Plastic Soldier Review: Airfix 54mm British Paratroopers

 

Overview: This set is a reissue of an original Airfix figure set from 1972, depicting British paratroopers in WWII (although, if you paint their berets blue-grey, they can also be used to depict Polish paratroopers of the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade).  They wear either the British paratrooper helmet or beret, the much-coveted camouflage "denison smock" (also worn by scouts and snipers), and 37-pattern webbing and battledress trousers with gaiters and ammunition boots.  They are equipped with Number 4 Enfield rifles (some with scopes), Sten guns (the regular "plumber's nightmare" infantry variant, not the paratrooper model with a wooden stock and bayonet mount), or Bren guns.  Like many Airfix figures, they're just equipped with"skeleton order' webbing, lacking field packs, entrenching tools, or other heavy equipment.

Left: Airfix paratrooper, with "skeleton order" webbing Right: Mars British infantry, with "battle order" equipment

They are suitable for the Northwest Europe campaign of 1944-45, where they were used in 3 major operations: Operation Overlord (the Normandy Invasion), Operation Market Garden (The unsuccessful attempt to secure a series of river crossings in the Netherlands), and Operation Varsity (the crossing of the Rhine).

Sculpting: For a set from 1972, the sculpting holds up really well, even by today's standards; back then, things like there being a visible mesh pattern on the figures' scrim scarves must have been considered phenomenal.  The equipment, faces, and poses are quite well done, with only a few complaints:

• I wish the Bren gunner was depicted firing his gun, not just standing around with it
• The bayonet seems a bit short and thick compared to the real thing
• There are quite prominent ejector pin markings on the figures' upper backs
• The helmet netting smooths out at the top of the helmet

 Molding: The figures are molded in a fairly hard plastic, which makes some parts (particularly the barrel of the Sten gun) brittle and prone to snapping off.  That said, flash was kept to a minimum.  Airfix used the same material and color for both these figures, and their regular British infantry, which gives the two sets (when unpainted) a unified appearance:

Packaging: The set comes in a plastic bag inside a cardboard box with a reprint of the original 1972 packaging artwork, showing the figures storming Arnhem Bridge.  Meanwhile, the back features a painting guide for the figures, and images of every pose in the set.  The packaging did a good job protecting the figures, with no bent or snapped-off parts.

Selection: According to the packaging, the exact number of figures in each pose may vary; the set I got came with 1 each of the officer and radio operator, 3 each of figures running with rifles and standing firing rifles, and 2 each of every other pose (sniper firing while kneeling, Bren gunner, Sten gunner throwing a grenade).  I would have liked them to have possibly made another pose (like a Sten gunner firing) instead of having 3 of the same pose in each set, but in the balance I'd say this is a good selection of different poses and makes for a convincing unit.

 

Scale: These figures scale well with Airfix British infantry, but are a bit undersized compared to Mars or Weston British Infantry.  Naturally, they would appear very undersized compared to 60mm-scale infantry.

Left to right: Mars infantry, Airfix infantry, Airfix para, Weston infantry

Overall: For a set from 1972, this stands up really well, even against more recently-tooled figure sets.  This set is a true classic from Airfix!