Newly arrived - AIP 1/32 1882 Egyptians

The very nice Royal Mail delivered a very nice surprise this morning - my 1/32 (54mm) Armies in Plastic c1892 Egyptians in Winter Dress.

Now this is my very first purchase of 1/32 toy soldiers since I was about 10 years old and doesn't at all quality as 'braille scale'! But it's a welcome rest for my tired eyes after my recent 1/144 adventure.

I suppose the first thing that struck me was, naturally, the size of the figures. Each figure is moulded in a medium hard plastic which we are all probably familiar with if, like me, you had a large collection of Airfix plastic soldiers as a kid. Though I was impressed with the poses and expressions, which all seemed quite natural and well detailed.

I chose Egyptians because I am a big fan of Tommy Cooper. (No, really - that IS why.)

But to elevate my choice to something more akin to a studied approach I did also procure Osprey's 'The Russo Turkish War of 1877'. This has a nice colour plate depicting the Egyptian uniform modelled in AIP's figures, as well as some Turkish soldiers in similar dress. I should add that the historical detail in this book makes a very good read and describes the armaments and tactics of this 'transitional' (post American Civil War) period of military development very well.

Anyway, back to the toys. There are 20 soldiers in the box, of which six can be described as advancing or charging and the other 14 make for a very atmospheric line formation. There are 10 poses with 2 soldiers in each pose and two of the figures are offices with swords drawn.

From my experiences with plastic soldiers in my formative years I was expecting a lot of bent gun barrels and bayonets! And yes, there were a few (and one malformed rifle). But it took but a couple of minutes web searching to find a solution - bathing these plastic figures in first very hot water, making the plastic malleable, followed by a cold rince to 'set' the plastic again. Fingers crossed!

Overall I am very pleased with this first delve into 54mm toys, but I do have some concerns about painting which I will have to enquire about (I remember all too well 'flaking' when I attempted to paint my Airfix soldiers as a boy).

Above: Spurious opportunity to show this photo of
my father wearing a fez while on leave in Alexandria
while serving with the 8th Army in 1943.