Karl really enjoyed thisso far,re the shading on the cammo,I just read an article on cammo painting by Mark Bannerman and he uses Smoke for shading as its a transparent paint it doesnt cover the detail.

John- I'm glad your enjoying the build, thanks for taking the time to have a look and comment! As for Smoke for shadows- I've used Tamiya Smoke before on groundwork and it was quite good. I've never tried it on figures, I must give it a go.

Some progress:









As soon as I put this figure on the base with the head at a new angle I realised just how much the look ties him to the Kubelwagen and body beneath him. I'm much happier with the way it looks now. Thanks to you guys for your help with this!

Progress on the soldier's body is slow. At the beginning of this thread Mauro talked about compassion regarding SS and Wehrmacht soldiers. This put the idea in my head that I should depict the body as a Wehrmacht soldier.



I decided to have him with a Great Coat over an M43 uniform and so far I've been working on the shape of the uniform. I've got as far as doing the pockets on his left side and adding an Iron Cross and Tank Badge (I will be giving him a Knights Cross around the neck at some point aswell). This is still early days as far as the figure goes- there is still a lot to do. The unshaped bit around his lower part is the area where he will meet the base and I'm letting that dry before carving it to an appropriate shape.

As always, thanks for reading/viewing.

-Karl187-

Oak Leaf Pattern (Spring):



So this turned out to be an interesting but difficult camo to re-prodruce in 1/35 scale. I started by painting large areas of the two green colors, German Camouflage Dark Green and Luftwaffe Camouflage Green:





Just after this I added some smaller areas of German Camouflage Black Brown.

Then I started applying the lighter green color, Intermediate Green, and from there on out it was difficult to try and get the correct shape. Since this was my first time painting this particular pattern it was a bit of trial and error. Originally I had way too much of the lighter green and then I scaled that back by adding in more of the other colors. That kind of altered the pattern again and so it was back to the lighter green again. Eventually I began to put in single areas of the dark brown, dark green and luftwaffe green colors on the lighter green areas.





After taking these photos I can see one or two areas which need slight alteration. I think the main problem right now is that the scheme is very stark. I think once I began to shadow and highlight (and fade) it will look better.

I have some more work done on the base. I'm getting the Kubelwagen ready for its field camo to be applied.

Thanks for reading/viewing.

-Karl187-

Apologies for being so long in updating this. I have been playing about with my new Airbrush, Badger's recently released Renegade Krome:



It's a real piece of work, comfortable and very quick to get results from. Hopefully a full review of it should be avaliable soon here on armorama.

At the moment I'm also modelling a Panzer IV and it is at the painting stage. I'm using a German three-tone (yellow, green and red-brown) scheme on it, so I thought I'd go ahead and do the Kubelwagen at the same time. The Kubel scheme is taken from a Tamiya painting instruction sheet I found online.

Prior to the red brown and green being added (Tamiya Red Brown and Flat Green) I had given the Kubel a slightly modulated finish, simply slightly darker and lighter tones added in various areas. Since the Kubel piece is so small I didn't spend too long on it- a good portion would end up being covered in red brown or green paint anyway.









I'm just doing the rope on the rear, the tyres and the canvas cover at the moment, some paint is already on these parts as you can see.

Sculpting on the soldier's body continues but its a slow-process taken up mostly with letting the Magic Sculp dry- actual sculpting time is about an hour each time I do it, then a full day waiting until it hardens properly.





I haven't been too conerned about folds and/or creases just yet because most of the torso and hence the uniform will be covered by a Great Coat/Trench Coat.

Work also continues on both figures. The soldier with the KAR-98K has been given shadows- I added these to the camouflage areas using first of all a filter consisting of Chocolate Brown. This is thinned so much it is barely visible on the first application and it takes about three passes to notice any difference. The good thing is that the acrylics dry very fast so by the time you've done one bit another bit is dry and ready for another pass.

Once the Chocolate Brown was done I decided to go darker with German Camouflage Black Brown. Again this was thinned to filter like consistencies and applied to the darkest areas/deepest creases/folds etc. I built this up in two layers and I may add a third later depending on how the highlighting goes.

The face has been shadowed using the Andrea Flesh Painting set. The only part still to do on this figure is the inner white portion of the parka that is showing.









The other figure is being shadowed in some areas using Glaze Medium and this takes a lot longer to dry. Once its down I'll get the pics up.

Thanks for reading/viewing.

-Karl187-

This is coming along very nicely.. with the figures and everything. And the guy looking down does make it look better.. glad that worked out!

Keep up the great work

Hisham

Great updates here!

Camo look perfect


cheers

Wow...Karl, I can't praise this piece enough!! It's amazing how much of a difference just tilting the STG-44 soldier's head down a few degrees made to the overall look, feel, and story of the dio. And Mauro is right...so many of us can model vehicles just fine, but we struggle with painting figures. There's a particular essence to figure-painting and I just haven't ever been able to capture it. Hopefully I'll get some help from your tutorial, though I'll be following this build closely!

Hisham- Thanks for the support mate!

Mauro- Much appreciated as always! I must say I am much happier with the Oak Leaf camo after a bit of shadowing.

Robby- Thanks for checking in to see the updates! As you and Mauro have both said- it really has made a difference altering the STG soldier's head to look down. I didn't think the difference would be all that great but when I put it on the base it really tied it all together nicely! Again- thanks to you guys for suggesting this and encouraging me to do it !

More updates:

As I said earlier I was working on the shadowing of the soldier carrying the STG-44. Instead of simply using water and acrylic I was using Vallejo Glaze Medium. I like this stuff because it extends the drying time of acrylics extensively and allows the paint to easily flow into areas of shadow. Unfortunately the drying time is rather long and there is a long wait (about half a day usually) for the medium to fully dry.







Field Grey is always one of my favourite colors to add shadows to. For this particular piece of clothing, a winter Parka, I wanted a dirty and worn look. Much of the 'worn' look will be added with highlights but much of the 'dirt' can be added with shadows. I started with a light shadow color of Olive Drab and applied this to the entire coat- the glaze medium settles in quantity in the folds (although it does not entirely obscure the base color) but will act like a filter on the higher points giving a very subtle color change.

Next up was a more targeted run of Chocolate Brown. This was flowed into all the creases and crevices of the parka. Finally I used German Camouflage Black Brown to pick out the deepest creases and areas of shadow.

Cholcate Brown and then Camouflage Black Brown was also used on the webbing straps and the fur lining of the hood on the parka. The STG-44 ammunition pouches received a coat of Olive Drab before Camouflage Black Brown was also added.

The trousers were weathered differently because they are camouflage. I used Chocolate Brown with water, thinned heavily to a filter-like consistency and applied three times before two applications of a similar consistency of Camouflage Black Brown.

The fur puttees (the things around the boots- I think they are called puttees) were shadowed using Glaze Medium first with Black Grey and then a little Flat Black. The boots were given a shadow coat with Flat Black.

The face has been shadowed using the Andrea Flesh Paint Set.

As you can see the helmet has been whitewashed and then chipped using the Hairspray method:



This is a close-up to show some of the chipping and one of the Aber helmet decals for SS troops. These are pretty good decals- strong and easy to use- as good quality as those from Archer. The only downside is the backing film which is big but easily sorted with some Micro Set and Sol.

Now, the base!

This is still a very long way from completion. Weathering scenery like this is something I really enjoy because lots of different finished and weathering techniques and products can be used- that is once the painting is sorted!











The Kubelwagen was completed after I painted the top cover, sprayed the numberplate (decals will be added later) and painted the rope and exhausts.
Olive Drab will serve as a base color for the water the car is sinking down into.

The bricks were picked out with all sorts of colors from reds to bright oranges to some Tamiya Clear Orange. The cemet in between them was added by giving them a wash of a greyish buff oil paint.

The stones on the edge of walkway are London Grey and a wash of Azure Grey and Glaze Medium gave them a bit of fading.

The cobbles are various grey colors, some Field Grey and some stone (dark buff) colors added via drybrushing.

The bollard and hand-rail was undercoated using Red Brown and Dark Rust before using Hairspray and adding Andrea Shiny Black (it gives a texture like the all weather paint used to paint iron bollards) before that was liberally chipped off. Its hard to see the rust colors right now but further stages of weathering will bring them out.

Next I'm going to add a filter to the Kubel before chipping and other weathering stages.

I'm working on the figures too- adding highlights and finishing off the faces.

As always- thanks for reading/viewing.

-Karl187-

The figure looks really good Karl. The shadow effect is good. I've used Games workshop/citadel washed to get the a similar (Though not as good ) result

great work, Karl.

wow awesome stuff Karl

Roman, Dylan- thanks a lot guys!

Pat- cheers mate. I must look out for the Citadel stuff, I didn't know they did a wash medium. Tell me, do they still do the inks?

Guys- I need a bit of help here. I want to put part of a line of graffiti on the wall in the dio. The artwork on the Darius Miniatures box has some graffiti and it looks good- I want the line to read 'All Are Punished' in German. However I don't speak German and I don't trust the internet translation tools so could anyone give me a hand in translating it correctly? Thanks in advance. (I'll explain about the meaning of the line in regards to this dio whenever I get it done.)

Really nice work, I love the figures and the weathering!! Looking forward to the end product!!!
I am sorry I can’t help with the graffiti!

Regards,

Vladimir- don't worry about the graffiti- a couple of German modellers on the forum have helped me with that. Thanks for checking out the build, glad you like it.

So, as I said, the graffiti I wanted to add was the phrase 'All Are Punished', which is spoken by Prince at the end of of the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet, in German.

Hans Hermann (HermannB), Soeren (Gorizont) and Dennis (DKDent) all helped me out immensely with the appropriate German translation for this phrase. My thanks to them.

The phrase was to apply to the German people as a whole (the phrase could have been written several ways, each with a slightly different meaning depending on what letters were used) so the phrase in German is 'Alle Sind Gestraft'. DKDent nailed it on the head when he pinpointed my intention that the phrase would encompass the guilt of Germany for their actions during the war.

I'm currently reading Ian Kershaw's new book, 'The End: Hitler's Germany 1944-45', which talks a lot about why Germans kept on fighting despite the un-winnable situation they faced. Some of it talks about guilt and the idea that the allies, especially the Russians, were going to punish the Germans as they advanced. Its a period in history I'm particularly fascinated with (hence the setting of this vignette) and I highly recommend the book.

Also- I don't mean to start some historical debate- I'm simply explaining the inspiration behind various aspects of this piece of work, hopefully helping people to understand and appreciate it all the more.











As you can see the graffiti has been added (over a coat of hairspray so some of it could be worn down) and the Kubelwagen has also been worked on. This was given a filter of dark grey using humbrol enamel and thinner, applied in three coats. Then some rusting chips were added (more work on them will happen later) using a bit of sponge and a small pointed brush. German Camouflage Black Brown and Dark Rust were used to add these. Lighter colors of green, red brown and dark yellow were then drybrushed to give a worn look.

Next up is sealing the Kubel, adding decals and getting more weathering underway!

As for the figures, the soldier carrying the Kar98K got a bit difficult! That is to say I messed up a part- the face to be exact. Its not the first time and not the last I'm sure (thats modelling for you!). I eventually decided that I'd done enough damage in trying to salvage the painting on the face so I stripped it all off with Xtracrilix Purisol and have begun again. I've also got a Hornet head on the go too, just to see which one looks better when I finish painting.

More pictures will be up soon!

Thanks for viewing/reading.

-Karl187-

The last update finished up by mentioning the head I had messed up. I started painting it all over again after stripping it of paint. However, I then found a Hornet head with an expression I particularly liked. Here's how things turned out with this head:



Originally the head was wearing a Panzer Crew cap and I cut this off and sanded down the head. Then I took another Hornet head, wearing a steel helmet with a camouflage cover and cut the face off it, drilling and cutting until the helmet was hollow and it sat nicely over the prepared head. His eyes were then drilled out with a 0.3mm drill bit in a pin vise. This is a technique I first read about in a Steve Zaloga article where he used a heated point to do a similar job as I have done with a drill. I don't use this technique very often because one slip can ruin the effect and/or one slip can also break the very delicate drill bit. (I tend to only do it on heads were the eye sockets are very well defined and provide a decent grip for the drill bit.) The straps on the helmet are from Aber.

I've started painting this head, and hopefully I'll have more of that in the next update.













As you can see the figures have been given their highlights and are almost done- just a few wee bits here and there to do before they go off to the spray booth for some Matt Varnish and then a bit more work, mostly to dirty them up a bit more!







The base is now finished the initial painting stage and the decals (generic numberplate characters and numbers from Hobbyboss' Yongshi kit) have been applied. This is off for another trip to the spray booth to seal the decals before the fun part- weathering- begins.

As always, thanks for reading and viewing.

-Karl187-

More updates (apologies for the wait in between):

I got the new head I was talking about in the last update finished. I tried a painting technique that Calvin Tan has explained better than I could (scroll down to the but about 'Alla Prima') :

http://zyclyon.blogspot.com/

Prior to reading this I had read somewhere else that with a medium/retarder, wet on wet could be achieved with acrylic paints. I had tried this using Vallejo Glaze Medium, adding drops of it to the paint. It didn't really work. Then I stumbled across Calvin Tan's blog and noticed he was coating the part in medium/retarder before applying paint. I kind of wanted to slap my own head at this point as it seemed a fairly obvious thing to do once I'd read it!!

Anyway, it worked quite well using Glaze Medium but after applying two coats of shadow things started to get a bit muddled/overcrowded on the face (in terms of color) so I let it dry before continuing the next day with a wet-on-wet application of highlights and once that had dried I added some 5 o clock shadow using Mig Productions Dark Wash heavily thinned. (I added some to the face of the STG-44 aswell- the wash also suggests dirt on the face).







As you can see I have also attached the KAR-98K and this figure is ready for some matt varnish, as is the other figure. I attached his STG-44 which actually went into place with no need for glue. (The weapon sling is made from masking tape and Aber clasps.)







The weathering on the base started at first with an overral wash using Mig Dark Wash. This was then followed by some rust-application on the bollard using AK Rust Streaks and Mig Standard Rust Effects. The cobbles and wall were faded using the oil-dot method and a lot of green was used to suggest slime and grime from the water on the stonework.
Some Streaking Grime has been added to the bricks, a bit on the front of the grey bricks but mostly emanating from the overhang of these bricks and down the red/orange brick wall. I also ensure to keep brushing the weathering away from the painted slogan (using thinner) as I wanted this to look like it had been recently added and would therefore not be as dirty as the rest of the wall.









The sculpt is still ongoing....slowly! I've had to remove and re-sculpt the great coat collar quite a few times after not getting the shape right. I'm happy with the way it looks now. I've also added a fold in the left side of the jacket suggesting part of the coat is open, towards the top.





Note: I'm not placing the sculpted figure in the position he's sitting in, he's just propped up there to photograph, he'll be sitting differently to that.
I still have the pocket seams to add on the lower half of the great coat as well as the buttons. Then the belt and arms to do. The arms have been structured and have hands attached, so I'll need to glue them in place and then mould the coat arms around the structure.

So there's still a good but to do on the sculpt and base !

As always, thanks for reading/viewing.

-Karl187-

Outstanding work on your figures!

Very Nice!!!!

Mauro, Vladimir- thanks for checking guys, glad you are enyoying the build !

Ehi Karl. That could be an off topic but anyway...

I've been reading a very interesting book about the Stalingrad battle.
According to the historical chronicles at the end of the battle, German soldiers looked sick and skinny because they hadn't had almost anything to eat for ages. They wore incredibly worn uniforms. Few of them still had the iron helmets (wearing a metal helmet was a torture in a freezing weather) . They had heads and feet bandaged with rags. Lot of them had blankets on the shoulders and wore civilians heavy cloths or Russian uniform elements got from the deads....

Stalingrad battle aside, It seems to me that figures on sale look always too "fit" to depict soldiers involved in a terrible war

What do you think about?


(Ps I'm speaking in general, your figures look very convincing indeed. I like a lot how did you render their pensive and quite sad expressions)

You know I was thinking something similar the other day as I was looking at some late war pictures of German troops. To me the biggest thing is the uniforms- they mostly always look 'perfect' in terms of casting when I reckon there should be holes and tears etc. As well as that, your quite right about the Germans wearing various items of Russian clothing, and civilian clothing- you rarely see that in late war German figure kits/sets- you might get them carrying a PPsH-41 but thats about it unfortunately.

Faces are also strange too, some more with sunken eyes and more pronounced features (due to not eating enough and the stress of constant fighting). For instance on the Alpine box art for the two figures I am doing the faces are very fresh and rosy-cheeked looking- pretty much the picture of good health. Now don't get me wrong, the box art is stunning and I wish I could do as well but I would have much prefrred to see pale, dirty and drawn faces.

I think there are some 'German POW Eastern Front' type figures out there that have very ragged and worn clothes and sallow expressions but it seems that normal troops at this stage of the war don't get the same treatment- they appear much fitter, as you said.

Again guys, sorry for the slow updates. The Magic Sculp drying time is a real pain in the ass. As you can see I've now managed to get his web gear on and have also sculpted the belt and waist pockets on the great coat. It is also now apparent that the way I had envisaged the figure being trapped by his web gear is not really feasible as the gear simply isn't long enough. However, I have a cable which I intend to have wrapped around his neck somewhere which will the thing keeping him up against the Kubel. I've attached the arm to the body too, although its just a shape right now, I still have to sculpt the Great Coat around the arm.









As you can see some further work has also been done on the Kubel- mostly adding layers of rust using pigments. I apply this in heavy layers, over large areas and then strip it away with thinner until its only really over the areas of chipping that I want it on. I find that the residue left by the pigments and thinners creates a nice 'worn' appearance once dry. I also drilled some damage into the right mud-guard and have rusted it more than anywhere else. The bollard on the quayside also received some rust.

So, still some work to do!

Thanks for reading/viewing.

-Karl187-

Nice progress, it's coming together!

Cheers Vladimir !

I've finally got the arms sorted on the figure and I'm now sanding in some detail so the cable I mentioned will look like it is tight across the body. Still working on water experiments!!