In the Danish army they were called “Kampvognsdragt M52” whether they were camouflaged or not. To protect the head a helmet made of leather was issued, called “Stødhjelm M50”. This “helmet” offered little or no protection however and since it really was of a ridicules appearance it was never popular with the crews. In fact when a beret was introduced in 1958 the helmet was not worn much. The suit was heavy and cumbersome and during summers, very worm. It soldiered on till the late 60’es when it was replaced by an all green on piece suit.
The model is made on a wire frame with hands, head and boots from my spare box. The body is made in Magic Sculp and Miliput. The basic figure was sculptured first in Magic Sculp in four or five steps. Then the pockets, the folded front and the sipper guard were made in Milliput. These were made by first rolling it out in thin “sheets” that were latter cut into shape, placed on the model and blended in with the contour of the body. I can’t claim to have succeeded in first go; on the contrary it took several attempts to get all of the pocket, foldings and other details right. The Helmet was made pretty much in the same way.
I spray-painted it with Humbroll 187 and when dried gave it a thin over spray of Humbroll 72. When this had had time to dry completely, I gave it thin washes of Humbroll 72 with increasingly amounts of oil paints in darker and lighter tones. It was then weathered with grease and oil stains and dust. The face was painted with a mixture of Humbrol paints as a base describe by Bill Horan, and then detailed with oil. The helmet was first painted in white gloss and then painted with oil, which I’ve found to be the best way to reproduce leather.
