The tall hat, blue coat and white trousers make this Martinique guardsman a striking departure from European battlefield infantry. The photographed Black figure brings colonial society into a catalog that could otherwise make the Napoleonic era appear exclusively European.
The blue coat and red trousers challenge the usual visual shorthand for a Foreign Legion soldier. This Del Prado figure belongs to 1914 and offers a useful introduction to the Legion’s wartime volunteers in France.
The relaxed expression and slung rifle make this fusilier feel like a man photographed during a pause. His Normandy subject belongs to the campaign inland, not automatically to the first wave on a landing beach.
The long blue coat, covered helmet and carried rifle make this corporal recognisably different from Del Prado’s French 1914 subjects. The figure is a compact study of the appearance associated with Verdun and the middle years of the war.
This helmeted Royal Marine takes a commando collection to Sicily in July 1943. The ordinary working clothes are a reminder that an elite role did not require a theatrical pose or a green beret in every situation.
The khaki cap and service dress replace the ceremonial image many readers associate with the Guards. Del Prado’s lieutenant shows an officer equipped for field service, with observation and personal equipment shaping the pose.
A wide-brimmed hat, khaki shorts and compact automatic weapon give this Gurkha corporal a distinctive tropical-service outline. The date places him in the campaign against Japan, well before the later Malayan Emergency.
The feathered hat and walking staff make this Italian soldier instantly different from the desert subjects. The Alpini sergeant brings mountain service, movement and terrain into the Del Prado collection.
The binoculars are in her hands while the rifle remains slung. Del Prado’s female sniper therefore shows a stage of the job that a firing pose would miss: looking, judging and waiting.
A steel helmet and grenade-laden equipment identify a different phase of the First World War from the marching Pickelhaube figures. This stormtrooper subject makes the development of specialised assault methods visible in one standing miniature.
