Punic War Italians

 Last night I finished off the other half of the box of HaT Italian infantry.  

I also managed to acquire two boxes of Italeri Republican Roman infantry, which when painted will complete my Roman army.  They are in the process of being cleaned up and primed for painting.

Italian Infantry Brigade Group

I have been looking for some Italians to support my Airfix first series Afrika Korps and quite by chance I came across some wonderful conversions by Jeffers, which have been cast in metal by John Holt at Warrior miniatures. I am told that more figures should be on the way (I hope) in due course.  In the meantime I have sought artillery and support weapons from Ian Kay at Irregular Miniatures.

Here is an overview of the Italian forces:

The infantry are based upon the first series Airfix 8th Army figures, converted in true John Sanders style:

The command figures are by Irregular Miniatures:

As are the machine gunners:

And artillery...

The tank is by Butlers Printed Models (BPM) and is 1/87 scale. I will probably acquire a few more of these:

'Airfix' WW2 Italians - Conversions

Jeffers sent me a handful of clever Airfix conversions that he had carried out, which had been cast in metal. The base figure is the Airfix series one 8th Army soldier advancing. The helmet has changed, long sleeves added to the shirt and trousers replace the shorts. The large pack and all of the webbing has been changed too. I really like them.

Here is what they look like with a dab of paint on them:

The metal casting was done by John Holt of Warrior Figures.