The 1st (Polish) Independent Parachute Brigade was a parachute infantry brigade formed in Britain to help liberate Poland. The unit was sent into action in support of the British 1st Airborne Division at the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944, under the command of Major General Sosabowski, (played by Gene Hackman, in the exceptional 1977 war movie, A Bridge Too Far).
The miniatures are from Forged In Battle's excellent B-PARA-01 British Paratrooper Platoon pack. I based the miniatures on pennies, and worked to paint them up relatively quickly, although the camouflage took more time then I liked. I based them on the pennies, added sand, then primed them with Army Painter Desert Yellow, which was then left, as is, for the trousers. I tried to follow the great guide from Crac des Chevaliers. I cheated by using both a green and brown Sharpie to help with the camouflage, as well as a metallic Sharpie for the silver parts. I dipped them using the reliable MinWax PolyShade: Royal Walnut Satin - my usual dipping media since 2008.
The Poles used the British battledress, but instead wore blue greyish berets (instead the striking scarlet red). I originally used a bluish grey color, but went over it after dipping with a normal old grey, as the dip had darkened it too much.
I'm looking forward to painting up some 15mm Polish Armia Krajowa (Home Army) partisans, as well as some 15mm Croatians (Army of the Independent State of Croatia) in the near future....
