Alter Panzerjager :: East Prussia
This is a vignette of a 5 SS. "Wiking" Recon detachment in the frontiers of East Prussia. They've spotted enemy armour in the area. The armour has appeared engaged in spite of no known friendly units; it turns out that an old man (a conscript of the Volkssturm), has been taking out the tanks one by one. In disbelief, the soldiers get out of their half-track, finding the comical old man using his panzerfaust as a cane. The old panzerjager proceeds to point to a smoldering T34/85 a few hundred meters away, and claims it as his late quarry.
I started this when I had a flu. I think it corresponded directly to when I traveled to Newbury street, Boston to get a roll of hemp string. Basically, I used styrofoam to build the base, carved tracks and a shell-hole into it, then I cut up the hemp string and stuck it into the "ground". After that was done, I covered the base in hydrocol, and added some static grass. Then painted it in a mixture of flat earth/dunkelgelb.
The Volkssturm figure happens to be the first Verlinden figure I painted. It also was the first figure I painted after reading a real tutorial on figure-painting. (How to Paint Realistic Model Figures ISBN: 0-89024-380-8) Basically, this diorama really is a backdrop to him. The remaining figures are from the aformentioned Dragon set, initially I was gonna put them in my decaying 251, but I noticed the 250/9 on sale, and i figured they'd look good in a variation of their designated vehicle. I experimented with camoflauge, the main figure, the one with the MP40 and the map, was highlighted in acrylics. The other figures, the one with the MP43 and the radio-operator sitting in the turret were highlighted/shaded in oils. I had better results with the oils. The radioman, a dragon figure, is using an Alpine head (from Afrika Corps Officers) and was perhaps my first conversion.
The Tamiya Sd. Kfz 250/9 is an unusual hybrid. It has the body of the 250 half-track and the turret of an sd. kfz 222 armoured car. Thus it filled two roles: reconaisance and extra firepower.
This kit needed some substantial upgrades, the grenade-net is a plastic-frame and wire-mesh, unlike its siblings that usually are photo-etched. I have plans to eventually get an after-market upgrade kit. The tracks were broken into sections (ie: one piece was about 10 tracks), which I personally like, (i find it a PITA to glue individual tracks together and I HATE rubber tracks). In spite of being a primitive kit, it had a full interior, and I was tempted to "convert" it into a 250/1. It also contained a full engine compartment (which I shown off).
I painted it in a three-tone camo scheme which was very common late in the war. I basecoated in Armour Sand and airbrushed stripes/blotches of Rust and Dunkelgrun over it, followed by a session of drybrushing and washing in oils and a round of pastels.
Kits Used
- Verlinden #1828 German Volkssturm
- Dragon #6131 Armored Reconnaissance, SS Viking Division Hungary
- Tamiya Sd. Kfz 250/9
The Base
I started this when I had a flu. I think it corresponded directly to when I traveled to Newbury street, Boston to get a roll of hemp string. Basically, I used styrofoam to build the base, carved tracks and a shell-hole into it, then I cut up the hemp string and stuck it into the "ground". After that was done, I covered the base in hydrocol, and added some static grass. Then painted it in a mixture of flat earth/dunkelgelb.
The Figures
The Volkssturm figure happens to be the first Verlinden figure I painted. It also was the first figure I painted after reading a real tutorial on figure-painting. (How to Paint Realistic Model Figures ISBN: 0-89024-380-8) Basically, this diorama really is a backdrop to him. The remaining figures are from the aformentioned Dragon set, initially I was gonna put them in my decaying 251, but I noticed the 250/9 on sale, and i figured they'd look good in a variation of their designated vehicle. I experimented with camoflauge, the main figure, the one with the MP40 and the map, was highlighted in acrylics. The other figures, the one with the MP43 and the radio-operator sitting in the turret were highlighted/shaded in oils. I had better results with the oils. The radioman, a dragon figure, is using an Alpine head (from Afrika Corps Officers) and was perhaps my first conversion.
The Armour
The Tamiya Sd. Kfz 250/9 is an unusual hybrid. It has the body of the 250 half-track and the turret of an sd. kfz 222 armoured car. Thus it filled two roles: reconaisance and extra firepower.
This kit needed some substantial upgrades, the grenade-net is a plastic-frame and wire-mesh, unlike its siblings that usually are photo-etched. I have plans to eventually get an after-market upgrade kit. The tracks were broken into sections (ie: one piece was about 10 tracks), which I personally like, (i find it a PITA to glue individual tracks together and I HATE rubber tracks). In spite of being a primitive kit, it had a full interior, and I was tempted to "convert" it into a 250/1. It also contained a full engine compartment (which I shown off).
I painted it in a three-tone camo scheme which was very common late in the war. I basecoated in Armour Sand and airbrushed stripes/blotches of Rust and Dunkelgrun over it, followed by a session of drybrushing and washing in oils and a round of pastels.
prev
next
Feedback
to whom are concerned. i'm gonna kick up
a link to this as a sub-domain sometime this week