Modern "Pistoleros" - 1/72 scale conversions

Two suited Uzi toting figures that could be either good guys or bad´uns.

These are conversions from a couple of different sets. Anyone hazard as guess as to which sets have been used to make the figures ? 

Zulus, "thousands of 'em" finished at last

Finallly finished, all in all, just over 150 figures.



As mentioned in the previous post, most of the shields were homemade due to the fact that nearly all the original Esci shields had been lost over the years.



The spears were also missing and were replaced with spears made from stiff plastic broom bristles.



To make up the numbers, a handful of Esci Barbarians managed to slip in as Zulu"impostors".



Even Tarzan from the old Airfix set was press-ganged into to group as an old robust grey-haired warrior with his Airfix drum playing entourage, guards and lovely female companion.



Now it's a case of getting them on the table....., which means painting up someone to fight against, and who else but old Esci British Rorke's Drift infantry.



The partially completed figures above are waiting patiently in the painting queue, but since finishing the Zulus I've moved onto other things so it might be a little while yet, but the plan to do them is still there and the story will definitely continue.

Matchbox British Infantry / British Commandos

Following on from the previous post, some more 1:76 scale British / Commonwealth figures, this time from Matchbox.

These are a mixture of figures from the British Infantry and British Commandos sets with a couple of conversions.

Three different figures based on the same charging pose. The original unaltered figure on the left.

The NCO figure with the beret wielding a Colt-45 pistol is from the British Infantry set. The running figure with the Thompson SMG is from the Commando set with a head-swap.

Two more figures from the British Infantry set- officer on the left wearing a leather jerkin, and on the right a figure that I’ve often used as a tank crewman.

A mix of figures below from the Commandos and Infantry sets.

Love this crazy guy – you can see he’s bawling in thick Glasgow accent “come on you f**kers, I’ll take you all on !”

In the Commando set you also get a German sentry who looks like he’s just been taken out by this guy. I must get around to paining up that sentry and get a picture of the two together….

This poor lad below is from the Anzac Infantry set.

Makes a good casualty marker for games.

And finally a picture of the whole family

The Matchbox sets have been around for a good number of years – and I remember painting figures from these sets with Humbrol enamels back when they first came out when I was a kid – but up until recently they were difficult to come by, but thankfully that changed very recently when Revell re-released the sets.

Airfix British Commandos

Those over a certain age will recognise these figures – they’re from the Airfix 1st version 1-76 scale British Commandos set. In the picture above the two guys below have been given new heads with helmets. The radio operator has been given a beret made from epoxy.





Beautifully sculpted 2nd version 1:76 scale Airix British Commandos. The sculptor, Ron Cameron, was an artist who was able to capture the human form perfectly, decades before before computer assisted design ever existed.



The Bren gunner on the far right wearing a helmet is from the Airfix 2nd version 1:76 scale British infantry set.



I replaced the flimsy and bendy Bren that the figure was carrying for more sturdy one in a harder plastic taken from the Imex Korean War US Army set (yes, the set really does have Brens)



Below, from left to right, an Airfix 2nd version British infantry stretcher-bearer, 2nd from the left one of the new Airfix British infantry figures with a commando head, and the two figures in berets are old smallscale Hong Kong copies (quite bad copies I should add) of the Airfix 1/32 scale British paras, with their smocks painted to try and represent leather jerkins.