lmf-010-painting-guide
LMF-010 — Dinamitero
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Overview
This figure represents a dinamitero — a dynamite-thrower — of the Columna Durruti, the anarchist militia column that marched out of Barcelona for the Aragón front in the war's first weeks. Improvised cartridge bandoliers worn crossed over the chest, a loop for a hand grenade, and army-issue trousers pulled from requisitioned stores stand in for the standardised kit this militia simply didn't have yet.
Historical Context
The Columna Durruti formed in Barcelona on 24 July 1936, days after the military uprising was put down in the city, and set out for the Aragón front under the anarchist leader Buenaventura Durruti. It was militia in the truest sense — organised by the CNT-FAI trade unions rather than the army, built around loosely federated centurias of roughly a hundred men each, initially numbering in the low thousands and growing through the autumn. Its push toward Zaragoza stalled short of the city, and the column spent the rest of 1936 dug in along that front before being called to help defend Madrid in November, where Durruti was killed.
Dynamite had a real, specific place in that column, carried by men who actually knew how to use it: several of its guerrilla groups were formed from Catalan miners out of Figols (Berguedà) and Sallent (Bages), organised into their own dynamitero centurias under commanders such as Antonio Arisó Llesta. These were men whose day job before the war was blasting rock, turned to blasting Nationalist positions and armour instead.
A word on the "Asturian dynamiter" image, since it's a common one: it's genuinely rooted in history, but not in this column. That reputation comes from the Asturian miners' uprising of October 1934, where dynamite became their signature weapon against the army and Civil Guard, and Asturian dynamiter units did fight elsewhere in the Civil War. The dynamiteros specifically documented within the Columna Durruti, however, were Catalan miners from Figols and Sallent — which is the grouping this figure represents. (A widely shared photo captioned as "Durruti Column dynamiters" is also frequently misattributed — it actually shows dynamiters of the unrelated Columna Ortiz at Utrillas.)
Sourced from Wikipedia: Durruti Column and El Salto Diario: "Las columnas anarquistas y sus grupos guerrilleros durante la guerra civil".
Clothing & Equipment
Gorra (cap): a plain peaked side cap in olive-khaki, worn with a small badge at the front in the CNT-FAI's own red-and-black anarchist colours — a miner's or mining-union emblem rather than an army insignia. Militia columns in 1936 wore whatever headgear members brought from civilian life or picked up along the way, with no single regulation pattern.
Pañuelo (neckerchief): worn red (a warm, slightly rust-toned red on our sculpt) at the throat. The CNT-FAI's own colours were red-and-black (red for the union, black for anarchism), and split red/black neckerchiefs are the most iconic version of this look — but plain red, as shown here, was also common and simply came down to what was available.
Camisa (shirt): civilian clothing worn underneath the harness, in contrast to the military-issue trousers below. No historical standard fixes its colour — paint it any colour you like.
Bandoleras improvisadas (improvised bandoliers): two crossed bandoliers worn over the chest, holding rifle cartridges, with a separate cord to carry a hand grenade. These were sewn from plain cloth rather than manufactured webbing, so colour varied with whatever fabric was on hand — light/pale or khaki are both good choices, with brown leather trim and buckles.
Cinturón y cartucheras (belt and pouches): a separate waist belt with pouches for spare Lafitte grenades rather than more cartridges — the chest carries the rifle ammunition, the belt carries the dynamitero's real speciality. Sewn from the same kind of plain cloth as the bandoliers — light/pale or khaki, painter's choice, ideally matching them.
Pantalón (trousers): loose, grenadier-cut trousers in olive-green, gathered at the calf — genuine army stock pulled from requisitioned stores, in deliberate contrast to the civilian shirt above. Mismatched military and civilian clothing is exactly the improvisation this figure represents.
Alpargatas: rope-soled canvas sandals, cream canvas with a black toe/heel trim, the standard militia footwear across this series.
Granada Lafitte (grenade): a Sistema Lafitte grenade, the most widely produced and used hand grenade of the war on both sides. Adopted by Spain in 1921 (adapted from the French pétard Thévenot of WWI), it was a small cylindrical offensive grenade — no fragmentation casing, so it wouldn't wound its own thrower at close range — weighing around 415g, roughly half of that the explosive charge itself. Carried here on a cord rather than in a proper pouch, in keeping with the militia's improvised kit.
Built from Linden Models' own reference photography and approved sculpt; some details may be refined once final box art is confirmed.
Colours Overview
| Area | Colour target | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cap | Olive khaki | Badge in red-and-black CNT-FAI colours — miner's/mining-union emblem |
| Neckerchief | Rust red | Split red/black is the more iconic CNT-FAI version if you'd rather paint that instead |
| Shirt | Any colour — painter's choice | Civilian clothing, no fixed historical colour — contrast it with the military trousers |
| Bandoliers (cloth) | Light/pale or khaki — painter's choice | Hold rifle cartridges; sewn from plain cloth, not manufactured webbing, so colour varied; trimmed and buckled in brown leather |
| Bandoliers (leather trim) | Brown leather | Straps and buckles |
| Belt & pouches | Light/pale or khaki — painter's choice | Pouches carry spare Lafitte grenades, not cartridges; same plain-cloth construction as the bandoliers |
| Trousers | Olive green | Grenadier-cut, gathered at the calf — army stock, not civilian trousers |
| Alpargatas | Cream canvas | Black toe/heel trim, rope sole |
| Grenade | Tan / olive body | Sistema Lafitte grenade, carried on a cord instead of a pouch |
Colour names are generic mixing targets, not brand-specific codes. Swap in your preferred paint range (Vallejo, AK Interactive, Scale75, etc.).
Glossary
Dinamitero: a dynamite-thrower — in this column, most often a miner by trade, using explosives brought from civilian work in the mines.
Columna: a militia column — a self-organised fighting formation of the war's first months, built by trade unions or political parties rather than the regular army.
CNT-FAI: the anarcho-syndicalist trade union (CNT) and its allied anarchist federation (FAI), which organised the Columna Durruti and much of the Republic's militia in Catalonia.
Centuria: the column's basic sub-unit, roughly a hundred men, the militia equivalent of a company.
This glossary is shared across the Linden Models Spanish Civil War series. Terms already defined on other guide pages are not repeated here.
Historical References
This figure is a composite type representing the Columna Durruti's Catalan dynamitero groups rather than a portrait of a named individual. Note that a well-known photograph often captioned as "Durruti Column dynamiters" is a misattribution — it actually shows dynamiters of the Columna Ortiz at Utrillas, a different column entirely.
Sourced from Wikipedia: Durruti Column and El Salto Diario: "Las columnas anarquistas y sus grupos guerrilleros durante la guerra civil". Grenade identification (Sistema Lafitte) sourced from Virtual Spanish Civil War: Lafitte grenade.
Recommended Reading
- Durruti in the Spanish Revolution — Abel Paz
- The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 — Antony Beevor
- The Spanish Civil War: Reaction, Revolution, and Revenge — Paul Preston
Links carry the lindenmodels-20 Amazon Associates tag. Abel Paz's biography of Durruti was written by a man who served in the column himself at fifteen years old.
Downloads
A print-ready PDF of this guide — handy to keep next to your paints while you work.