Unknown machine gunner

For a prone laying pose this figure is nicely animated, it's 54mm scale in plastic, I don't know who made it but it was sold by a Belgian dealer at the PW show so I think it's safe to say it's either Belgian or French, on balance the style of it suggests the latter to me.

Since writing this post the figure has been shown on the French Plastique Soldat 1/32 forum and the consensus of opinion is that it was made in France by Colorado.

A Gentleman in Kharki

Based on the character in Kiplings poem The Absent-Minded Beggar I've been after this figure for a long time, they're not particularly hard to find but they are generally priced way beyond what I'm prepared to pay. There are two versions of the "Gentleman", the one here and another with rifle held across his waist at the ready. They were made circa 1902 which makes them probably the earliest plastic figures ever, although they were not made as toys for the juvenile trade but rather as ornaments for bottle stoppers. It's made from a hard rigid plastic often described as celluloid but I don't think this is correct as celluloid is paper thin, very fragile and wouldn't have stood up to much handling. The figure is hollow having been made in a blow mould - air under pressure is used to blow the plastic material into the mould and inflate it to fill the cavity where it sets hard on cooling and the mould is opened to release it, today this process is mostly used to make plastic bottles and containers. The vendor remarked "every collection should have one" and of course he is right, even though it's not strictly a toy soldier it is an iconic piece of contemporary (with the Boer war) folk art.

Seen at the Plastic Warrior Show 2011

Dealer Steve Weston unveiled the new Sudan Camel Corps by Armies in Plastic at the Plastic Warrior Show in London yesterday. There are two poses, a trooper with slung rifle and an officer with binoculars, the set also comes with two different bagage camels. Very useful.

I was a bit cream crackered when I got back from the show yesterday so left posting until Sunday morning, I've looked in all the usual places on the net for details of the AIP Camel Corps set but can't find any mention of it so I have to keep checking the pic I took to make sure I didn't imagine it! (I'm sure I didn't)

I managed to pick up a few unusual bits for myself yesterday and will try to put some pics up over the next few days now that I'm starting to get the hang of this blog thing. 

Seen at the Plastic Warrior Show

Peter Cole had two new sets of Replicants figures, four new medievals and three English poses for the Jacobite Rebellion, these last come with a choice of two heads, a tricorn and a grenadier mitre so you can effectively make six figures, the mitre heads could also be usefully used to convert Barzo French Indian War figures to give even greater variety to the firing line. These pics didn't come out too sharp, sorry about that.

Seen at the Plastic Warrior Show

Eric Kemp had a stand for Helmet Soldiers and displayed some of the great figures he makes to promote his kits.