(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

(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. 

(WIP 3) Rolf Steiner, Cross of Iron, Alexandros Models

Various attempts to get the eyes right :) Notice the variation in the sizes of the pupils. Too big and they are staring. Lopsided pupils are just out of place. There's no easy way to painting eyes. Practise makes perfect.

 

(WIP 2) Rolf Steiner, Cross of Iron, Alexandros Models

Calling the face done for now. Placed the head back on the bust for some checks. Seems like the eyes are a little off ... will fix that another time :) Time to move onto other parts of the bust.

[Update]

Managed to find some time to work on the feldbluse over the weekend. Pity much of it will be covered when the PPsH is attached.



I was asked on Planetfigure on how the color of the Feldbluse was achieved and also how was the stubble painted. Here is my sharing :)

Stubble / 5'o clock shadow

With regards to the beard stubble, I used Jo Sonja's Hooker's Green & Burnt Sienna.I don't really keep track of the proportions since I "eyeball" the colors till I find its to my liking. By doing so, you will be able to get a variation of colors since the proportions tend to be different. For this bust, I wanted the stubble to stand out more, so only a little water was added to mix the 2 colors. You can use a tiny bit of retarder in lieu of water. 

The key is a brush with a sharp point. I don't think the type of hair on the brush matters. I was using a cheap synthetic brush to individually "dot" the stubbles. It was a size 2 brush since it can hold more paint. Multiple passes are required to build up the stubble. I work from top down to the chin, then chin back up to above the lip.

Field Grey for Feldbluse

As shared in my response to SG's query on the stubble, I don't have a fixed proportion to the colors used as I eyeball the colors will I am satisfied. Having said that, I can share how I arrived at the field grey. Its like cooking or alchemy :)

I started out by mixing Jo Sonja French Blue and Olive Green. The result is a rather dull looking mixture but still lacking the darker shades for field grey. To that, I added just a little Prussian Blue to darken it. (Ultramarine blue would be too bright). If you added too much Prussian Blue, add a little Olive Green to push it back towards green. You should be getting a dark blue-greenish mix. Finally add some Cad Orange to "kill"/dull the green to a slightly greyish color.

Hope my layman explanation helps. It's about trial and error. Overtime, you will develop a knack to "see" the colors :)

(WIP 1) Rolf Steiner, Cross of Iron, Alexandros Models

Kickstarting a new project based on the main character from the 1977 war flick, Cross of Iron, by Sam Peckinpah. Starring James Coburn as Cpl Rolf Steiner, the movie is set in the Eastern front during the Battle of the Caucasus of late 1943.

The bust is a masterful sculpt by Korean sculptor, Eborin, for Alexandros Models. Casting is sharp  and without no air bubbles. Assembly is straight forward with minimal clean up.

Started off with the head, highlights and shadows were quickly marked to block out the working areas. The 2nd image shows the result after an hour of mucking around.

The base colour from the Max Wunsche project was reused. To that Jo Sonja plum pink, burnt sienna and burnt umber was added to create the shadows as I wanted to try a different approach to create the face. Trying to add more "life" to the bust :)

[Update]

Quite satisfied with the skin stone after 2 sessions in the evenings. The facial hair will follow shortly before rounding up with painting of the eyes :)