Britains' Deetail toy soldiers were a popular product in the 1970s and 1980s. Manufactured in England by W. Britain, the 1/32 (54mm) scale plastic figures were finished with hand painted details and came with sturdy Zamak metal bases. In the early 1990s production moved to China before eventually being phased out.
In 1971, Britains began phasing out its plastic Herald Miniatures produced in Hong Kong since 1966, with Herald eventually ceasing production in 1976. New Deetail figures were produced moulded in PVC plastic rather than polythene and using plug-in type arms, which were glued to bodies resulting in poses previously unavailable. [1] Figures were moulded with a tee shaped "footlug" on the feet of each figure that allowed secure attachment to sturdy metal bases. These rectangular metal bases ensured figures stood better than rival manufacturers products and paid homage to Britains hollowcast metal figures as well as being thought by consumers to be of "better value" due to their heavier weight. [2]
The first Deetail figures produces were based upon Second World War (WW2) American and German infantry. Sculptor Rod Cameron rented uniforms from Berman's and Nathan's theatrical costumes with Cameron giving model Les Harden his air rifle to pose with. [3]
In 1978 Britains developed the Super Deetail range using an overmoulding process whereby different coloured plastics came together in one figure. The initial release were modern British paratroopers with red berets.
Figures were generally produced in six different standing poses and represented various historical periods from medieval to the modern era including:
Mounted figures were also released including a horse on metal base with rider glued in place. Riders and horses were presented in various different poses and came with reins, saddle and saddle blanket, which differed dependent upon the theme. All were commercially available from retail outlets and sold either lose or from retail/trade "counter" boxes containing 48 pcs for standing (usually eight of each pose); 18 pcs for mounted figures (six of each pose); or 12 for combat weapons sets - these retail boxes also came with handy plinths to display the models, which sat across the top of the each box as a promotional item. Many factory sealed boxed/play sets (ranging from 5-18 figures) were issued to retailers, along with smaller "blister" type packs containing several figures bundled together, and a "Patrol" range that included figures and a combat weapon.
In addition, Britains also produced sets which incorporated Deetail style figures that were marketed as Combat Weapons (mortar, recoilless rifle, gatling gun, etc.), Military Vehicles (scout cars, jeeps, etc.) and Motorcycles (dispatch rider, motorcycle combination). Combat Weapons sets used working, spring loaded firing mechanisms within the models, and were supplied with "ammunition" - 9 ball bearings for the Vickers and Gatling gun sets, and 12 plastic shells on a sprue for mortars and recoilless rifle.
7740 Series One (Foot)
7730 Series Two (Foot)
7750
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Like Airfix, Britains used the label Waterloo rather than Napoleonic. Figures depicting British and French armies were produced from 1974-79 in foot and mounted types.
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Figures depicting French Foreign Legion (FFL) legionnaires and Arab tribesmen were produced in foot and mounted types from 1975-78.
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Figures depicting US 7th Cavalry, cowboys, Apache, Sioux and Mexicans were produced in foot and mounted types.
![Britains Deetail - 7th Cavalry [O] Britains Deetail - 7th Cavalry.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/Britains_Deetail_-_7th_Cavalry.jpg/500px-Britains_Deetail_-_7th_Cavalry.jpg)
One standing figure was discontinued and a brand new pose was created because it was easier to manufacture. The older pose came with a separate spear and the new one has no additional parts but holds an axe and a pistol.
![Britains Deetail - Apache [O] Britains Deetail - Apache.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Britains_Deetail_-_Apache.jpg/496px-Britains_Deetail_-_Apache.jpg)
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Figures depicting Federal (Union) and Confederate (Rebel) forces were produced from 1972-80 in foot and mounted types.
Figures for both types were exactly the same just molded and painted in different colours. Initial releases had longer rifles and plug-in arms, which were eventually discontinued and replaced with fully moulded figures.
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Figures depicting WWII American, German, British and Japanese forces were produced from 1971–89, with initial production of American and German figures only on brown/tan metal bases - eventually discontinued and replaced from 1974 with the standard green type. Figures were issued in the standard series of six pose types, except American and German figures which came in two separate series of six poses (12 in total) and included helmet decals in the form of red shield with black star (American) and shields with Imperial colours of red, white and black (German). Japanese, British 8th Army and German Afrika Korps were produced in limited quantities until production ceased in 1976 and 1979 respectively. Combat weapons sets and associated military vehicles also complimented the series.
Issued Sets
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Both sets include a shouldered rifle which is attached to the riders back
Issued Sets
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Initially produced with a stained/faded paint finish, TBC
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Super Deetail figures initially featured as a prototype set of six modern British paratroopers at a 1978 London toy fair. The new moulds allowed finer details compared to Deetail range, however four of the six figures never made it into widescale production due to manufacturing difficulties with the new over-moulding process. A set of four were eventually released to the market in 1980 - firing rifle, firing bazooka, throwing grenade and an officer firing pistol. Rather than a particular historical context, they were modelled upon modern style British armed forces - Paratroopers (red berets, green bases), Commandos (green berets, light blue bases) and SAS (grey berets, grey bases).
Issued Sets
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The Task Force range was introduced 1995/96 using the US and British WW2 Deetail moulds, but finished with different colour schemes.
The Space range was launched in 1981 and ran until 1985 including Stargard Commandos, Cyborg, Assault Squad, Aliens and Mutants along with various spacecraft and accessories.
Britains most extensive range including vehicles, figures, buildings and animals.
W. Britains remains the market leader in "toy soldiers" producing high quality hollowcast metal figures as well as a smaller range of hand painted plastic figures, which were reintroduced in 2006 as "Super Detail Plastics" which contain many attributes of the Deetail range first released in the 1970s . In 2016 W. Britains was sold to The Good Soldier LLC, located in Holland, Ohio, USA.
Certain figures using the original Deetail moulds (French Foreign Legion, Afrika Korps, British 8th Army, Arabs, etc.) are now manufactured in Argentina by DSG Plastic Toy Soldiers.
Vintage detail figures with metal bases remain highly popular with collectors and on secondary markets/internet auction sites often sell for - foot/infantry (£1-£5); mounted (£5-£20); full sets of 6 (£15-100); combat weapons (£5-40); and military vehicles (£15-100) all dependent upon condition.
Sought after items such as ACW and FFL Gatling gun sets; British 8th Army Vickers gun; Mexican and Apache warriors; WW2 Afrika Korps; Waterloo series and most mounted figures often reach the top end of estimates. Retail counter boxes are particularly rare (£150-£250) and demand is very strong for any items with original packaging (£50-£250), particularly the larger play sets.
Collectors "Holy Grail" include the four Super Deetail paratroopers, which were discontinued due to production issues. It is rumoured only a few thousand made it to retail. First issue American Infantry released with red bases in very limited quantities are also highly prized.
The Gatling gun is a rapid-firing multiple-barrel firearm invented in 1861 by Richard Jordan Gatling. It is an early machine gun and a forerunner of the modern electric motor-driven rotary cannon.
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles are typically designed more for firing short bursts rather than continuous firepower, and are not considered true machine guns.
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–250 soldiers and usually commanded by a major or a captain. Most companies are formed of three to seven platoons, although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure.
A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may range from 10 to 100 people. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer. The platoon leader is usually a junior officer—a second or first lieutenant or an equivalent rank. The officer is usually assisted by a platoon sergeant.
In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army doctrine further defines a squad as a "small military unit typically containing two or more fire teams." In US usage, a squad consists of eight to fourteen soldiers, and may be further subdivided into fireteams.
A recoilless rifle, recoilless launcher or recoilless gun, sometimes abbreviated "RR" or "RCL" is a type of lightweight artillery system or man-portable launcher that is designed to eject some form of countermass such as propellant gas from the rear of the weapon at the moment of firing, creating forward thrust that counteracts most of the weapon's recoil. This allows for the elimination of much of the heavy and bulky recoil-counteracting equipment of a conventional cannon as well as a thinner-walled barrel, and thus the launch of a relatively large projectile from a platform that would not be capable of handling the weight or recoil of a conventional gun of the same size. Technically, only devices that use spin-stabilized projectiles fired from a rifled barrel are recoilless rifles, while smoothbore variants are recoilless guns. This distinction is often lost, and both are often called recoilless rifles.
Anti-tank warfare originated from the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the Triple Entente developed the first tanks in 1916 but did not deploy them in battle until 1917, the German Empire developed the first anti-tank weapons. The first developed anti-tank weapon was a scaled-up bolt-action rifle, the Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr, that fired a 13mm cartridge with a solid bullet that could penetrate the thin armor of tanks of the time and destroy the engine or ricochet inside, killing occupants. Because tanks represent an enemy's strong force projection on land, military strategists have incorporated anti-tank warfare into the doctrine of nearly every combat service since. The most predominant anti-tank weapons at the start of World War II in 1939 included the tank-mounted gun, anti-tank guns and anti-tank grenades used by the infantry, and ground-attack aircraft.
The Battle of San Juan Hill, also known as the Battle for the San Juan Heights, was a major battle of the Spanish–American War fought between an American force under the command of William Rufus Shafter and Joseph Wheeler against a Spanish force led by Arsenio Linares y Pombo. The battle proved to be one of the most significant battles of the war and, along with the Siege of Santiago, a decisive battle in deciding the fate of the United States Army campaign in Cuba. The American forces, outnumbering the Spanish defenders 16-to-one, charged upon the heights and dispersed the Spanish after suffering heavy casualties.
A section is a military sub-subunit. It usually consists of between 6 and 20 personnel. NATO and US doctrine define a section as an organization "larger than a squad, but smaller than a platoon." As such, two or more sections usually make up an army platoon or an air force flight.
A mitrailleuse is a type of volley gun with barrels of rifle calibre that can fire either all rounds at once or in rapid succession. The earliest true mitrailleuse was invented in 1851 by Belgian Army captain Fafschamps, ten years before the advent of the Gatling gun. It was followed by the Belgian Montigny mitrailleuse in 1863. Then the French 25 barrel "Canon à Balles", better known as the Reffye mitrailleuse, was adopted in great secrecy in 1866. It became the first rapid-firing weapon deployed as standard equipment by any army in a major conflict when it was used during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71.
The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in the First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tanks in combat and was subsequently turned into the Tank Corps, later called the Royal Tank Regiment. The MGC remained in existence after the war until it was disbanded in 1922.
A heavy machine gun(HMG) is significantly larger than light, medium or general-purpose machine guns. HMGs are typically too heavy to be man-portable and require mounting onto a weapons platform to be operably stable or tactically mobile, have more formidable firepower, and generally require a team of personnel for operation and maintenance.
The Hotchkiss M1909 machine gun was a light machine gun of the early 20th century, developed and built by Hotchkiss et Cie. It was also known as the Hotchkiss Mark I, Hotchkiss Portative and M1909 Benét–Mercié.
A door gunner is a crewman tasked with firing and maintaining manually directed armament aboard a military helicopter. The actual role will vary depending on the task given on a particular mission. For certain aircraft a door gunner would use a fully automatic Gatling gun placement. On many larger aircraft such as military planes a turret is used along with heavy cannons.
The Colt–Browning M1895, nicknamed "potato digger" because of its unusual operating mechanism, is an air-cooled, belt-fed, gas-operated machine gun that fires from a closed bolt with a cyclic rate of 450 rounds per minute. Based on an 1889 design by John Browning and his brother Matthew S. Browning, it was the first successful gas-operated machine gun to enter service.
A quick-firing or rapid-firing gun is an artillery piece, typically a gun or howitzer, which has several characteristics which taken together mean the weapon can fire at a fast rate. Quick-firing was introduced worldwide in the 1880s and 1890s and had a marked impact on war both on land and at sea.
The M18 recoilless rifle is a 57 mm shoulder-fired, anti-tank recoilless rifle that was used by the U.S. Army in World War II and the Korean War. Recoilless rifles are capable of firing artillery-type shells at reduced velocities comparable to those of standard cannon, but with greater accuracy than anti-tank weapons that used unguided rockets, and almost entirely without recoil. The M18 was a breech-loaded, single-shot, man-portable, crew-served weapon. It could be used in both anti-tank and anti-personnel roles. The weapon could be both shoulder fired or fired from a prone position. The T3 front grip doubled as an adjustable monopod and the two-piece padded T3 shoulder cradle could swing down and to the rear as a bipod for the gunner. The most stable firing position was from the tripod developed for the water-cooled Browning M1917 machine gun.
Wargames Factory was an American plastic miniature manufacturer that opened in 2007. It specialized in highly detailed, multi-part models in hard plastic for wargaming. Wargames Factory produced models mostly in the 28 millimetres (1.1 in) range, but did other scales as well. It was unique in the way it chose the subject of its miniatures, using what it called the Liberty and Union League to produce models submitted by consumers.
Brigadier General John Henry Parker aka "Gatling Gun Parker" was a brigadier general in the United States Army. He is best known for his role as the commander of the Gatling Gun Detachment of the U.S. Army's Fifth Army Corps in Cuba during the Santiago campaign in the Spanish–American War.