Spotlight on figures: Airfix's Zulu War British Infantry

Dated: April 12, 1998.

This is a contributed article by Mr. Arlin Tawzer, a frequent contributor to the site, and whose efforts at calling for a set of Zulu War British Infantry will never cease. The article is produced verbatim below:

Author: Arlin Tawzer.

One of the things that has always puzzled me was why Airfix never put out a Zulu War set, I mean, think about it. Airfix was the premier HO figure manufacturer. The grand-daddy in this scale. They set the stage and they set the standard. And above all else, they were VERY) British. And being so British, I can't believe they never put out any British Colonial sets (every metal toy soldier manufacturer under the sun has). But if they had, I'm sure it would have been a Zulu War set.

Did you ever wonder what a 24th Foot set would look like if Airfix had put one out? I have. First of all, it probably would have been in the mid 60s. That was when they were adding sets left and right, and they were touching on several historical areas. The movie Zulu, with Michael Caine, had just come out in 1964, so maybe there would have been interest in the subject. I thought Isandlwana would fascinate British boys the way the Little Big Horn fascinated American boys. Of course, I found out later the British boys were more interested in the Little Bighom. Maybe Airfix already knew that. But nonetheless, if Airfix had put out a set, I think that it would have looked like the following drawings.

Since it would more likely be a 60s set, before the huge swing into "all things Napoleonic", it would have similar poses to the other Airfix sets of that time. Just look at the Civil War Infantries, the Foreign Legion, the 8th Army, the Afrika Korps, etc., and you'll notice many poses that are identical. Only the uniforms are changed. And yes, it would probably include that pose, lying prone on his stomach, that every kid hated but was in most Airfix sets. Anyway, here it is. I sure would have loved to have this set. Can you find poses like these in your other Airfix sets?






The Zulu Warrior set is a little tougher to come up with. They probably would have had to do these from scratch, like the ancient Britons and Romans. They couldn't use the Tarzan native poses because that set would come much later. But I'd bet money that they would use the American Indian poses running with spear, and running with tomahawk (except he'd have a knobkerry), and I'd bet they'd use the running pose that was in the Arabs and WWII Japanese sets with the right arm raised, and that arm would be holding an asagai spear.

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