British paratroopers wore the Denison smock .A long front fastening waterproof jacket .The jacket was made in camouflage colours of green, yellow and brown .The battledress trousers were dark olive green .Boots were black leather .Headgear was a green steel helmet with netting to add camouflage scrim and Hessian  or a maroon beret .Webbing and anklet’s were a khaki drab .Weapons included the 9mm sten ,.303 rifle and the patchett smg .

Painting British paratroopers can be time consuming but worth the effort .This is how I painted mine.

Start with a white undercoat .Next stage ,Paint the jacket dark green (Vallejo Luftwaffe green 823) .Paint the Trousers brown (Vallejo English uniform 921) .Paint the webbing and anklet’s  Khaki (Vallejo khaki 988) .Shoes black (foundry black 34a) ,helmet dark green (foundry phlegm green 28a) ,gun stocks brown (Vallejo mahogany brown 846) and finally mix black and silver together to make a metallic black and paint the gun metal .

Leave the paint to harden for 30 mins .Then using a black wash  ,wash the figures and leave to dry .

We now need to create the 3 tone jacket .Add to the dark green jacket patches of  mucky yellow and brown .For the yellow I used (Vallejo Japan uniform 923) and the brown (Vallejo flat earth 983) All 3 colours need to be of a similar size and randomly shaped .Now highlight the 3 tones with a lighter shade of the colours you’ve just used .The best way is to mix each colour with a bit of buff (Vallejo buff 976) .Dab the highlights into the centre of each colour leaving the original colour round the edges .

To highlight  the trousers ,I mixed brown (Vallejo English uniform 921)with green (Vallejo usa uniform 922) .Mix the 2 colours until you get a dark brown/green that’s slightly lighter then the brown on it’s own .

The helmet was gently highlighted with a mid green (foundry phlegm green 28b or 28c) .The cloth strands on the helmet are painted separately in either light green or maroon to give a 2 tone cammo effect .

The webbing and anklet’s are highlighted in a light drab (foundry drab light 12c) .

Other items such as the rifle stock and shoes are highlighted in just a lighter shade of that colour.

For all the flesh ,I used the 3 pots of foundry flesh 5a, b and c. 

If your comfortable painting small detail on 20mm figures ,you can add more detail like the brass ends to the rifle stocks or the brown leather straps on the anklet’s .

                                                                    Making the Base for a d-day diorama

One of the main features is the flooded field .I wanted to create a look of depth .So I layered the water with bits of foliage .The water I used comes in a bottle called ‘realistic water’ and can be bought from model/railway shops .It dries quite quickly .After a layer of water I added a light sprinkling of crushed mint (bought from a herbal shop). I did this a couple of times ,allowing to dry in between each one .After a couple of layers ,I added the drop canisters ,cows  and a few dead soldiers (there are actually 5 in the diorama) to the water .I then added a few more layers of water and foliage .I then left the diorama for a week to dry properly .

The next stage is to add the painted figures .Arrange them first to see how they look .Once happy glue the figures to the base .Now add the final layer of earth to the diorama .I wanted it to look a little wet and muddy .The texture was made by mixing baking soda ,dark brown paint and a small amount of pva glue and water .Add it using a small flat head screw driver .Be careful not to get any on the figures ,if you do ,wash  area quickly with a small wet brush .When the texture is dry ,lightly dry brush in a The main base is made out of  mdf wood .The height of the embankment was achieved by layering shaped mdf onto the main base .Because I wanted a waterlogged field ,it was necessary to seal and waterproof the base .Bathroom sealant was spread round the edges of the base and round the edges of the raised areas .I then glued ,using pva ,some silver foil over the lower areas of the base .Sides were added and sealed on the inside .

Once the first stage was dry ,the whole base was covered in pva glue and fine sand sprinkled on top .When dry it was painted dark brown and dry brushed light brown .

Use a small drill and make evenly spaced holes along the top of the embankment .This is for the wooden posts to the wire fence .Drill a bigger hole for the tree to sit in .Add the fence posts .I made them out of matchsticks trimmed with a knife .Then add  thin fuse wire ,joining all the fence posts together .Paint the posts brown and give the wire a copper wash to make it look rusty.

Making trees is quite simple .I used a small twig from the garden ,glued rubberised horse hair on to it ,cover the rrh in pva glue and add green flock .Slide the tree into the hole on the embankment .The hedges were made the same way and stuck to the base ,leaving gaps for the tree and fencing to show through .

Small stones were added to the middle of the road areas along with small tufts of long grass .Tufts of grass were also added randomly all over the base .These were made out of matting and dried flowers .

light reddish brown .I used foundry terracotta light 37c .Add small clumps of static grass to the textured earth using watered down Pva glue .

The parachutes were made out of tissue paper soaked in pva glue .While damp they were hung over the branches and shaped to hang .Once dry I painted them a mid red and given a copper wash (red was the colour designated for ammunition drops) .Cotton was added to create the hanging cords .

Finally I made the sign post and small wooden fence .Both were made out of matchsticks ,just cut and trimmed to size then painted brown .The signs themselves are from ab figures ,backed on to card ,cut out and glued to the post .I painted on the rust patches using the same copper wash as for the wire fence rust .