Hot on the heals of the Imperial Guard are some American Paratroopers. One of my plans for this year was to expand my Sicily / Italy WW2 collection so to supplement the existing Americans I picked up some second hand warlord plastic Paratroopers. I had few spare bits as well and managed for a very modest cost to make them into three 10 man squads.
Each one has a BAR, a sub machine gun and a squad leader with a carbine.
Took a while to find the right colour scheme as I wanted them to be different to the other US troops I have.
The Stars and Stripes flags are actually cut down from some old flames of war transfers I had, unfortunately I only had enough for about 2/3rds of the figures, you can’t really see it but I have painted a very rough 82nd Airbourne badge on their left arm as well.
The whole group together…..😀
So the next bit of our Naples trip, there are plenty of Roman remains other than Pompeii and Herculaneum. We had a couple of trips to the north of the Bay of Naples to the small towns of Baia and Pozzuoli (visited by the Giro this year the day after we left Italy)
Much less visited than the other tourist hotspots but some fantastic history for those interested in the Romans an entire complex hillside settlement which is made up of ‘sea view’ posh villas, a small theatre, baths etc….
and a wonderful Temple potentially inaccurately named the temple of Mercury
I had little expectation of the Amphitheatre in Pozzuoli but it turned out to be magnificent. It was once about twice the height of what remains in the photo above, and is currently undergoing extensive excavation and development with the building of a new museum
But what makes it worth the visit is the extensive underground structures which all remain in place. It was reputedly the third largest Amphitheatre in world ? Seating upto 30-40 thousand spectators. The photo above shows the skylights through which animals etc were lifted into the main arena using ropes/pullies etc….
Next up the tourist fleshpots of Pompeii and Herculaneum that is when I have completed some more painting 😀
Thanks as always for popping by….Matt
Great work on the Paras Matt and lovely photos from your trip
ReplyDeleteThanks Neil, hopefully it won’t be too long before the paras get some action ?
DeleteFine additions to the Sicily project and especially welcome shots of the lesser known antiquity sights. Look forward to the Pompei shots it was 1977 when we visited on our honeymoon.
ReplyDeleteThanks Phil , Pompei was excellent of course I wonder how much it has changed, certainly they are still excavating more ground ?
DeleteExcellent work on those Paras Matt:). Lovely photos too of the sights, which are very inspiring and the underground structure much larger than I thought it would be.
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve, the below structure of the amphitheatre is indeed spectacular. Interestingly they weren’t all like this for example the Amphitheatre at Pompeii had now underground structure at all.
DeleteNaples looks great. Nice paras
ReplyDeleteThanks Martin ….lots of History and sunshine what’s not to love 👍
DeleteLovely paratroops and great photos of Naples. The thing that disappointed me about the Colosseum was not being able to go into the underground parts, and the one in Naples looks great.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lawrence, I remember not accessing the below ground structures in Rome here in Pozzuoli you get a real sense of the space.
DeleteLovely looking Paras!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michal 👍
DeleteThe paratroopers look great Matt and nice you were able to put them together without breaking the bank!
ReplyDeleteYour pics of the Roman sites are outstanding too, it was obviously a fantastic trip.
Thanks Keith I’m really happy with the paras and hope they get some action soon. Naples was marvellous more history to come 👍
DeleteNice work on the paratroopers Matt…
ReplyDeleteThe holiday snaps are a treat… as always.
All the best. Aly
Thanks Aly more holiday snaps to come 👍
DeleteGreat work on the paratroopers, they look super. Interesting pictures from Naples, some set up at the amphitheatre, very impressive!
ReplyDeleteThanks Donnie 👍
DeleteNice paras but the photos of the Roman ruins take the prize for me.
ReplyDeleteThanks David some spectacular Roman History on show 👍
DeleteMatt, you have returned to the painting desk in full force. Nice to see American paras. Lovely Naples photos too. Surprised you did not time your visit to catch a stage of the Giro.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon……we watched the stage when we were back in England which was probably easier and more fun than a fleeting glimpse on the road ?
DeleteGreat looking Paras Matt. Lovin the holiday pics. The ruins look magnificent.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ray more to come soon
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