The mystery of some tiny Khaki infantry solved … and next week’s Tankette Tuesday contender.
Skybirds, Crescent Infantry 20-25mm and Tiny Trojans, heading back to the birth of the plastic OO or HO wargames figures of the 1960s.
Read more at:
Crossposted from my Man of TIN Blog Two, Tankette Tuesday 22 02 2022
Spotted on Etsy, bought without any idea of scale, pleasantly surprised by how kitsch and tiny these tinplate tiny tanks or tank-ettes are.
I like the “rumpeter – rumpeter – rumpeter” of the offset plastic wheel that creates a bizarre see-saw motion like the workings of wooden automata.
I like the coloured packaging header – pure vintage multicoloured tank.
‘Made In Japan’ like much of 1950s and 60s tinplate toys. The plastic bag was already split at the base with age, making it possible to slide these tanks out and return them to their original packaging.
I wonder what sort of tank the made up header card illustration is based on or supposed to be?
As mentioned, when bought I had no strong idea of how big these were. Here are some slender Peter Laing WW1 Turkish infantry (which I use for generic ImagiNations moderns) for size comparison / scale.
The tiny tanks have Communist or American / Allied stars and numbers such as tank SU85, which in no way link back to the real tanks.
The black line print and design on the tinplate is exactly the same for each tank, except for the camouflage colours and numbers.
A. Yellow SU-85 Soviet tank https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SU-85
Soviet self-propelled gun used during mid WW2 to 1950s, based on the chassis of the T-34 medium tank.
B. Green ST-39 tank oddly does exist if only a prewar prototype https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ST_vz._39
ST vz. 39, also known by its factory designation V-8-H, was a Czechoslovak medium tank developed by ČKD in the late 1930s. Only two prototypes were ever built. (Wikipedia source)
C. Purple tank M60 in service for the USA from 1959 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M60_tank
D. The odd one out is the Red A201 tank, as no real tank of this number or name exists? Colour variations of the tiny tank exist – see this Pinterest link to Etsy original.
I like the brash colours of the improbable camo schemes, the varied coloured stars, all on a simple tin toy palette of bright purple, red, green, blue, yellow and silver / tin.
If you are making ImagiNations tank units, look no further!
Like what you see? https://www.etsy.com/uk/
Some still in stock in Etsy online UK sellers rhubarbjumble shop
Blog posted by Mark Man of TIN Tankette Tuesday, 10th August 2021
My battered sole survivor from the Char B / Renault FT17 Matchbox 1:76 set. The Char B has long gone, although it still have the street setting and the poilu figures somewhere.
Is it a tankette? Is it a light tank?
More about the FT17 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_FT
This late 1970s Matchbox kit was recently rereleased by Revell and can be found in some online model shops.
Blog posted by Mark Man of TIN 13 July 2021
Crossposted for the occasional Tankette Tuesday post from my Pound Store Plastic Warriors blog
https://poundstoreplasticwarriors.wordpress.com/2021/07/06/tankette-tuesday-1/
Blog cross posted on our first Tankette Tuesday post, 6 July 2021
Man of Tin blog 