WW2 Italian Artillery

Quite a number of posts ago I added some Italian artillery pieces. I have now painted the crews (more BP Casts) and based them up. The gun crews are pretty poor castings by modern standards and the pith helmets look more like bush hats with a thick brim.

Firstly two Ansaldo 75mm field guns (Cannone Da 75/32 Modello 37)


and two Schneider 105mm field guns (Cannone Da 105/28)


I also acquired some BP Casts 20mm AA Guns (Cannone-Mitragliera Da 20/65 Modello 35 (Breda) )

Two of these were in a towed position and I've assumed that they could be fired from their towing position.

There was only one deployed version and I found that it was damaged (a broken gun and missing the main outrigger so I had to scratch build another one) and the crew seemed rather strange, the two standing crewmen were similar to Italian paras and the seated figure was a German (so he had his helmet and belts sanded down to look like an Italian)

Lastly, one of the BP casts RSOs I bought had a towed quad flak, so given I already have some in my early and late period German armies I decided to paint it up as one used in North Africa. All of these seem rather oversized, but I need to get something to make an accurate comparison.

On the basing I was trying a slightly different basic paint colour as the chocolate brown I have been using is a bit too dark for the desert, so I tried a coffee shade with added white. I'm quite pleased with the effect and the odd grass spots look OK.

Will