In their quest to produce as varied a range of modern Italian soldiers as possible, Atlantic not only produced sailors but also made this set of divers. The actual English title of this set is 'Submerges Men', but whatever it is called it is a particularly unusual subject, not to mention one that presents some unique problems for the designers.

Generally these figures are pretty accurate, although the cylinders, while the right size, are too high on the back. They are using twin hose demand valves, which were common usage from the late 1940s to the early 1970s. Some of the masks have a problem though, with the air pipes joining and entering the mask under the chin rather than from both cheeks. The equipment too is reasonable, with the spear guns and bolt cutters having non-military uses, and the apparent propulsion unit could perhaps be converted into a camera housing. Add the possibility of converting these divers to use single hose demand valves and the period covered by this set could be extended even more.

Four of the seven poses are simply swimming underwater, and are engaged in activities such as net cutting and firing some sort of gun or harpoon. Since they are suspended in the water, this has been achieved by providing 'bases' which are clumps of vegetation that peg into the chest of the men. The resulting effect can be seen here, and it is not too bad. Under the circumstances it is probably about the best that could be done. However the fit between the man and the base is not always particularly secure.

Complementing the divers is one sitting on the side of a dinghy. The dinghy comes in two halves which fit together well and makes a reasonable model.

Finally there are two men riding what seems to be either a mini-sub or a motor torpedo. They do not grip the machine like cavalrymen, so they must be glued on. The torpedo comes in two halves, which again fit well, and the base is moulded with the bottom half.

As always, the figures are rather too thin and do suffer from both flash and mould marks. However the poses are quite attractive, and the inclusion of the dinghy and torpedo assemblies adds a lot to what might otherwise be a very dull group.

The Italians certainly made considerable use of divers during World War II, attacking British shipping in the Mediterranean and particularly at Gibraltar. No doubt this expertise was also a feature of the later Italian army, though the possible uses for this set must be pretty limited for many people.