Italian Infantry
I was briefly inspired to play some games of the Allied invasion of Sicily, Operation Husky. So went around looking for WWII Italians. There seems to be only two sets of WWII Italians in 1:72 plastics, one is the Airfix WWII Italian set that was re-released by HaT Industries, and the other is the ESCI WWII Italian Alpine troops set that is re-released by Italeri. I have used both these sets for my forces.
I had a hard time researching the colour of WWII Italian uniforms worn on the Italian mainland. Most sources seem to contradict each other. Some showing a very blueish Grey, while others show a Neutral Grey. Check out the Captain Corelli's Mandolin movie website for Hollywood's take on it. After some digging, I have decided on a greenish Grey, that was less green than the German Field Grey uniform.
The same problem with the helmet. Some sources show the helmets the same shade of Grey as the uniforms and other showed a light Olive Drab helmet. I decided to go with the latter. So here are my slightly odd Italians, colours decided to stand out from other nation's troops. And since noone can agree on their actual colours, they might just be accurate. Experts on Italian uniforms, please correct me if I am wrong.
The figures were based for the Crossfire game. Each base of two figures count as a Section, and a single figure base counts as the Platoon Commander and his staff.
I bought one box of the Airfix/HaT set, and of all the figures, I only fancied four of the poses: three of them shooting, and one charging. I have three platoons like the one shown above made from those four figures. There was only two pistol armed officers in the box. So I had to use one of the SMG armed soldiers as my third Platoon Commander.
As you can see from this close-up, the sculpting of these figures are quite detailed. They are the last figure set that Airfix sculpted and are probably the best quality.
The weapons can clearly be identified as the 6.5mm Fucile Modello 1891 rifle and the 9mm Beratta Modello 1938/42. Italian troops had their regiment emblem stenciled in the front of their helmets. Most of the infantry emblems were a pair of crossed rifles with the regimental number in the middle, so I simply painted an X in front.
The ammo pouches, straps and puttees are Light Grey, and the bags are Khaki.
The Airfix/HaT WWII Italian set does not come with any MG. So I had to get a box of ESCI/Italeri WWII Italian Alpine troops for their MG gunners and Company Commander figure.
The base in the middle is the Company Commander and staff. The figure gesturing behind is actually meant to be dragging a donkey. A rather funny irony, considering the quality of Italian commanders. I had to shave the feather off his helmet and cut off his switch. I also used the guy with the bandaged head because it would save me from having to shave another feather off a helmet.
The prone figures were not sculpted with feathers, which saved me yet more work. Chances are they won't stay on the gaming table for very long, so I didn't want to put in any unnecessary effort.
Like most ESCI figures, these guys are exqusitely sculpted, if a little large. I did not mix ESCI and Airfix figures on the same base because of their size difference. This close-up shows very clearly the beautifully sculpted 6.5mm Breda Modello 1930 light machine gun.
© 2004-2006 Michael Sng Woei Shyong. All Rights Reserved.