Airfix – Coastal Defense Fort

Description:

Coastal Defence Fort

One of the most iconic pieces in the Airfix history is this Coastal Defense Fort for the Atlantic wall. Usually it was packet together with Airfix commandos and German infantry, and in the beginning with several polypropylene vehicles (During 60s). Eventually the fort was released also as standalone and the early German Infantry type was changed by the definitive Airfix German Infantry tooled in 1974.

The initial series, including also the soft plastic vehicles was commercialized under the series “Assault“, Coastal Defence Assault Set, including the British Commandos, the early type German Infantry, two sand-bags emplacements and four of the polypropylene vehicles in an absolutely not accurate mix for WWII, as for example the Centurion tank was included.

Not much later the fort alone was sold under the “Coastal Defence” name, the fort is very basic detailed kit of just 20 pieces, to include a pair of anti-aircraft positions, and observations positions and finally the big twin guns. Any of them looks like a model of anything real and it’s more a toy than a scale model.

In 2004 the Coastal Defence Fort was the base of a big D-Day 60th Anniversary set, code number 10300G, which included four full sets of figures, German Infantry, German Paratroops, US Marines and US Paratroops, together with eight models, including an aircraft, the two landing crafts from Airfix catalogue and some of the 1/76 scale models such Sherman tank, Flak 88, AEC Matador and others. As gif set it also included paints, glue and brush. This reference was kept the next two years under 10300 code number, and in 2008 changed name to D-Day Operation Overlord, with code number A50064 and slightly different content, but keeping the Coastal Defence Fort as one of the central pieces. A similar combination was lastly issued as Airfix – A50162 – D-Day Operation Overlord Gift Set (last seen in 2019, but issued in 2014 for the 70th anniversary).