Italian Alpini artillery crew in 1/72 scale
| Name | Alpini Artillerymen crew (Item No. II GM 82) |
| Producer | Mirliton, Italy |
| Packing | plastic bag with cardboard label |
| Type of kit | white metal |
| Quality | fairly good |
| Instruction sheet | no |
| General Impression & Note |
This Alpini artillerymen crew is specifically meant as a complement for the MIRLITON Obice da 75/13 (75 mm. mountain howitzer). The set includes six artillerymen (of which two identical) but, according to my own sources, eight artillerymen and one officer were actually needed for manning one such howitzer. Therefore two artillerymen and the officer are missing but they can be easily recovered from other MIRLITON sets. It is also perfectly possible that, in emergency situations, six men were sufficient to fire the howitzer. The level of detail is the same of other sets, i.e. good in parts but worth improving with careful use of files and sandpaper. These figures, a bit stocky, are not easy to mix with other miniatures for their different build and look (as usual for wargame products). This set could be employed to arrange a small diorama set in Greece, Russia or Tunisia. It should be remembered that, in Russia, Alpini and their artilleries were not employed on the Caucasian mountains as planned, but in the huge steppes west of Stalingrad, occasionally in anti-tank roles. |
