1:35 Italian paratrooper - WWII

A paratrooper of the Italian airborne units 1:35

Airborne units are among the most frequently worked subjects, but with the Italians they remain fairly rare. Royal Model fills that gap with a separate figure of an Italian paratrooper from the time of the Second World War, which can be set into a scene with vehicles or displayed without any further context. The scale matches ordinary military production, so the figure needs no recalculating of proportions.

Italian paratroopers

The Italian airborne units were created at the turn of the 1930s and 1940s and became best known for the fighting in North Africa, where they were in the end committed as infantry rather than by jumping. They differed from the line units in training as well as appearance: the padded jump helmet, a blouse of camouflage cloth and lighter armament suited to rapid movement were all characteristic. Italian camouflage patterns are among the oldest series-produced in the world and their coloring tends toward sand, ocher and gray-green.

A camouflage pattern under the brush

Multicolored camouflage tends to be the most demanding part of the work on a figure. Work from the undercoat shade to the larger patches and only at the end add the small shapes. Place the patches so that they carry across the folds, otherwise the pattern looks printed on a flat surface. Thinned paint in several layers gives a markedly better result than a single covering coat.

Suitable for

• scenes from the fighting in North Africa
• collections of elite units in a large scale
• painters who want to try early camouflage patterns
• an accessory to kits of Italian vehicles

It comes without a finish and unassembled; the package does not include paints or other modeling supplies.