"Painting US Airborne at Market Garden" Topic

My next Flames of War "army" is hoping to be forces for Market Garden. I am going to do British armour and Yank paratroops. I like the Plastic Soldier tanks and picked up some Old Glory CD US Airborne figures.

I realize that the paratrooper uniform has done differences from regular army uniforms. Any good guides out there for painting?

You mean like SHQ painting guide no. 9?

I don't know. What's that?

Winston……
link

Artisan also have a guide….
Bc1745

Artizan
link

It's nice to have some of those bottles sitting on my shelf.

Flames of War also has one:
link

And for shoulderpatches (yes, for 15mm figures ;-)) see auction

Mustang Systems incidentally is a US seller, but I have only links for ebay.co.uk.

So…..
Are the Old Glory figures in the M1942 or M1943 uniforms, or does it make a difference in 15mm?

My compliments on referring to Americans correctly as paratroopers. British Airborne are correctly called paras.

One thing to be a bit careful of is that I believe the US Airborne units at Market Garden wore different uniforms to the ones they wore in Normandy. They'd dumped the tan uniforms and were in OD.

I also think the glider infantry just wore normal infantry uniforms.

US paras aren't my speciality though, and all my US stuff is 6mm, so it doesn't really matter what colour I paint them.

I also thin kthe lgider infantyr just wore normal uinfantry uniforms.

The 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions were almost entirely re-equipped with the OD M1943 uniform just prior to operation "Market Garden". This also applies to the glider troops (the M1943 was the new standard for all troops).

Couple of other points: The paratroopers had cargo pockets added to their pants to increase their carrying capacity. And the classic helmet netting from D-Day was pretty much worn out and not replaced (although some units used the British helmet netting).

For webbing, the paratroopers were still using the khaki M1936 pattern (which gets replaced by the green M1944 pattern late in 1944).

Hope this helps.

YouTube link

short but useful video IMHO
And perhaps the right colours for the market garden us paratroopers

The video offered by Kungfucius is good for a basic M43 American uniform. This was the basic uniform adopted by all American troops/infantry (including airborne) by the time of Market Garden, but as stated the paratroopers did have reinforced pockets added in he same style as their M42 jump pants (this later became standard in the M50 trousers worn in Korea). It also technically included the new buckle boots that the paratroopers hated because first they were proud of the distinction of their jump boots and second because the buckles presented a danger to snagging shroud lines when making a jump. However, many paratroopers still retained their M42s and many still wore their jump boots.

The M43 was a darker green than the earlier HBTs that one often saw in the Pacific, or as worn by American Rangers. However, the M43s also faded to a very gray-green shade after being worn in the field. Another key point for Market garden over the Normandy jump was that both the 82nd and the 101st wore American flag shoulder insignia, although now of the arm band oil cloth type held by two safety pins. Even though it was an arm band, many either cut out just the flag and stitched it on, or folded he arm band and stitched it on.

In my collection I had an M42 uniform that was worn by an officer in the S2 of the 502nd at Bastogne when he was wounded, still having the blood stain on his right sleeve which says they still wore the earlier jackets/uniform even as late as Bastogne.

Terry

Terry37 covers it well, but I will point out that the airborne divisions were among the first to change over to the M43 uniform. Some infantry divisions were still wearing the older uniforms right up to the end of the war, though it becomes less and less common after Market-Garden.