28mm Italians for North/East Africa inc comparison pics

[James Morris]

I've been slowly working on a variety of 28mm Italians for my forces for the 1940-1 East Africa campaign and have managed to snatch a few photos, including a size comparison shot of most of the 28mm manufacturers.  These have been done using an army painter wash & highlight, not quite as grand as some but fine for me at 15-20 minutes per figure!
First up is a comparison shot of many of the current manufacturers.  This is really interesting, as the Perry Italians are a bit less slender than the plastic 8th Army.  They mix just fine, but actually the closest match are the Warlord Bolt Action Italians (originally sculpted by Richard Ansell, I believe).  The Warlord chaps have slightly unusual solar topees (looking a little like lemon squeezer hats), but they are nice figures overall and have a great range of support weapons.



L-R: Artizan (x2), Warlord, Perry plastic 8th Army, Empress, Askari, Perry Italian



Close-up of Warlord, Perry plastic 8th Army, Perry Italian



Here's the Italian sergeant again.  Lovely sculpt.



These are the 45mm Brixia mortars from Warlord; really clean models that actually look like guys trying to keep their heads down and fire a mortar.  The separate heads mean I've been able to do one for the Bersaglieri and the other for the regulars. 




81mm mortar & crew from Warlord, again.



Just for fun: some Empress Eritrean Askaris scouting down a sample section of the terrain I'm building for the mountains of Keren.  Colonial troops seem to be under-represented in many ranges but Empress and Askari (in the US) make some super models (both for the Italo-Ethiopian War of 1935-6, but quite adequate for WW2 as well.)

[grant]

Ciao, bella!

[joekano]

Very useful. And for quick painting, they look really great!

[Helen]

Wonderful comparison shot James, well done.

Cheers,

Helen