Dutch cyclist WW2

[WPS]

Hello there,

I'm new to this forum and would like to get some comments on my first
scratchbuild/sculpting project.
It represents a dutch soldier of the cyclist-regiment at the start of WW2 in the scale 1/15 or 120mm.
When I started this project I soon realised that getting the right information would be the trick, for there are only a few verified pictures known
of this subject (most being post-war reenactment).
The first item I made was the bicycle, using brass, lead and polyurethane.
For the figure I used a recast torso(did this myself) and arm/leg parts on a wire frame, for the head I used a stock part from Dog tag (I'm not brave enough to try sculpting this yet).
The rifle is made out of pearwood using brass to create the barrel etc.
Please visit the following link to see the pictures.
http://foto.telenet.be/9796264271

 

[jjgurk]

Welcome to the planet, Willem. Excellent sculpt and bicycle. Looking forward to seeing it finished.

John

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Welcome to the Planet!

Its coming out fine.

Is it "Grandpas bike"?

Cheers

 

[Dan Morton]

Excellent sculpting! Welcome indeed! I know the bicycle alone represents a very considerable amount of work. One small word of caution - unless you keep the uniform coat or tunic or whatever very thin you may be in danger of the torso becoming too thick and unrealistically bulky. Probably you've already thought about this, but just in case.

Good luck!! I'm looking forward to seeing your progress!

All the best,
Dan

 

[Roy]

Hi Willem, and welcome to the planet..I think you are doing a great job with the figure so far..and the bicycle looks excellent.

All the best.

Roy.

 

[WPS]

Thanks for the reply so far.
The bicyle represents the one that was made specially for the dutch army, it has a longer frame than usual making it more stable at slow speed.
There are only 4 models know to have survived the war(most were used by the germans and the metal re-used in the war industry).
I based my figure on 1/15 or 120mm scale, stretching the limit on size, so the figure would be around 1.80 meter real size (the dutch being among the tallest people in the world),also thinned the torso slightly to represent a young man just called to duty.

 

[megroot]

Willem,
Welkom hier. Je zult hier erg veel vinden wat je nodig hebt en ook wat je niet nodig hebt.
Je fietser ziet er goed uit.
Post nog een keer als hij geschilderd is.

Marc

 

[Roc]

Willem, very good work, I like it.
Welcome to the Planet, and thanks for sharing.

Cheers
Roc

 

[vergilius]

welcome to the planet !!
amazing sculpting !!

 

[WPS]

Hello again guys, it's time to pull this one out of the fridge and get it done.
The last year I've been trying to get answers to some questions I encountered along the build.
The biggest question was about the jacket worn on those fateful days in May 1940 when these soldiers were faced with the outbreak of war.
As most of you know the fighting only took five days (the Netherlands capitulation came after the bombing of Rotterdam and the treat of bombing 12 other cities)
Because most men felt ashamed after this a lot of information about this period is lost.
In 1937 the Ministry of Defence gave an order to change the collar on the service jacket of mounted-personnel from a standing to a flap down collar.
All the pictures I found showed the standing collar until I stumbled on this small Polygon Journal film. (this is a still I got from this piece of film)

The film shows our queen Wilhelmina inspecting our troops in early 1940.
Clearly you can see the flap down collar on the jacket.
From inquiries I found out that this is not the replacement jacket but an older overcoat worn during colder days.
With this question out of the way I now can focus on detailing the jacket with standing collar as was worn according several sources.

See you soon with an update... Willem

 

[billyturnip]

Looking forward to seeing some pics Willem. I admire the level of research you have obviously put into your project.

Roger.

 

[WPS]

While the sculpting the second Musketeer figure I did some detailing with copper-wire and concluded that with a little effort I could make a convincing bike-chain with this.
So I twisted two wires (0.3 mm) tightly together, put this through a plate roller, and then hammered it into the desired shape.

By using two pieces and placing them with a little space in between (automatically created by the two chain-wheels) it looks great already.

Till next time, Willem

 

[megroot]

Thats a nice chain.
Wish i had them on my bike.
Keep going Willem, this is gonna be as awesome as Wilhelm.

Marc

 

[Marcel]

Great idea and it looks very convincing!
Looking forward to your next step.

Marcel.

 

[vergilius]

very good idea and well executed so far
last year we had a similar model on our anual show in Antwerp. It was a Dutch sentry looking up at the planes. Maybe it was yours?

 

[1969]

Great idea with the twisted copper wire Willem and it turned out great,is this project 1/16 scale ?

Steve

 

[WPS]

Marc, Marcel and Patrick, thanks, if I can get transportation sorted I'll bring it to the AMSS show.
Steve, it's in my humble opinion 1/15 scale (the Verlinden scale instead of modern Tamiya)

groeten from Willem

 

[eissteban]

hi Willem,
i like your work very much, and i'll follow this project very closely.
the chain is a great idea

 

[tonydawe]

Hi Willem,

Superb attention to detail mate. I love seeing how you innovate and use different materials to achieve your effects. I'm following this SBS with interest.

 

[denducky]

Willem if this is your first scratch build your are a genies

i like the bike very well, very well thinking how to build something

don't stop.

greetings lieven