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Monday 10 May 2021

Airfix Type 1 French Foreign Legion

I have had the first issue French Foreign Legion in my figure collection for as long as I remember, certainly back to the 1960s.  However, I have never painted them before.  So, having just painted some Airfix Arabs, I thought an opponent might be required.

I was surprised how these figures improve with a bit of paint, to such an extent that I might set up a small wargame:




14 comments:

  1. Hello there Bob,

    They are really lovely! I always liked that style of figure that Airfix used.

    All the best and bring on the Arabs!

    DC

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    1. Thanks David. They are rather splendid and i have been dusting off my copy of Beau Geste.

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  2. I’ve got a bag of these, too. 😉

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    1. Every serious old school wargamer should have a bag of Airfix Foreign Legion!

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  3. A good looking unit and you even painted on their buttons.

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    1. Probably incorrectly. I had to dig out my Airfix guide to the FFL for clues!

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  4. Some of the first figures I painted, sort of, as a kid I dabbed some of my mom's nail polish on their trousers.

    I still prefer them to the newer version.

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    1. I have some of the second series, but Like you I prefer the originals.

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  5. Lovely old friends bringing back memories for me.

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    1. Memories of lining them up on the carpet with books as hills..................

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  6. Most of my Airfix foreign legion fetched up in my ACW Union army (for a while as Black units, apart from some zouaves). It was ESCI FL that formed the bulk of my Azurian (BLUE) army...

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    1. I have not tried the ESCI figures. I guess the Airfix FFL have been used in so many guises. They seem to turn up in all sorts of places.

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  7. I have a box of these - in the original type 1 box too! 'Twas part of a haul from Mrs. Santa.... the figures are lose but complete so I'm thinking I might paint them as (sorta) Crimean was French infantry.

    Happy memories of way back (when dinosaurs roamed the earth) and using then as Franco - Prussian troops on my best friend's bedroom floor!

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    1. I converted some WW1 French by swapping helmets for Kepis and I should think that the FFL could be converted by head swapping with some Airfix ACW figures.

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