I have always enjoyed seeing WWII photographs come to life through the many builds and dioramas I have seen here, though I have never tried one myself... until now.



Most should know this infamous photo of German soldiers moving past an abandoned/destroyed US Halftrack. I have searched quite a bit to get information on this photo for this build and what I have found is that the soldiers are in fact SS Panzer Grenadiers, however I do not know what unit. If anyone knows where I can find verified information on this photo it would be greatly appreciated.





The custom top to this halftrack was made with tin foil and toothpicks. As seen in the photograph, the driver side of the halftrack is up to interpretation so I decided I would show that it was knocked out with a direct hit to where a jerry can would have been equipped on the fender and next to the engine. The fire damage and char is just black paint mixed with fine dirt and sloppily painted on throughout the cab and fender. Still have to finish painting, detailing, and weathering, but it is getting there.



Crafting the custom figures (SS Panzer Grenadiers).



The current layout. I will give a close up off the halftrack after a little more progress is made. As seen in the above picture, I have added the extended canopy piece over the cab. More damaging and detailing will be done this week.


Stay tuned for more updates! Also, for all of you on Instagram, you can also follow my builds and sporadic hobby behavior through my username there (CombatInScale).

Cheers!

Very nice, looking forward to the finished product!

This photo is from a well known set of pics taken by german combat photographers during the battle of the bulge. They show PzGren of the 1SS PzDiv in staged pics around destroyed USArmy equipment. The soldier on the ground wears a 4 pocket pea dot pattern cammo jacket and carries an MP44 with the associated ammo pouches while the standing guy wears a captured american raincoat. He is not wearing it in other pics from the same roll of film and both guys can be seen in other pictures from the roll.
This is the same sequence of film that shows the famous"winter fritz" pic of the MG42 gunner smiling and holding a Belgian M1911 style pistol and captured Lucky Strike cigs.
HTH and welcome to the forum.
J

Hi, I have that photo and others in the Steve Zaloga book The Battle of the Bulge by Concord, the photo is of the road between Recht and Poteau the soldiers are from Kampfgruppen Hansen who ambushed a coloum from the 14th cavalry group.Mr Zaloga states that the photos are staged by camera men from Kreigberichter who were later captured.The guy in the rain coat appears in a lot of photos very busy young man. hope this helps.

Thank you all!

Jerry, I have seen all of those photos from the same string of photographs, but never all at once. Needless to say, I will be looking into the book that you mention, John.

Your help is much appreciated. gentlemen.

Cheers

After the Battle,by Palud covering the Ardennes breaks down this series of pictures frame by frame and even has shots of the same terrain as it looks in modern times.
J

just bought the books... a bit of a price tag attached to the Palud work but it'll be worth it seeing as the Bulge and surrounding battles are of particular interest to me.

Jerry, not sure if you know this but would you happen to know if a color version of this picture exists (whether in the books or elsewhere)? I know color photographs were rare in the field but seeing as these were staged post-action I thought circumstances may be different... can't find anything though.

Thanks again for your help

Some progress on the base and the first phase of the ground laying...







some more work on the halftrack (still plenty to go)...



I have a glimpse of the overall project but I there is still a lot of work to be done. I will be adding to the groundwork and detailing the halftrack some more this evening.

Nice progress on this iconic scene.
J

When I saw the opening photo of this thread my first thought was, "A-HA! To all those who rail against Dragon's "pointing German," here's a photo that finally proves a few German troops actually DID point to something or somewhere during the war." Then, as I read further on, my elation was dashed by the fact that this was a staged propaganda photo. Matters not though, this looks to be an interesting scene which I'll be following as it goes.

Hi Mike ,

it is a very interesting project . Nice lay out and good progress , i like the halftrack as well , so well done !

I have this link to share of a museum in Poteau. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CC8QFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.euro-t-guide.com%2FSee_Coun%2FBelgium%2FSE%2FB_See_Museum_Poteau_44_Ardennen_4-1.htm&ei=sj6sVO6sEtPeatWMguAD&usg=AFQjCNFFcB9J3vg1vYTXorbu5bSrU-zV4w&sig2=oFnqhqvSIn-1qLduTkdg0w . I hope this will help you ?

Keep it up !

Kurt

Nice idea and work!
I hate to rain on your parade.... The halftrack on the picture is an A1-version with the .50 gunmount and without the "ladder" on the sides.

Kurt, huge help and a great resource for future build ideas... Thank you!

Ron, I know. I found the halftrack and had no idea what to do with it so I decided to build this. I'm modding it best I can to match the picture but there's going to be some differences that are going to have to remain as unavoidable - and that it one of them. There are no backpacks on the side of the halftrack in the photograph but there are in mine (they're covering two holes that were easier to cover than to try and repair).

I'll try and post some progress pictures tonight. Thanks for following!

Some progress... My first attempt at German camouflage smocks - and such a pain in the a** might I add.



figures are coming along.... I guess...



And some progress on the groundwork and halftrack has been made... ammo boxes on the side, flat lacquer coat on the vehicle, and a light dusting of snow on the ground.

The halftrack... I couldn't continue with this strong feeling that it had to be corrected. So, here is the progress I've made tonight:

Quick update. With this wonderful blizzard about to hit the NorthEast in the US, I'm getting some time back on the work bench. I'll hopefully be wrapping this one up soon. Have to finish the figures, groundwork, and a few minor details. For now, here's the preliminary setup.