Another display has recently made it to the shelves, this time 1930's Composition figures in combat poses, mostly made in Germany but also from France Belgium and Czechoslovakia.
On the left the tinplate vehicles crossing the bridge (Kubelwagen and Schwimmwagen) were made in Czechoslovakia by Gonio in 1992, they are 1/24th scale to match most German composition figures. They are extremely well detailed with opening doors, folding windshield and accessories such as tools and weapons. These two Axis vehicles came in different paint schemes for the European theatre, Afrika Korps and Medical variants. There were also vehicles for the Allies; Willy's Jeep with trailer, Dodge Truck and M3 Half Track.
In the Centre the attack is in full swing, machineguns give covering fire while the infantry charge home against the Allied trenches.
On the left, just in the nick of time reinforcements arrive to bolster the Allied line. The cavalry and marching infantry to the rear left were made in Belgium by DURSO while the anti-aircraft gun and heavy trench mortar were made by Solido.
The anti-aircraft MG and loader (bottom right foreground) are in a hollow plaster material were made in France by DC - Domage et Cie, probably the most consistent and prolific of French toy soldier manufacturers. They produced hollow lead figures from the 1920's and Aluminium under the name ALUDO (ALUminium DOmage) from 1937, during the war years 1939 to 1945 they made the figures shown above in plaster composition as metals were unavailable, post war they resumed production in metal until the early 1950's when they began to phase out the hollow lead range replacing it with acetate plastic figures under the name ACEDO (ACEtate DOmage). The ALUDO and ACEDO ranges continued to be sold together through the 1950's with the aluminium figures being steadily phased out and ACEDO moving into more modern thermoplastics until production ended in the late 1960's.
Allied planes swoop in to straffe the Pioneers using flamethrowers to assault the Allied trenches.
Support troops, Engineers and Signals get to work behind the assault units while Luftwaffe troops guard the airfield. The two Fokker Triplanes are modern tinplate tourist items purchased in Greece and probably made in S.E. Asia, they are rather crude models but fit well with vintage composition figures.
Anti-aircraft fire hits one of the British planes and it crashes in No Mans Land (Elastolin made a very dramatic model of a plane crashing but this one is a modern resin aquarium ornament).
The General Staff observe the action and await reports from the front line, the two sturdy looking officers cameoed in the centre of shot were made by Kienel, a minor German maker who produced a range of high quality distinctive figures.
The tinplate machinegun (left foreground) and anti-tank gun (centre) are good examples of the camouflage pattern and colours used by Elastolin in the mid 1930's.
A pair of British infantry by Lineol drag a tinplate cart with machine gun, the officer behind them, scanning the skies with his binoculars was made by DURSO.
Right foreground, the telephone operator (headless!) and prone Officer with binoculars sheltering behind a log are copies of Elastolin poses made in Czechoslovakia by Durolin. The large Elastolin explosion beyond them originally contained a small bulb wired to a battery to simulate the effect of the blast.
There are some other composition figure displays to come; Parade and Bandsmen, Mounted, Medical and Campsite, 1920's and earlier, Wild West, Postwar Warsaw Pact, 54mm and Personalities. It might just take a while to get around to them all.
