Rattles or Spears?

It was Matthew's idea to go hunting today.

The dry spell was over, but not many animals have come back after the dry season.

Mark was happy just to get out into the wild places again.

The sound of the drum and the yelling of the men helped drive the game.

Luke had his knife ready, but wondered if it would be enough.

John was glad he had the spear, the rattles were good for driving game, but made poor weapons.

Sure enough, a few spear thrusts were enough to bring down the dragon.  The missionaries had told them of dragons, how they represented the Devil.  Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were especially pleased they were able to kill one.  The other, less pious men, were just happy there would be meat in the village tonight.

Dinosaurs & Mammals

A Moschos, is supposed to be seven feet long, this is about a 1/32nd scale model.

The two mammoth models, they work well together I think.

Two more animals that fit well together as well.

The Marx collection.

The MPC collection.  Most of these two sets would work well for 1/72nd scale or even 28mm, and a few will work for 1/32nd or 54mm.  

The Saga of Airfix Figures

Airfix released their first figures in about 1959. They were HO/OO. HO is 1/87th scale and OO is 1/76th scale. They are both model railroad gauges, HO being popular in the US, Europe, and Japan. OO being popular in the UK and former Empire countries. The did HO/OO with the intent that people who did model trains in either scale could use them.  The figures were closer to HO than OO for the first three or four sets, then they increased in size, just slightly. Compare the Station Personnel figures with the Civilians. About HO compared to about OO.

Over time 1/76th scale became popular with wargamers and military model builders in the UK and former Empire nations, Canada, Australia, etc. Airfix and later others, did military models targeted often at both model builders and wargamers. By the early 1970's 1/72nd scale was becoming popular with military modelers and wargamers. Companies like Hasagawa made 1/72nd scale figures and equipment to go with the extensive range of aircraft in 1/72nd scale.

So, Airfix size bumped up again. Compare their first edition Afrika Korps with their second edition Afrika Korp, by this time the figures were essentially 1/72nd scale, but they were still labeled as HO/OO. Compare them with the old Matchbox figures that were 1/76th scale, they are much smaller. It can be seen with the last figure set made by Matchbox, their British Paratroopers, they are 1/72nd scale and much bigger than their other sets.

Eventually, 1/72nd scale became the standard for soft plastic figures and Airfix relabeled their old stets as 1/72nd scale figures. Over time, some companies for various reasons have allowed the scale of their figures to creep upwards and sometimes they have done figures of various sizes, mostly due to poor quality control. Getting the figures the exact perfect size to match the rest of your figure line can be really hard.

Dinosaur

These brown figures are all from Marx, they are new re-casts from the old molds.  This is a great Wolly Mammoth.

This Parasaurolophus have very nice surface detail.

Iguanodon with a nice little wrinkled up mouth, like he is getting ready to speak.

Smilodon is a nice 60mm model, way too big for these 1/72nd scale troops.

Struthiomimus is another great 60mm model, they are supposed to be six feet tall.

Styracosaurus is great for 1/72nd scale, even 28mm would work.