METZ 1944

[BULL]

"The Battle of Metz took place during World War II between the US Army and the German Army from August 27 to December 13, 1944 and ended almost a month after the surrender of all German forces in the area. Metz, a city located between the Moselle and Seille rivers, had been heavily fortified by the Germans in 1871; the defenses consisted of numerous forts and observation posts connected by trenches and underground tunnels. The defenses of the so-called "Siegfried Line" were entrusted to the 1st Army of General der Panzertruppe Otto von Knobelsdorff. On November 3, the Americans of the 20th Army Corps managed to capture the outer defenses of the city. By November 17 the Americans had isolated most of the forts, forcing the Wehrmacht to a progressive retreat, and the following day they entered the city. Although the hostilities ended on the 22nd, the isolated German forts continued to resist."

The figure represents a Captain of the 5th Infantry Division, who is awaiting reports on the fighting conducted by his units outside a captured German bunker converted into a command post.

 

[Larsen E. Whipsnade]

Masterful and beautifully done!
Rick

 

[Peter Day]

Beautiful!

 

[housecarl]

Lovely piece of work Enrico.

 

[VisjeMar]

excellent work, great ambiance

 

[MoboSchreuder]

Beautiful work

Mobo

 

[Fredericus]

Molto bello. Complimenti!
Federico

 

[Babelfish]

Very nice work indeed. Is the bunker a scratch-build?

- Steve

 

[BULL]

thanks guys, I'm very happy that you like the piece. Yes, the bunker is scratch-built, but will now be marketed by Alternity Miniatures.

 

[Nap]

Hi Bull

Great to see you posting and such lifelike painting as well as the groundwork

......like the uniform colour what mix did you use ?

Why not enter a piece into the class of your choice in our FOTM comp and also vote in previous months classes as well as voting in Vignette & Diorama comp #2 ...

....And enter in Vignettes & Diorama #3 which will be set up for 1/5/21 running till 31/01/22

Always good to see the artwork

Thanks for sharing

Look forward to the next

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Ferris]

Excellent work once again, love it!

 

[1969]

Stunning work on both figure and basework, the bunker is excellent.
Steve

 

[BULL]

Thanks again.
For Nap who asks me for the colors used for the uniform, I honestly don't remember well, because every time I interpret according to the differences I want to achieve; anyway, as far as the colors of the jacket are concerned, I can say that I started from a basic mix of Olive drab + Kaki + Japanese uniform.
For the shadows I increased the olive dravb with the addition of violet and black, while in the lights I increased the khaki and added the skintone to lighten and give the idea of wear.
I hope I was helpful.

 

[arj]

Superb painting and excellent scratch-build of the bunker.
A very atmospheric presentation.

Cheers,
Andrew

 

[bucsfan21]

Bull, Great job on the figure and groundwork. Really like the overall effect! Think you nailed it big time

All the Best, Terry Martin-Member of the Atlanta Military Figure Society of Atlanta, GA

 

[Joe55]

Love it! Excellent brush work as always and a wonderfully executed display!

Joe

 

[pmfs]

Hi!
Amazing concret wall. Great composition.

Cheers,
Pedro.

 

[iwik]

Hi!
Excellent work as usual.
I just love how a story can be told with a minimalist setting.
What brand is the figure?
Ciao
Iwik
PS Funny. As I downloaded the image, the title said "Hurtgen". A change of plan?

 

[BULL]

Hi Iwik, it was a change in progress, because initially I thought of setting it during the battle of Hurtgen, but then on a book that dealt with the battle of Metz I saw a photo that inspired me so I decided to build the bunker that was reproduced in the image.
The figure is a novelty of The Bodi, of which I painted the boxart.

 

[iwik]

Thanks Bull.
Looking forward to this new fig!
Ciao
Iwik