I am in the midst of working on a small diorama using the Tamiya Marder III and the Dragon Afrika Korps infantry figures. I am using the Tamiya crew figures because I like the poses and it fits with my thoughts of the diorama's action. Not sure of the accuracy of the black panzer uniforms but I have seen photos early in the war in North Africa where they were in use and thought there was the possibility that habit might continue. Let me know your thoughts on the Marder (my 4th 1/35 scale kit I have done) and the figures, (the 4th group I have done as well).

Nice job! I am wondering are those vinyl trakc or indy ones that come with the kit.

I like the figs to. Keep us posted on the progress.

~Chip

:-)

Im definately no expert on uniforms, but if I remember right, there were problems at the start when moving all the troops to North Africa, and uniforms werent the highest priority. As far as i know, this may have been common enough, so your leather jackets may be safe enough!
Lovely marder by the way! Well built and the slight weathering looks good! Dont like judging armor until they are finished as a lt can change with weathering! Those are nice figures from dragons africa korps set! Nice poses! The Tamiya figures also look pretty good!

Looks good. I am looking forward to seeing more pics as you progress.

hi
the tank looks vey nice, well done and painted, the colour is right
for the figures I think if you want to riproduct the dak uniform...you have to change a little bit. the your are too on light green, you can use the dak yellow by Tamiya if you want...
I'll look forward for next photos
regards

Looks pretty solid Kbm!

The fig's are well done. Any tips you can share on types of paint/s and techniques used to get the faces to look this good. Well done.

Steve

Great job on the Marder!

I like the figures, I have not really learned that skill as of yet.

Can't wait to see your progress in the days to come!

Bob K.

great job so far, i think the figures are fine. I wonder just how many of the armoured crews would have let their prized leather jackets go so quickly and especially when you consider how cold the desert is at night.

Thanks for the positive comments. Sorry I haven't responded sooner, but had to make an unplanned out of town trip.
Venom: While I am certainly not an expert, from my research the DAK uniforms started as some type of light olive drab (to a brown drab), which faded dramatically in the desert conditions. It seems the Luftwaffe tan uniforms and Italian tan uniforms were highly prized by the troops of the DAK ( from von Luck's memoir Panzer Commander). Hopefully I will be able to weather the uniforms away from that "bright" green on a couple of the figures. On the others I used a mix to a brownish color.
Chip250: The kit comes with vinyl tracks, which I will be using.
WeWillHold: I am still a novice at figure techniques and experimenting with various methods, particularly for flesh. This one was adapted from a member of my local armor club who is a professional modeler. I did a base of Modelmaster Acryl grey primer, then followed that with a base of MM Acryl flesh and let that dry for a day. I then applied a heavy coat of Raw Umber oil and let it sit for a few minutes, then brushed it off leaving a stain in the shadow areas. Then used oils for the rest of the faces and hands. Still have not tried to paint in eyes, relying on the belief that they really aren't that visible at this scale! Eventually will have to try them. On my Abrams crew figures posted below, I used the MM Acryl flesh colors and liked working with them.

Will post more pictures as I have a chance to do more work. Hopefully the picture quality will improve.