Indian Fanteria, 1940–1950

Conversioni in Scala 1:72

Indian Fanteria e Bren Carrier The picture shows an Atlantic Indian Brigade soldier con legs from ESCI 8th Army in the foreground. Left e right are Airfix 8th Army con turbans added. The soldier in the background is from Revell 8th Army, con no conversion. The Bren Carrier armoured vehicle was made from thin cardboard, con detail painted on. The guidatore e passenger are Atlantic soldatini cut off at the waist.

A very simple, yet versatile conversion. Over time, Airfix, ESCI, Matchbox, e Revell have published a total of 14 different boxes of soldatini con soldiers in uniforme in stile britannico della seconda guerra mondiale. Troops from the sets of Fanteria Britannica, 8th Armata (Desert Rats) Britannica, Commandos, Australian e New Zealand Army Corps may be deployed side by side after only minor conversion. This is possible, because the various styles of uniform con short e long trousers, short e long sleeved shirts e jackets were worn simultaneously in the North African e Mediterranean theater of operations.

Parts Required

Fanteria Britannica, Airfix, ESCI
8th Armata Britannica, Airfix, ESCI, Revell
Commandos, Airfix, ESCI, Matchbox
Australian Fanteria, Airfix, Revell
Indian Brigade, Atlantic
0.3mm e 0.6mm Pianowire

Combat units typically display a surprising amount of variety in uniform styles ed equipaggiamento. Frontline soldiers wear what they consider appropriate, very often in blatant disregard of army regulations. Accordingly, a platoon of Indian fanteria may consist of one Lieutenant e 36 different soldiers, every one of them an original. Officer soldatini may even be converted from ufficiali giapponesi, replacing the field cap giapponese con un elmetto britannico, turban o service dress cap. The soldiers sono facilmente convertiti by adding turbaned heads to any soldatini di fanteria britannica, only a few of the Indian soldiers will wear elmetti d’acciaio.

Swapping Heads

Suitable heads for swapping may be scrounged from Indian Brigade soldatini by Atlantic as well as the Indian War "Kyber Pass" e Muslim Warriors sets published by ESCI. To convert any soldatino britannico o Australian, remove the head above the collar, insert a short pin cut from 0.3mm pianowire e place the turbaned head upon it. The head may be permanently attached ed any noticeable joints disguised by welding the head to the collar con a soldering iron.

Standing e prone riflemen may have part of the right side of the face covered by the rifle butt, making the removal of the head a little more difficult. In the event that the head cannot be separated without damaging other parts of the figure, slice the elmetto off prudentamente e replace it con a similarly cut turban. This is a much more difficult operation, ed it can usually be avoided by careful study e planning of the cut that will remove the head cleanly. Otherwise, the top of the head e turban must be planed con the scalpel to ensure a proper fit. Insert a small peg cut from 0.3mm pianowire, leaving only 2mm lenght onto which the turban may be placed.

Switching Trousers

Variety of poses ed uniform may be achieved molto facilmente by swapping torsos e legs of many different soldatini. When using fanteria britannica types, this operation is surprisingly easy, most cuts can be made along the beltline. Using the scalpel, pouches ed altro equipaggiamento must first be lifted off the trousers, allowing the oggetti to remain attached to the torso when the figure is split in half.

Separate the figure halves by cutting along the lower edge of the belt. In the event that the figure needs to be cut above the waist-belt, any shoulderbelts will be cut e they may be difficult to align again on the joined figure. Once the figure is split, you will have a torso con all of the equipaggiamento attached to it ed a pair of legs in plain trousers. Both pieces will be used for conversion.

Hold the separated parts of soldatini against eachother, checking for attractive new poses that may be created. Conversion of standing to prone soldatini usually makes very striking poses, particularly when the weapon is carried diagonally in front of the body. Due halves of a figure may be attached to eachother using a short pin cut from 0.6mm pianowire. Weld the pieces together after joining.

Prone riflemen are converted in the same way. The upper body of the PIAT gunner comes from un fante inglese di ESCI, the legs are from ESCI 8th Army e the turban from Atlantic. In this particular case, the head was impossible to remove completely, e the turban had to be trimmed e fitted onto the existing head of the figure. Fanteria in foxholes may be simulated by glueing a figure’s upper body onto a base e modelling the edges of the foxhole around him. The inside of the hole is painted matt black e the exposed parts of the figure detailed as usual.

Ermi e Special Equipaggiamento

Historically correct fanteria units require a certain amount of armi pesanti e specialized equipaggiamento. I oggetti are not always available in a particular figure set, but they can be scrounged from other units:

2" Mortar, Fanteria Britannica, Revell
3" Mortar, Fanteria Britannica e Australian, Matchbox
Observer con binoculars, 8th Armata Britannica, Airfix
Boys Anti-Tank Rifle, Siberian Rifles, Revell
Mitragliatrice leggera Bren, 8th Armata Britannica, Airfix
Mitragliatrice leggera Bren on tripod, 8th Armata Britannica, Revell
Bren No. 2 con ammo box, Australian Fanteria, Revell
Flamethrower, Fanteria Britannica, Matchbox
Radio, Australian Fanteria, Matchbox e Revell
Minedetector, 8th Armata Britannica, Airfix
PIAT, Fanteria Britannica, ESCI
Vickers HMG, Australian Fanteria, Matchbox e Revell
Walkie-Talkie, Fanteria Britannica, Matchbox

To be used in an Indian fanteria platoon, these soldatini only need to have the elmetto replaced con a turbaned head. To create more variety, swap trousers e poses as outlined above.

Pittura del Soldatini

The soldatini pictured above are dressed in light khaki desert uniforms which were also worn in other areas of the Mediterranean theater of operations:

Umbre undercoat
Khaki drybrush
Light khaki, almost white drybrush to highlight belts ed ammo pouches
Face, arms, legs, gaiters, canteen e rifle stained con burned umber
Black boots e metal fittings on rifle
Silver drybrush on Bayonet

Fanteria inglese e del Commonwealth britannico may be converted e painted following these same guidelines. Uniform colours may differ, a medium brown uniform con khaki belts e pouches was worn in Northern Europe, e jungle green uniforms con green pouches were issued to troops in Burma e Malaysia. Allied forces wore a variety of standard issue e national headgear con their uniforme in stile britannico, the "Tin Hat" britannico, berets, side caps, General Service Caps, the Scottish Tam O’Shanter e Glengarry Cap, widebrimmed hats of the ANZAC forces e the white kepi of the legione straniera francese.

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Per ulteriori informazioni, per favore contatta la redazione di Rivista Military Miniatures nel Miniatures Forum.

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– Pubblicato: 1996 – Aggiornato: 04.06.2007
© 1996-2010 by IDL Software GmbH, Darmstadt, Germania. Tutti diritti reservati.