Proud Kraut Posted November 7, 2015 Share #1 Posted November 7, 2015 Well, most of the yard work is done and I would like to start one more project here. It' s the same theme Dennis wonderfull dio is dealing with. As I've annonced over there I want to build a small vignette with two of MiniArt's 1/35 figure sets. First one is "U.S. 101st Airborne Division Normandy 1944". Two paratroopers caught 3 younger German soldiers (12. SS Panzerdivision Hitlerjugend?). A 101st Abn Div medic takes care of a wounded kid, while the other paratrooper watches two more POWs. Maybe the scene was influenced by this picture? http://www.gettyimages.de/galleries/photographers/walks After assembling the figures they all were painted with black primer. Sections of the skin were made this way: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/132079-painting-face-and-hands-of-a-135-figure/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory Posted November 7, 2015 Share #2 Posted November 7, 2015 Captured SS men? In Normandy? Figure model manufacturers write a new history of WWII and add humanitarian mythology to the Normandy Campaign. Sad but true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Meatcan Posted November 7, 2015 Share #3 Posted November 7, 2015 Good start, Lars. Looking forward to seeing your progress. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garth Thompson Posted November 7, 2015 Share #4 Posted November 7, 2015 Captured SS men? In Normandy? Figure model manufacturers write a new history of WWII and add humanitarian mythology to the Normandy Campaign. Sad but true. There were several waffen SS units that fought in the Normandy campaign. Many were taken prisoner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory Posted November 7, 2015 Share #5 Posted November 7, 2015 SS units were not taken prisoner. Some lucky guys from Waffen SS were taken. Ask international Allied units fighting in the Falaise Gap, for example, how many SS men were taken POW and how many of them "disappeared" somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtyScout Posted November 8, 2015 Share #6 Posted November 8, 2015 Hey Lars, looking forward to seeing your progress on your new vignette. Semper Fi. Manny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share #7 Posted November 8, 2015 Thanks everybody for their feedback and input! A couple of Waffen SS units saw combat in the Normandy campaign, among them 12th and 17th Division. We all know the bitter history of war crimes like massacres of POWs done during the war. I can only imagine that this model kit was influenced by the picture on this site: "An American Medic lights a cigarrette for a wounded Waffen-SS Grenadier captured with others from the 17th SS 'Götz Von Berlichingen' in the area of St Lo." https://www.pinterest.com/pin/328270260312492541/ Please compare the boxart with following picture from Wikipedia. It could have inspired the artist as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffen-SS#/media/File:German_prisoners_SS-Panzerdivision_Totenkopf.jpg Personally I like the idea of modeling this little "human act". Back to the figures: Americans and Germans were painted with a mix of Vallejo sand colors then: After the color has dried, I painted larger dark green, dark brown and pink spots on the German's uniform: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share #8 Posted November 8, 2015 I obviously forgot to mention, that I will paint the German's uniforms as "Erbsentarnmuster" pea pattern camo. I have two booklets on that subject. Enough to get an idea of how many variants of those pattern were in use by the Waffen SS. P.S.:I got to know the author when he was the curator of the 1st Armored Division museum in Baumholder. We met sometimes at military shows over here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share #9 Posted November 9, 2015 Next up I painted dark brown dots with a toothpick on the brighter areas... ...and khaki dots on the darker areas: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted November 9, 2015 Author Share #10 Posted November 9, 2015 Finally I added yellow-green dots randomly: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linedoggie Posted November 9, 2015 Share #11 Posted November 9, 2015 Captured SS men? In Normandy? Figure model manufacturers write a new history of WWII and add humanitarian mythology to the Normandy Campaign. Sad but true. Laughable, since images of the time show Waffen-SS as POW in Normandy. In fact the figurine wearing the early smock is based on an Image of a 12th SS trooper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:German_prisoners_SS-Panzerdivision_Totenkopf.jpg http://www.flickriver.com/photos/41818881@N06/8515999532/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Marine Posted November 10, 2015 Share #12 Posted November 10, 2015 The figures are looking good Lars. I am looking forward to seeing the finished vignette. Mini Art, Master Box, Bronco and the other new figure makers are producing some very nice figure vignettes ready to go, no need for lots and lots of figure bashing and alterations any more. This is a good time to be a model builder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory Posted November 10, 2015 Share #13 Posted November 10, 2015 Laughable, since images of the time show Waffen-SS as POW in Normandy. In fact the figurine wearing the early smock is based on an Image of a 12th SS trooper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:German_prisoners_SS-Panzerdivision_Totenkopf.jpg http://www.flickriver.com/photos/41818881@N06/8515999532/ Yes, Wikipedia - "the best source" of historical information. Read "Other Losses" book -- you will know what the Allies did with the SS and Waffen-SS men during the war and in Allied post-war POW camps being in fact like concentration camps. Check what happened to thousends of Waffen-SS POWs in Chambois region - for example - at the end of Normandy Campaign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted November 10, 2015 Author Share #14 Posted November 10, 2015 Gentlemen, I would like to ask everybody to focus on model making from now on. This USMF's section is NOT the right place to discuss possible bygone war crimes. Last call: Let's return to scale modelling! Thank you very much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory Posted November 10, 2015 Share #15 Posted November 10, 2015 Humanistic message of this diorama is very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strawberry 9 Posted November 11, 2015 Share #16 Posted November 11, 2015 Looking forward to more pics of your progress. Looking great so far. I agree, let's focus on the model! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linedoggie Posted November 11, 2015 Share #17 Posted November 11, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted November 11, 2015 Author Share #18 Posted November 11, 2015 Now the whole gang has received a "washing" with Citadel Earthshade. For me these washings are one of the most important improvements since I quit modeling more than 25 years ago. As you'll notice I have copied the boxart and applied light OD areas on knees and elbows of the paratrooper's uniforms, looks like these are reinforcements? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navybean Posted November 11, 2015 Share #19 Posted November 11, 2015 Yes the patches are reinforcements done on high wear areas, elbows and knees, at the same time they reenforeced the bottom of the jacket pockets and put tie strings in the pants legs over the pockets. Most of the modifications were done just before jump into Normandy Great looking figures, all the Germans are blond? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan H. Posted November 12, 2015 Share #20 Posted November 12, 2015 PK, You are doing an excellent job on these figures so far. Navybean gave you good information where you can enhance the realism on your US paratrooper figured. The sides of the cargo pockets on the pants and the sides on the bottom pockets on the jump jackets should be dark OD canvas just like the knees and elbows. To further the realism- if you are making the paratroopers 82nd Airborne, then the tie down straps on the pants need to be the same color as the reinforced areas of the jacket as the ties were made by folding canvas over and making the straps that way. If the paratroopers are 101st A/B then the tie down straps should be a light OD to tan color. To go a step further, the strap holding the trench knife at the paratrooper's calf should be white web. These straps were taken from the cots used in England prior to the jump. I think you are doing a great job. I have talked to hundreds of WWII paratrooper veterans who were at Normandy over the last 38 plus years that I have specialized in WWII airborne. When you talk to them about the SS, they usually tell you that they took them prisoner at first, but the more they fought against them and the more atrocities that they saw attributed to the SS, the less likely they were to take them alive. One trooper told me that they had a guy who was the unofficial POW escort for their unit. He would leave with any POWs in tow and shoot them for "trying to escape" once they were out of sight. The guy told me that one time they caught a high ranking SS officer (your guess at the actual rank is as good as mine) and their lieutenant wouldn't let the usual POW escort take him to the rear which made the escort really unhappy. The escort kept hollering that it was "his job" and the LT kept telling the escort no, saying that this one had to get back to the rear for interrogation, so someone else had to take the officer back to the rear. I just thought it was a pretty vivid story about how they treated POWs. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsweeney Posted November 12, 2015 Share #21 Posted November 12, 2015 Lars looking good waiting for the finished diorama Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted November 13, 2015 Author Share #22 Posted November 13, 2015 Thank you all for your kind words! @Navybean: No, they are not . Hair, eyes etc. are still unpainted. @Allan: Thanks for the additional infos regarding the US uniforms, especially the straps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Proud Kraut Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share #23 Posted December 13, 2015 Finally some time for modeling again. This question might sound silly for all Airborne specialists but I wonder how many chinstraps a correct Airborne helmet would have. If you google Airborne helmet you'll find a lot of pics of helmets with only one web chinstrap and several more with a second leather chinstrap. This is what I'm talking about: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garandomatic Posted December 13, 2015 Share #24 Posted December 13, 2015 I think most of them would put the cotton strap around back of the helmet, the thin leather one up front, and let the airborne chin cup dangle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan H. Posted December 14, 2015 Share #25 Posted December 14, 2015 Actually, the SOP was for the soldier to tuck the A straps up underneath the webbing of the helmet and to secure the yokes with the chin cup. They were then supposed to use the helmet strap as intended. Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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