One thing that there is a definite shortage of when it comes to 1/35 scale plastic injection moulded figures is Italian figure sets. Whilst Italeri do a decent range of Italian World War Two Vehicles and Tamiya chime in with a couple of their own that include a couple of figures there really just isn’t a lot in the way of Italian figures without going to resin. So this set from Dragon is a godsend for anyone wanting to model anything with Italian troops included.
Coming in the standard Dragon open-ended box this kit comes on two sprues, one containing the four figures, and one containing the weapons. Moulded in a light grey plastic these are all very well moulded with clear, sharp detail and a variety of faces with good expressions. The uniforms are all very nicely moulded with well picked out detail and good looking folds and creases. Two are intended to be Bersaglieri, one a Folgore Papratrooper, and the fourth regular army, though with a a little work all four can be built as Bersaglieri if disired, though only two of the helmets have the plumes included so you would need to add the other two yourself ( as well as adding a collar and changing the boots on the papatrooper figure )
Other than the four tropical cork helmets there is an optional paratrooper M41 helmet with the nose guard, and a M1934 soft field cap also included for headgear. There is also two pairs of googles included for mounting on the helmets though these would look better drilled out and with clear lenses added. Two are dressed in tropical uniforms with puttees and low boots, the third wears a collarless Paratrooper Sahariana tunic, trousers and jump boots and the fourth, the officer, also wears a Sahariana tunic together with shorts, socks and sandals. All the uniform are excellent with very sharp detail with only the sole details missing from the footwear.
All four get a canteen, a gas mask case, and a small entrenching shovel with attached knife. There is also a single bayonet, a blanket roll, an M39 backpack on it’s own and another with attached blanket and bedroll. A point to note is that the instructions don’t show where parts C12 and C13 go, but these are the ends of the blanket and attach to each other and then to the location hole on the blanket roll. There is also a pair of binoculars and a field compass included for the officer.
The weapons included are a Breda M30 Light Machine Gun, a Beretta Model M-1938A 9mm sub-machine gun which includes the correct double triggers, a M91 Mannlicher Carcano 6.35mm carbine which includes the folded bayonet, and a Baretta M1934 pistol moulded into the officer’s hand. You get a pistol holster for the pistol but it would look better if the flap wasn’t still done up seeing as he is holding the pistol in his hand. The weapons are also very well produced.
The Breda M30 includes a separate bipod moulded in the open position and the side mounted box magazine, though this is wrongly labeled as part WA1b on the instructions instead of WA1d. There is also two ammo pouches for the Steyr Mannlicher, and a pouch for six magazines for the Beretta Model M-1938A sub machine gun, though this is very flat and you’ll need to add your own shoulder strap.
One last point to note is that there are two spare barrels included for the Breda M30 which are shown as simply attached to the outside of the M39 backpack, but unless the Italian Army came up with a way to hold them there using magic these really need to have the straps on the backpack redone to show the barrels being passed through them to hold them in place.
The assembly instructions together with the painting guide are printed on the rear of the box in the usual Dragon fashion.
This is a terrific little set that builds up well on its own, but equally importanly it’s a source of Italian equipment and weapons that can’t be found elsewhere in this medium. While I would have liked a couple more helmet options and a couple more weapons included I can’t fault Dragon for that as that’s more a case of me being greedy than any fault in the kit. So whilst there are some very minor bits that need tweaking overall it’s hard to fault this kit. If you need Italian figures then this set is a must have.
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