similar characteristics) and the grenade thrower presented little trouble, but as I had feared, the walker only worked out of the box without the pouches; with the pouches in place, they block the area where the rifle is supposed to go. This means that to preserve the pose, the right arm needs to be further from the body, so the rifle can be clasped between pouches and hand, rather than between hip and hand. Some chopping required..

Image

The gaps on the rear were blobbed over with dissolved sprue, both to fill the gaps and to add strength once completely cured, so this figure will have to be parked until next weekend.

I expect similar trouble from the kneeling guy with the Panzerfaust, but we'll see.
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Re: airfix multipose German infantry

Post by rob_van_riel »

rob_van_riel wrote:I expect similar trouble from the kneeling guy with the Panzerfaust, but we'll see.
The guy with the Panzerfaust is even worse, in fact, I think the phrase "trainwreck" is appropriate.
The way he's posed, I'm fairly certain the idea is that he's not merely reading the label or admiring the workmanship of the weapon. That's a problem, because the rear end of the tube is pointed at his torso. Out to about ten meters, the rear end of a firing Panzerfaust is every bit as lethal to anything made of flesh as the front. Any halfway sane soldier would take really good care not to point this secondary business end at his own guts.
The problem is made worse by the fact that the Panzerfaust is almost comically undersized. It should have a total length of 31.25mm, but it measures only 25mm, and this makes it harder to keep the rear end someplace safe. Something will have to be done, either scratching a new shaft for the weapon, or simply replacing it with a much closer to size 1/35 Tamiya part. The former could be a problem, the latter is cheating :roll:

Oh, and all that is before noting that the arms are positioned in a way incompatible with the presence of cartridge pouches, and not lined up to each other and the weapon either :evil:
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Re: airfix multipose German infantry

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rob_van_riel wrote:Something will have to be done, either scratching a new shaft for the weapon, or simply replacing it with a much closer to size 1/35 Tamiya part. The former could be a problem, the latter is cheating :roll:
Scratching failed when I made a mess of drilling out the head to accept a new shaft; cheating it is. Lining up the left arm for the new part proved doable, although it will still need work, but that will have to wait.

Which brought me up against the next problem: the submachinegunner's ammo pouch. The real thing was hooked up to the belt at about 45 degrees, and was flexible (the magazines inside weren't, obviously), so it would behave like three sticks at set distances from each other. Kit parts (here, and in every other kit I've seen thus far) are planks, or sometimes curved inward. The former might be made to work on a soldier standing up straight, but neither will work in any other case. The curved ones, if anything, are worse than the planks, as they are curved in the wrong direction for this setup.
Long story short, they don't fit the figures worth a damn. No immediate idea how I'll fix this; the cowards way of dangling the pouch straight down from the belt (as all to many kits suggest) doesn't have much appeal right now. Cutting loose the individual magazine holders, putting them on a metal strip, and re-sculpting the area where then squash (probably uncomfortably) into the soldiers body seems a major project.

Oh well, perhaps some food and/or waiting until next weekend will provide inspiration :roll:
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Re: airfix multipose German infantry

Post by PTB11 »

Didn't think this set could cause so much headache! Good luck with the solutions.
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Re: airfix multipose German infantry

Post by rob_van_riel »

PTB11 wrote:Didn't think this set could cause so much headache! Good luck with the solutions.
It all depends on how much of a fuss you're willing to make, and I'm feeling bitchy these days. They can be built to a fair standard without all of this.
Most of the problems I've found so far are completely normal for WWII figures. There may be sets where all the equipment is correctly designed to fit one specific figure, but all too often the equipment is generic, and as a result doesn't fit any figure. :evil:
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