Sunday 6 September 2020

Rapid Fire! NW Europe 44/45 - 101st US Airborne - 1st battalion done



The 1/501st PIR (the Geronimo Regiment) just received their new M1943 uniforms and parade proudly to show them. This battalion is, hopefully and in the far future, one of the nine battalions of the 101st US Airborne Division, the famous Screaming Eagles, to be built. I chose the green colour of the M1943 because it fits both Market Garden and Bastogne. I used Vallejo Russian Uniform for the color of the paratroopers uniform , following a nice YouTube video from the series "How I paint things". The figures are SHQ, Revell and Esci. 


I painted the Screaming Eagle in all left arms using a small background of black, and one stripe of white and another of gold. 



The US flag was painted in the white armband on the right side. Not easy and almost as difficult as the hammer and sickle of Soviet soldiers (which generally corresponds to a dot in this scale). 


My only conversion for this unit was this guy firing the Bazooka. It started as a regular Esci infantryman up until when EverGreen was added to the trousers, backpack, camouflage netting and first aid kit in the helmet. The other figure is SHQ.


The two other Bazooka teams are SHQ.


The 81mm stand is a mixture of Revell and SHQ figures.


The two command stands mix SHQ and Revell. The Revell CO here is the famous Lt.Col. Harry Kinnard the man who heard Gen. Mcauliffe say "Nuts" to the German surrendering demand at Bastogne and who apparently was responsible for the word to become part of history. 


All three brands, SHQ, Revell and Esci, living together in perfect harmony. 

Next: the M-24 Chaffees in the Ardennes. 

4 comments:

  1. Very nice mate, lovely mix of figures

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great stuff Joao. I think my eyeballs are getting past the ability to paint sleeve insignia so keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Richard. Mine must be close. Got to 50 without glasses but I'm using them for 2 by now.

      Delete