1:72 British Paratroopers helmet Mk 2

The airborne Mk 2 helmet in small 1:72

The resin castings in 1:72 scale measure only a few millimeters, and yet the mesh of the camouflage net remains discernible on them. The package contains ten of them, half of them with camouflage material added.

A piece of history on the tip of a pair of tweezers

The British developed this type of head protection exclusively for paratroopers, and its shape gives away its purpose at first glance. The smooth profile without a rim reduced the risk of snagging on equipment and on the edge of the opening in an aircraft's fuselage. Polish airborne units fighting alongside the British wore it in the same form, and after the war a number of other armies adopted it, so it appears in scenes from the 1950s as well. It is precisely the headdress that tends to be the element by which a viewer recognizes a paratrooper even on a figure two centimeters tall.

Handling in a small scale

Cut the castings off with a new blade over a dish, not over the table. Fitting one onto a head calls for a drop of cyanoacrylate glue applied with a pin. You will manage the painting with one dark base and one highlight; more layers would flood the small relief. The camouflage elements only need suggesting with dots of two shades of green.

Where it fits

• more extensive battle scenes with many figures
• models of transport aircraft with a paratroop load
• completing bulk figure sets
• a landscape mock-up where a figure serves as the scale

The set does not contain figures, paints or glue.