Airfix 1:12 Guardsman

[ptcruiser]

And now for something completely different - from me at least.

I've only ever done a handful other figures really, a few tank crew and a singleton 54mm archer so this was a bit of a challenge.

My sister-in-law's new partner is ex an Grenadier so the opportunity was too good to miss. I had been looking for the old Airfix kit and passed by a couple at a show going in the region of £10 and then Airfix in their infinite wisdom issued the London Icons set, containing the Guardsman, Lifeguard and Yeoman of the Guard.



The breakdown of the kit is very useful in that the headgear, tunic, trousers, shoes, rifle and skin areas can all be dealt with separately.

So that prompted the research, and for a non-military type, quite enlightening. The model depicts a Coldstream Guard and their tunics are different from the Grenadiers. The button arrangement is paired up the front of the tunic whereas the Grenadier is equidistant. So, off with the buttons once I had decided how I was going to replace them: Dress pins, with reasonably large heads. All the buttons on the front were sanded off and the length measured evenly to accommodate the 8 replacements and suitable holes drilled. Those on the cuffs, tail and epaulets were drill first before sanding to retain their respective locations.

Attention next to the headgear. The Bearskin (not a busby, that's something else) is in 4 parts but doesn't look very convincing. Also again the plume carried by the Grenadiers is not only a different colour, but on the opposite side! Apparently this reflected the relative position in the line of the respective guards divisions. The Grenadiers were on the extreme right hand end of the line, so their plumes were on the left of the bearskin, so that the commanding officers standing rear and central (!) could see which division was where on the battlefield. So the kit plume was sanded off and a new one fashioned with white squadron putty in the appropriate location. The Bearskin itself was painted matt black acrylic to provide a base and then with satin black. Whilst the satin was still wet the whole thing was liberally covered in black flocking material (fine synthetic fibres oft used by car modellers to replicate carpeting etc) to provide some texture. This was allowed to dry thoroughly before the surplus being shaken off.

The chin strap on the face was sanded away and once the face was painted using the Andrea skin tone set, the strap was replaced using fly tieing wire, which was wrapped around a drill bit and then flattened.



Nothing clever with the painting: I tried to pre-shade but it was too severe so it took a bit of covering over. And then combine the various sub assemblies to finish. The collar badges were made by cutting out of 5 thou sheet! The epaulet badges were home made decals. Decal stripe was used for the white edging down the front of the tunic and red stripes on the trousers. Everything else was painted.

The rifle had a few little bits added and the muzzle drilled out. The strap is a piece of masking tape with more wire for the buckles.



Something was missing and by coincidence the latest Hobbies catalogue features a free plan for a 1:12 sentry box. The one I built here is based on that but I don't think it is prototypical of those at the royal palaces...

An enjoyable diversion and as they say, "everyday is a school day".



Enjoy
Rich

[Deleted]

Nice one Rich and as you say ... 'different'! However, I have this thought about Wallace in uniform?

[Robin]

:)Very smart, however, the butt of the rifle should be on the outside of the right boot, and the rifle sling was tight. Even though I was RAF and was issued with the same type of weapon, I never stood at ease like that.

Robin.

[french47]

Nice one,
Just a couple of things, It's not a chin strap it's a curb chain. His left arm should be closer to the body, and as robin said the rifle is in the wrong place it should be outside the right boot with the lower edge of the but plate level with the seam of his toe cap plus the rifle sling should be tight. As he is in guard order where is the Bayonet frog?

I am not picking holes in your model, just saying that a couple of things are wrong

[hazmod]

I brought my Airfix, condition kit from London on 1991. and I build my old kit on late 1992. Very terrible condition and poor moulded
When I used sliced off arm with body with tough files, and check fit it.
I made this Guardsman with straight box
Should be polished the boots with satin black.
Ha!, I throw Yeoman of guard in bin, because I very frustrated and lot of jobs. I got my Lifeguard trumpeter on display on 21 years.
Very terrible build this Guardsman kit, :-(, Lousy!

[NoelSmith]

Those figure kits date back to the late 50's early 60's, so it is not surprising that they seem a bit basic. They were the very first 1/12th scale figure kits Airfix made, followed on over the years with their historic figures in the same scale. My particular favourite was Henry the Eighth. There were others such as Napoleon Bonaparte, Oliver Cromwell, Edward the Black Prince and Richard the Lionheart to name a few. I do not recall a figure of Admiral Lord Nelson ever being issued in this series however.