German Paratroops, 1939–1945
Airfix 1:76 Scale Figure Review
Airfix German Paratroops are beautifully sculpted, but the set suffers from incomplete and partly inaccurate equipment, which needs to be corrected prior to painting. Accept the challenge, and you will be rewarded with a wealth of very attractive miniatures for wargames and dioramas.
Contents
46 Figures in 14 Poses – 22 mm equal 167 cm Height
- Officer with MP 40 and Binoculars (1)
- Radio Operator (2)
- Fallschirmjäger with FG 42 (4)
- Fallschirmjäger with MP 38 / MP 40, advancing (4)
- Fallschirmjäger with MP 38 / MP 40, running (4)
- Fallschirmjäger with MP 38 / MP 40, kneeling (4)
- Fallschirmjäger with MP 38 / MP 40, kneeling, firing (4)
- Fallschirmjäger with MP 38 / MP 40, prone, throwing Stielhandgranate 24 (3)
- Fallschirmjäger with Karabiner 98 kurz, marching (3)
- Fallschirmjäger with Karabiner 98k, advancing (4)
- Fallschirmjäger with Karabiner 98k, standing, firing (4)
- Fallschirmjäger with Karabiner 98k and Bayonet, charging (4)
- Fallschirmjäger with Karabiner 98k, in Melee (3)
- Fallschirmjäger, wounded (2)
Evaluation
Good choice of subject, the Airfix Fallschirmjäger are unique in this scale.
Light machine guns and mortars are not included, which is why wargamers will not be able to raise a complete Fallschirmjäger platoon with the figures of this set. The prone FG 42 gunner may be converted to an MG 34 light machine gunner by inserting a longer barrel from 0.6 mm piano wire and adding a bipod made of stretched sprue or wire (see our tutorial “MG 34 for German Paratroops”). Painted in tropical uniform, the Airfix paratroopers may be supplemented by Airfix Afrika Korps figures without the need for conversion.
The Airfix paratroopers are wearing the Fallschirmschützen-Blouse M38, which was superseded by the Fallschirmjäger-Blouse M40 (transitional), the Fallschirmjäger-Blouse M42, the Luftwaffe Field Blouse in Splinter B camouflage, and the reversible winter Anorakanzug M43.
Excess plastic at the neck and the rear of the steel helmet of the two prone paratroopers needs to be removed, as well as the prominent mould line across every single steel helmet. We use the ZEP-70 pulse regulated soldering iron for this job, which even allows us to remove the annoying flash halo around the barrel of a submachine gun or between the fingers of some figures.
The missing FG 42 magazine bandolier of the prone paratrooper is sculpted in our tutorial “Magazine Bandolier FG 42 for German Paratroops”.
The Feldflasche M31 field flask is there, but the Brotbeutel M31 bread bag, to which the field flask was attached, is missing. The mistake may be corrected by carefully removing the field flask, sculpting the haversack with green stuff, and pressing the field flask into the sticky modelling compound. Repairing the 14 poses for our tutorial “Brotbeutel M31 for German Paratroops” took 45 minutes, or 3.2 minutes per Fallschirmjäger.
The charging Paratrooper is wearing the Patronenbandelier for 100 cartridges in eight double pockets and four single pockets, but the number of pockets is wrong. The error may be corrected by carefully removing the excess pockets from the shoulders and neck. The other paratroopers armed with the Karabiner 98k are carrying M.1911 infantry cartridge pouches, which was done later in the war, but these pouches are made for only four charger clips, instead of the actual M.1911 cartridge pouches of six charger clips each. We address this error in our tutorial “Cartridge Bandolier for Paratroops”.
The missing Y-straps of the belt supports may be painted on. Apart from the brown Luftwaffe leather equipment, as the war progresse, German paratroops also wore black leather acquired from supplies of the army.
None of the paratroopers are equipped with a Feldspaten entrenching tool. To fix this error, please refer to our tutorial “Entrenching Tool and Bayonet for German Paratroops”.
The submachine gunners are equipped with only one MP 40 magazine pouch, instead of the two pouches they were normally issued. Please refer to our tutorial “Magazine Pouches MP 40 for German Paratroops” to learn how to fix this mistake.
Compatible with Fujimi, Matchbox, Milicast, Cromwell Models, Ostmodels, MMS, and Vac-U-Cast.
Painting Guide
Despite their age, antique Airfix Fallschirmjäger look quite impressive, s. our tutorial: “Painting German Paratroops, 1:76 Airfix 01753”.
- Humbrol 79 »Blue Grey«: Trousers, Steel Helmet
- Humbrol 78 »Cockpit Green (RAF)«: Knochensack
- Splinter Pattern B:
- Humbrol 127 »US Ghost Grey«: Base Colour
- Humbrol 86 »Light Olive«: green Splotches
- Humbrol 160 »Red Brown«: brown Splotches
- Sumpftarnmuster:
- Humbrol 119 »US Light Earth«: Base Colour
- Humbrol 86 »Light Olive«: green Splotches
- Humbrol 186 »Brown«: brown Splotches
- Humbrol 118 »US Tan«: field flask cover
- Humbrol 61 »Flesh«: Face, Hands
- Humbrol 133 »Brown« + 10 »Service Brown«: Karabiner 98k
Painted in different camouflage patterns, Airfix German Paratroops may be used for dioramas and wargames of all major campaigns in World-War Two.