Thanks Romain,
That was one of the biggest mass tacs we ever had. Over one thousand jumpers in the air at the same time. Only we usually jumped at night so this was a treat for us. I would rather arrive home like that so you don't have to go through check in check out customs baggage claim,yadda yadda yadda. On Sicily drop zone,you land ,gather your parachute,dump it at the collection point and run to your unit AA. Presto!! Everyone should fly like this!
The skin is a bit yellow but that has a lot to do with my lighting. In real life he is more white looking. I left out any red for obvious reasons.
Thanks for peeping at this again. Seems a lot are looking but not commenting. Maybe I should take more showers?
J

what about pin-ups instead?
Edo

Hi Jerry,

yes it looked like a real mass jump!
No cool drinks then, but you are right about escaping formalities!!
I'd give a lot to be able/allowed to jump again at least once!

Cheers my friend!

Romain

Yes,that would be a lot better to look at!! Way better than a dead guy!
Hahaha
J

My excuse...your dead guy looks better than my alive guys!!!!....haha! But, true...

Nick

Well Nick,my friend,we haven't seen your guys yet!! I doubt anyone as good a modeler as you would create anything that looked bad.
J

Just a little teaser pic. I don't want to post any more until all the details are nailed down such as touching up the grey paint I now see around the discarded strap!! ^%&#@%$!
MG42 position,hastily abandoned.


Empty can,empty ammo belts and empty spare barrel carrier meant to show the situation of the defending German unit.
Casualty is from the unit retro-grading down the main road back to the bridge over the Ambleve.
J

Aha ,i see an update

and i must say , it looks realistic to me ! Great idea .

Keep up the good work , Jerry !

Greets Kurt

Hi Jerry,

Just came across this one, terrific work.

Al

Progressing along very nicely Jerry!

I'll be looking forward to the next up-date.

Thanks guys,I am almost done with it and will try to get some decent pics up soon!
J

Jerry - coming along nicely!

I had to laugh when i re-read your post...and the "grey paint" ...working as hard as you can to get it right....sweating over each shell, blade of grass (color of stone wall hahah)...chunk of soil...and then, the grey blob appears! "I didnt see that....until I posted the picture here! arghgh!"

:-) glad to see I'm not alone in that camp! looking forward to the next post!

Nick

Nick,
That is a very big reason why I take pics and put them on my computer. My eyes,combined with the so-so lighting at my bench sometimes makes me miss things. The screen doesn't lie though!! In,fact,it is brutally honest!
Thanks for you always kind words,
J

Quick sketch to give you an idea how to make a leather style sling for the M1 Garand in 1/35. I used the lead foil as it is easy to bend and settle into the scene so it doesn't look like it's weightlessly floating in thin air. The rifle with sling still just have undercoats on and are not finished.


Maybe some one can find it useful,who knows?
J

21Dec1944 in the outskirts of Chenux,Belgium. An all out assault is going on by the 504Parachute Inf Regt to take this village from elements of the 2SS PzGrenRegt,part of Gepanzertegruppe Peiper.
An earlier attack across open cow pastures laced by barbed wire enclosures brought huge casualties for the attacking Para Bn. Another assault gets underway using the low ground to the south of the village as cover.

Hey guys!!
Yeah Bob!!


Shift your fire to the left of that barn to your front!! Right there!


OK bud,we are gonna keep up good suppression on that!!



Great fires!! Keep it up our guys are working their way around the right of that barn. They gotta take out that flakwagen across the street to the right!!
The re-newed assault,supported by copious amounts of artillery,mortars and small arms,makes headway. The hasty positions manned by the troops of the First and third Bns of the 2SS PzGrenRegt are abandoned in haste and with casualties.



But those pesky 20mm flakwagens manned by Luftwaffe troops are proving to be a headache!! They are capable of awesome suppression.



Testing even the bravest of soldiers!!

If he can only get that grenade over there while they reload the 20mm!!


At the end of the day and after about 400 casualties,the Paras get their objective. While their enemies suffe almost about twice as much,it is little compensation for the wives,brothers,sisters,mothers and fathers who will be receiving the always dreaded visit from the home front notification officers that there loved one will not be coming home.
But it does make the spearhead German attack group begin to recoil and pull in its' perimeter in a process that ends with the Germans having to escape of foot without their heavy weapons like thieves in the night.



E fini!!

OK Jerry - you have really raised the bar! that is awesome and cool! - especially that corner getting blasted off! and the soldiers expression!

Cheers

NIck

Thanks for the kind words Nick. I tried this pic with a little candle smoke for effect,a la Shep Paine

You really took this somewhere Jerry. It looks fantastic and I love the story telling aspect of it. Top notch for sure!

Thanks Chris and Nick for the kind words and for looking in on this at the end!
J

Been watching since the beginning Jerry, it's just the heavy discussion on Belgian stonework was just so riveting I found it physically impossible to reply.

Mr. Rutman....absolutely AMAZING!

If one wants to define the true meaning of a "Storyboard Diorama"...

This is it!

Cheers,
Joe

Excellent work Jerry, I really like the stone work and especially the way you have made the stone fragments chipping of the corner of the building (you can almost see that bullet hitting the wall) great work.

Tom

Jerry this is such a fantastic telling of this combat action, there is such a wealth of detail in the scenes and the scenic backdrops really help to place everything in a great context. I must say the soldier in shock in the doorway- that is sheer brilliance- it reminds me of the famous Don McCullin picture of the Marine in Hue City suffering shell-shock- you've managed to convey such a convincing look on his face and it fits in so nicely with the scene- really telling the viewer something of just how heavy the 20mm fire is. The soldier turning away from the shot-up wall also brings this area to life- it really does look like a realistic reaction to the wall being splintered. Its been a complete pleasure to watch the elements of this story come together.

Jerry, you sure pulled this one off! I know you had your doubts about a couple of effects you were experimenting with, but I think you nailed it!

It's been very interesting to see and read how you've connected the history and circumstances of the three different works into a seamless narrative - all parts of the same whole.

All very, very nice, mi amigo. I'm certainly waiting to see what comes out of the "Rutman Workshop" next!

In the mean time, I sure hope that after that trooper gets the grenade around the corner the MG crew recognizes the signal to lift and shift before the final assault...