SCW Italian 'kit' (update plus blog post)

[Happy Wanderer]

Gents,

Suitably inspired by Ian's (Flags of War) SCW thread, here are a few snaps of some recently finished Spanish Civil War Italian troops that will work for North Africa as well.....possibly also 1941 in East Africa.

I went for a 'winter' pants and 'summer' top look to get a kind of mixed uniform that will work in any theatre. These troops represent the later CTV, post Guadalajara, in the Spanish-Italian Flechas formations or any troops in the second half of the war.  This I have confirmed with pics as some desert summer uniforms were issued to the Italians in Spain. Not to mention the terrible state of the Italian supply situations away from the Italian homeland, the split uniform colour look is pleasing to the eye...at least mine!

Lastly, I didn't want the Italians all in 'desert colour'...they simply disappear on-table, so effective is their uniform camo colour!!!

Here are a few snaps...


LLedo truck, Warlord command group and Empress artillery









Empress CVs

[commissarmoody]

All look pretty cool 

[Durutti]

Yep
liking those a lot, and a great idea to get dual purpose out of the figures. 

[Sparrow]

Fantastic - Italians are just so evocative of the 1930's. These look really nice!

[Happy Wanderer]

Thanks Chaps,

@everyone -  

@Sparrow- yes! The Italians are at their high watermark in the interwar period and provide for interesting game settings with the fight against the Senussi, Abyssinian struggle against Haile Selassie and with the premier 'modern' army in the Spanish Civil War...the wheels come off in WW2 when they pretty much are thrust into a war their equipment and industry can't keep up with...


@Durrutti - ...whilst these will be able to do double duty I've decided I do want the 'Guadalajuara' look so am going to get them all in the Adrian helmet and green-grey. The Hicks sculpts are lovely and take a wash style paint job really effectively and paint up pretty fast.

Here is the Flechas look in summer uniform...I've painted winter pants on for the two colour look.

The Guadalajara 'look' (soldier on the left)

...a good resource on the CTV
http://miniaturasmilitaresalfonscanovas.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/boletim-n-25-de-la-agupacion-de.html



I'll pop up a few snaps of the infantry when I get them flocked.



...now what double duty can I get out of Italians in green-grey in Adrian helmet...any ideas?

Cheers

Happy W

[Arlequín]

Great-looking figures as usual.  

The only flaw in the plan is the change from the Adrian to the Italian (M.33?) helmet Mid-SCW... that being said there would be a time when both were in use.

As Sparrow says, the Italians were 'the' military of the '30s and were purposely presented as 'modern' by the regime's spindoctors (despite their WWI artillery). The wheel came off before WWII though, largely thanks to Franco's own propaganda, more than actual poor performance (nobody would have stood against the weather and what the Republicans put into their counter-attack at Guadalajara) and their record later in the conflict is often overlooked.

[Happy Wanderer]

I forgot to put in the other pic here to show the M33 helmet.

The pic below has the 23rd March Division soldier in full summer uniform, I opting for the hybrid...typical of in field modifications. I shall equally use the same figures for the 23rd March Blackshirt troops or Flecha Brigades...!

In a sense I'm mixing these two uniform styles, just as troops in the field do for maximum utility. Given the state of supplies and force size in Spain this seems more than plausible...to me anyway!!

..So these guys will do for all manner of mid to late war summer uniform troops but as I'll have Green-Grey Italians soon enough I won't have to suffer my early war Italians looking out of place...



....now what else can I use green-grey Adrian helmeted Italian Infantry for?...at a pinch...Poles, Greeks (though many had the M33)? 

[commissarmoody]

Poles, Greeks, fictional small nation like doing strange things in the 30s.

[Arlequín]

....now what else can I use green-grey Adrian helmeted Italian Infantry for?...at a pinch...Poles, Greeks (though many had the M33)? 

I have an idea... I'll be in touch over the weekend, still some thought required my end. 

[Happy Wanderer]

"I have an idea... I'll be in touch over the weekend, still some thought required my end."
Sounds promising  


..at the risk of answering my own question...the Italians might be able to be used for...you guessed it...World War One Italians....certainly handy....the collar is different on the WW1 troops but in 28mm that 'sin' might be forgiven at arms length.

...what with Chain of Command having just released a nice WW1 supplement in their Xmas special and Bolt Action due for a release of a WW1 'book' in September, that would make for some nice double duty for the CTV troops in green-grey.

Even though the webbing colour is different from the brown the CTV uniform can have they also used a black webbing so this may be close enough...

[pocoloco]

Great brushwork on the Italians! 

Care to share what paints were used both for infantry and the tanks?

[Happy Wanderer]

"Care to share what paints were used both for infantry and the tanks?"

Off course  

VEHICLES
There are many colour variations for the CVs used in Spain. I went with a brighter and slighter less muted green look to make them visually a bit more dynamic...they are little fellas! The CV is a small vehicle so I also avoided putting on a camo pattern on so as to show of its nice 'lines'  

It was a simple black undercoat and Vallejo Gunship Green, dry brushed and then lightly washed with Army Painter Dark to pull out the detail. Dullcote then a light dry brush to lift up the detail once again.

CV Lanciafiamme (trick!!) - you'll note the CV Lf is not based..I don't like based vehicles. But it does present a problem how to attach the trailer to the CV without it breaking. I came up with a simple and very effective solution.

I drilled a couple of holes in the back of the CV and the front of the trailer. You need to line the holes up so the trailer sits properly when the two pieces are on the table.



I then joined the CV and trailer together literally by twisting in a screw to make the model one piece. It is a very strong connection - essentially making the model as one. The advantage of the screw is that the thread looks like the hosing used to join the flame trailer to the CV so it is unobtrusive, serving both a functional modelling use and visually enhancing effect..it works!






UNIFORM
Coat is Foundry Paint SAND colour (10B). then given a army painter light wash with soft tone. Then dullcote the entire model before painting the rest. Then paint in the equipment with the usual mid-browns etc. Helmet and Pants are Green (27C), this is a good representation of Italian green-grey after the army painter has been put on to my eye and gives very good coverage. I then use Dark tone goop on the rest of the model, except the flesh which is strong tone...I regularly mix army painter shades on the one figure, sometimes all three shades!

Cheers

HappyW

[Happy Wanderer]

...further to the color scheme and paint colour for the Italian green-grey here is an Empress (Hicks sculpt) Italian CTV painted in European uniform I prepared earlier  

The colours are the same (foundry paints 28C) with the helmet being the Granite colour (31B).

The Hicks figures take the army painter wash very well, something I must say the Perry miniatures are not as good at. The Perry figures paint up at their best (IMO) in a traditional layer paint style, their main strength being proportion and posing. The Hicks sculpts incorporate both a figure that is well posed, nicely proportioned (though not as good as the Perrys I think - the hands on this mini being a case in point) and take an army painter style painting method much better.

On balance, the Hicks sculpts are the way to go if you want to use army painter wash style painting in my view.

Either way we are spoilt for choice as both sculptors are masters of their art...

[Happy Wanderer]

Gents,

I've finished flocking the troops and have a good selection of pics on my blog post!

Enjoy 

http://agrabbagofgames.blogspot.com.au/2015/05/italian-troops-spanish-civil-war-and-ww2.html

[commissarmoody]

They do paint up rather nice. I should pick some up....of course I need another project like a need a hole in the head.