(WIP 4) Alpine German Fallschirmjager "Unternehmen Merkur"

"Planting" the grass for basework :)

 

(WIP 3) Alpine German Fallschirmjager "Unternehmen Merkur"

More WIP shots :)

Progressed to the trousers. Do note the 1941 model of the Fallschirmjager jump trousers has more green in the fabric compared to the slightly darker 1943 model which has more grey in it.

The base color of grey-green was also applied to the helmet.Will be picking out the details on the helmet and boots next. It's also time to plan out the basework :)

 

 

(WIP 2) Alpine German Fallschirmjager "Unternehmen Merkur"

Here's the completed jump smock for now. I may fiddle with it towards the end when reviewing the paintjob.

I was asked on Planefigure what colors was used for the jumpsmock. As I "eyeball" the colors and don't have a fixed formula, here are the Jo Sonja colors used.

Base: Olive Green, Yellow Orche
Shadows: Burnt Sienna, Prussian Blue
Highlights: Yellow Naples Hue

Since the terrain in Crete during the campaign was dry and arid, I wanted the jump smock to have a slight yellow bias while maintaining a strong green tone. Hope I am making sense :)

 

(WIP 1) Alpine German Fallschirmjager "Unternehmen Merkur"

Back on this project after a long hiatus.

This is a 1/16 scale figure of  a German Fallschirmjager during the Crete Campaign. Spotting an oliver green "bonesack" jump smock, this figure will be a nice change painting camouflage :)

(Completed) Rolf Steiner, Cross of Iron, Alexandros Models

Finally found some time to complete this excellent bust of Rolf Steiner portrayed by James Coburn. I was deliberating on weathering the camouflage jacket but decided to hold back for now. Perhaps when I have mustered enough courage.

The camouflage jacket had me frustrated during the course of the project. Despite having references, I felt the camouflage could be improved. Highlighting and shading of the camouflage pattern also tested my patience. 

Attaching the sling to the PPsH was challenging as the sling needs to angle quite a fair bit. To increase the range of movement, a small loop was fashioned from fine wire and the sling was attached to it . This was followed by drilling a hole through the "sling loop" on the barrel and finally attaching the sling to the weapon. This is a delicate "operation" and must urge patience and care. A slip would be disastrous, resulting in the breakage and untold heartache.

Loop for ease of attaching sling to PPsH

The rest of the bust is rather straight forward to assemble and paint. 

Here are the photos of the completed bust. To follow the project from start till completion check out the following link: Rolf Steiner (WIP)

[27 Mar 14]: Armorama ran a build / paint feature for this project at the following link : Rolf Steiner : Cross of Iron feature

William "Wild Bill" Guarnere ( 28 Apr 1923 - 8 Mar 2014)

My simple tribute to veterans who gave all they had.

A member of Easy Company from the 506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division. Wild Bill took on everything thrown at him from D-Day till the Battle of the Bulge of '45.

This is his final jump.

Currahee.

(WIP 4) Rolf Steiner, Cross of Iron, Alexandros Models

Finally found some time to work the splittercamo on his Jacket. 

There's a difference between the Splittermuster used by the Heer and the Luftwaffe. Patterns for the Heer are larger while the Luftwaffe went with a more complex pattern consisting of smaller islands.