Italian Infantry WWII 48 fig. 1/72 Waterloo 1815 AP007

Italian Infantry WWII
1/72 scale plastic model kit
WATERLOO 1815 AP 007
 

Manufacturer: Waterloo 1815 (Italy)
Scale: 1/72
Material: Plastic
Paint: Unpainted, assembled, Kit do not contain paints and glue.
Condition: New in Box 

Review

There have been few Italian subjects produced, unless you include Romans, and for a very long time the only World War II figures were the Esci Alpini. When Airfix released this set, therefore, they were filling a large hole in the range.

The most obvious feature of this set is that there are only seven poses. Since Airfix have in the past produced up to 20 poses for some other sets, this is a major disappointment. The troops are firing, advancing, walking etc., so the basics are covered, but for example only having one advancing figure is not likely to please collectors, wargamers or any other kind of customer.

The uniform of the Italian army varied little between 1940 and 1943, and these figures accurately represent it here. The rear of the helmet comes lower on the back of the neck than it should, but the quibble is very minor. With their trademark two ammunition pouches and the tie, these men are instantly recognisable as Italian and very smart they look too. All the troops are using rifles except two, which are armed with the 9mm Beretta sub-machine gun. These two are equipped with ammunition pouches for this highly regarded weapon, as you would expect. The officer is dressed similarly to his men, which was quite common, though his uniform would have been of better cloth. The only difference is that he wears the popular bustina cap, which is well sculpted here, and is armed with a pistol, most likely the 9mm Beretta M1934 semi-automatic.

Having moaned about the lack of poses, the figures you do get are excellent. Sculpting is perfect and the detail is crisp and clear with no flash. The poses are natural, and even the private carrying his rifle on his shoulder is well done despite the inherent difficulties in moulding such a piece.

This was one of the last sets Airfix created, and presumably by this stage they were looking to make sets as cheaply as possible. Given the choice of making many poor figures or fewer good ones, we would always applaud the emphasis on quality rather than quantity, as has happened here. These are very fine figures indeed, and if there had only been twice as many poses then this would have been a very hard set to beat.