28mm WWII Brits for the Med from Artizan Designs

[bigjackmac]

All,

Trying to keep a good thing going, so another week, another post, again showing off more of my headlong dive into 28mm, and again focusing on the stuff I got from Nick Eyre at North Star.  I already had British infantry for Northwest Europe and 8th Army-types for North Africa, but I wanted some guys with a specific look for British infantry in Italy (or at least my impression of them).  To elaborate, I didn't want dudes in normal battledress and I didn't want dudes in the desert shorts, I wanted sleeves rolled up and pants unbloused.  I saw some figures of interest on the Artizan Designs so I reached out to Nick and he did me a great favor putting together a platoon deal with exactly the figures I was looking for.  The pics below represent the fruit of those labors


The whole mess.  Enough guys for a full rifle platoon plus maybe another section, and an MG and mortar team, all ready to go whooping Nazi butt up the boot of Italy.  I'm sure my paintjobs are not historically accurate, but they're painted exactly the way I wanted them to look in my mind's eye.  What I'm shooting for is a group of guys that have been in the fight for years, against the Italians in the Western Desert in 1940, then the Germans, all the way into ejecting the Axis from the continent in Tunisia, then on to Sicily, and now Italy proper.  Once again I used Contrast paints, so the uniforms are a mix of Aggros Dunes over light gray, Aggros Dunes over dark gray, and Skeleton Horde, to give me a nice (at least, I think so) mix of veteran uniforms.


Closeup of a couple Tommies.  You can see the mix of helmet, shirt, and trouser colors.  As always, great poses, proportions (I like'em chunky!), gear, and weapons.  These guys show exactly what I was talking about with unbloused trousers (no gaiters) and rolled sleeves or pullovers.


Hump, hump, hump...


The Leftenant and his Platoon Sergeant.


Not strictly regulation

Hope you like them, and if you'd like to see a bunch more pics, please visit the blog at:
https://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2025/04/28mm-wwii-british-infantry-for-med-from.html

I am dying to start up a platoon for Platoon Forward, but as Joe pointed out, I really need to be playing with my boys before they're grown and out of the house...  Anyway, I continue to paint like a madman, but I'm happy I took enough time away to photo these and post them, and I'll do my best to keep it going. 

V/R,
Jack

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Really nice work.

[fred.]

Good stuff Jack - not sure many of us bother with Sicily/Italy specific figures, either 8th Army or NWE figures get used, so well done on finding some that fit. 

I like the look, feels right to me. 

Is Aggros Dunes the slightly darker brown you have used for jumpers? And while I'm asking what colour was used for the webbing?

I'm always trying to find some more of the natural contrast colours. 

[bigjackmac]

Thanks guys!

Yeah, you know me Fred, I can never leave well enough alone, had to have me some bespoke models for Sicily and Italy . I play a lot of squad and platoon-sized games, so I tend to really get into the proper look and feel of the troops (more lax on terrain, generally).

Regarding paints:
The light khaki color is Skeleton Horde
The slightly more yellow color is Aggros Dunes over a light gray primer
The olive drab color is Aggros Dunes over a dark gray primer
The reddish brown color (wooden furniture on weapons and a couple guys' vests, like the Sergeant above) is Gore Grunta Fur
The webbing is Plaguebearer Flesh (usually over Skeleton Horde or Aggros Dunes)
Snakebite Leather is another natural, softer brown I like, though I didn't use it in these guys

Hope that helps!

V/R,
Jack

[fred.]

Thanks - that is helpful. I have all of those except Aggros - so will pick that up at some point. 

I made a lot of use of Skelton Horde and Plaugebear on my WWI Russians - including mixing them together to give a green/khaki shade

[bigjackmac]

Awesome, those look great!

The only ones I've mixed are Basilicum Gray and Creed Camo, makes a pretty good Feldgrau (you'll see when I post my early war Wehrmacht).

Jack