Shkuros Wolves...

[Martin Antonenko]

21. Day, February 18, 2020


First I painted the missing lights on one side of the wool blanket ...

Then it was the leather straps with which the blanket is strapped on - with this ...:



And then painted the strap buckles. They weren't made of brass - even if it would have looked nicer - but made of simple metal ...:





So I took these colors ...:



Except for the "invisible side" and a piece of mane that I forgot, the horse is now done.






Cheers

 

[Martin Antonenko]

22. Day, February 19, 2020


The last work on the horse ...:

I paint the forgotten piece of mane underneath the strapped blanket ...



... and the "invisible side" - with black acrylic paint ...:





Since this program is not "full-length" so to speak, I then decided to take the head of our hero, whom I want to throw paint on at the workshop in Goslar in one week ...:



The Papakha hat on his head bothers me!

General Shkuro's force wore Papakhas made of wolves fur - and they looked a little different!

The most obvious difference to a normal Papakha ...



... was the coat of fur - it ran across - like here ...:



This is because a wolf skin was processed lengthways and not across for such a hat - the dark part of the fur on the back, the so-called "eel stroke", then formed a nice pattern across the cap.

Can you see well in the following picture ...:



So I started to rework the Papakha and make it "wolfy"!

And because I was already there, I changed the shape a bit - these caps were very soft - and the volume increased moderately.

Note: The bigger the cap, the better the protection against saber cuts in combat!

A Papakha - also called "Kubanka" in the Caucasus - could be quite large ...:



I left out the following detail: The white strip of fabric on the front of the cap, which signaled the wearer's affiliation to the "white" civil war party!





There was something like that - and also with Shkuro's "wolves", but mainly with team ranks! But an officer with broad silver rank badges no longer needed such a badge in 1919/1920, he was reliably recognized as an enemy by the "Reds" because of his "Pogony" shoulder pieces ...!

I have therefore not found a single picture of an officer of the "Wolves" in my fund wearing this white strip of fabric ...:







So - here is my Papakha knitted onto "Wolf" now...:







The back is still missing because the front is now supposed to harden ...:




Cheers

 

[Nap]

Hi Martin

Great result on the horse there ...all came together well

As for the Papakha ....more interesting information and the result looks really good so far

Have a good time in Goslar this weekend

Thanks for sharing

Happy bench time

Nap

 

[Henkm]

I never stop being amazed at all the detail you provide. I'm, as usual, enjoying your topic tremendously. I think the fur will work nicely.

 

[Martin Antonenko]

23. Day, February 20, 2020


The papakha has not yet hardened enough to allow me to turn to the missing back.

So today I painted the base on which our Karbadiner horse is fixed!

And when I was dealing with the choice of colors, it occurred to me: "Why not marble again?" I have not painted marble for ages - and I was so keen on it!

My choice fell on "black marble", because the base should simply "be there", but not distract from the figure!

I looked at role models on the Internet until I came across this photo:



There is not only black and white in it - with all the nuances - but also a rather reddish ocher tone.

So I made up these colors here ...:



However: I didn't want it to be as "colorful" as the prototype, but much more discreet!

I painted the "marble" like this:

First of all it was fun to "spill" with very watery colors and all kinds of mixtures - important is only one thing: The color gradients (or color strips) should run in ONE direction if possible.

When I had "spilled" the whole base, the real work came - to represent marble. I do it like this ...:

I roll out a kind of stamp from a kitchen towel and dip this "stamp" briefly in water ...:



Then it is carefully dabbed - without cleaning the stamp!

A new kitchen towel "stamp" was used for each side of the plinth - this ensures that the vioer pages all contain the same colors - but are otherwise completely different when it comes to the respective color gradient and the patterns.

The effects of this swab are really marvellous!










If there is clear varnish later, which gives the colors more "depth" and luminosity, it will look like real marble ...

So much for today.


Cheers

 

[Nap]

Hi Martin

What's this ....a SBS on marbling now as well ...hats off to you ....looks good and works well with the horse colouring

Just a question ....is there something planned for the back of the papakha .....wondering why you never did all of it at the same time ?

Thanks for sharing today's update

Look forward to the next

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Martin Antonenko]

is there something planned for the back of the papakha

Only wolves fur - but I'm a bit scared to touch the frontside when I'm sculpting the back. So I wait for the front is hardened.

Cheers

 

[Joe55]

Like your idea of the faux marble base. Now that's thinking outside of the box!

Joe

 

[Martin Antonenko]

24. Day, February 21, 2020


Today I finished sculpting the papakha!

It now has more volume, looks softer and not as static due to the folds - but above all it comes across nicely "wolfy" ...:










Cheers

 

[Martin Antonenko]

25. Day, February 24, 2020

Storm follows storm, downpour after downpour - so best painting weather!

After I'm through with the base, the base plate follows!

This is the division badge of the "Wolfs-Division" very nicely reproduced by my friend Heinz ...:





The original of this badge is made of pure silver, the Russian tricolor in it is enamelled.

The whole thing is full of the iconography of the "white" volunteer army during the civil war.

In the first - early - phase this volunteer army consisted almost entirely of officers! There were entire regiments in which only officers served as ordinary soldiers.

Later they went on to forced recruitment - and took other volunteers under the banner, including all sorts of desparados, better gangs of robbers who, under the guise of the counter-revolution, saw the opportunity of their lives to rob, rape and murder at will!

But back to the badge ...:



The wolf is at the center, of course - in ancient Russian mythology a powerful night animal that suddenly strikes out of the darkness and disappears again.

The wolf as a badge (and name) is still widely used today:
The best known example are the "Spetsnas" air landing units ...:


Less well known is President Putin's own rocker club, which is called "Night Wolves" and uses a corresponding wolf badge ...:






These "wolves" are said to be deeply involved in drug trafficking and extortion for protection money - and members of this "club" have already carried out several armed missions in the "Donbass" during the war against Ukraine!

In 2013 President Putin personally awarded the head of the "Night Wolves", the ardent Putin and Stalin admirer Aleksandr Sergejewitsch Saldostanow, with the Russian "Order of Honor" ...:



It is as if Queen Elizabeth II personally appointed the British chief of the "Hells Angels" as Knight of the Bath Order.

Otherwise, Putin holds his protective hand over the rocker club, Saldostanow's people are an always available group of thugs "for the rough" ...!
**contunied next post**

 

[Martin Antonenko]

The second element is the white-blue-red angle, the official badge of the "white troops".

The thing came in a multitude of variations!










At least in theory, every member of the "white" troops should wear such a fabric angle on the left upper arm ...:






Several did this ...
















Many did not do this for a variety of reasons, or thought that this badge would look nicer when it was upside down ...:



In this regard, the "white" army was the most anarchist force that ever existed!


The badge is framed by a stylized biblical crown of thorns ...:




This corresponded to both the iconography and the self-image of the many officers in particular, who in the volunteer army saw their struggle against the Bolsheviks on the one hand as a crusade, but on the other hand as a sacrifice, a personal martyrdom!

We will meet this crown of thorns symbol elsewhere.

There were many cheap copies of sheet metal in circulation, because not everyone could afford silver ...:



The various parts of the "Wolfs Division" also chose their own colors for the "angle" of the badge!

The following variant shows the badge of a troop that fought not for "For Russia" but "For the Tsar" and instead prefers the white-yellow-black tricolor of the personal standard of the Tsar ...:



**continued next post**

 

[Martin Antonenko]

Another variant shows only two stripes - a black and a red one...:



But this is not an anarchist badge (they also use this color combination!), But goes back to one of the two elite units of the volunteer army, the "Kornilow Shock Regiment", whose colors were red and black ...:









This unit had emerged from the bodyguards that General Lawr Georgievich Kornilov ...



... had grown during the First World War and which consisted of Caucasians.

Kornilov was the first commander-in-chief of the volunteer army until his death in April 1918.

So - and now enough theory - to work!

The resin badge is first cleaned in an ultrasonic bath ...





..and after that black primed...:



Black because I don't have to painstakingly paint the undercuts!

When the primer was dry, I painted the tricolor.

White...



...blue...



... and red ...:



The problem with painting was not the colors themselves, but the really thin silver bridges in between!



After drying, I coated the angle twice more with "Gloss Varnish" to simulate the enamel of the original ...





So much for today.


Cheers

 

[Nap]

Hi Martin

Nice lot of background info there on all aspects of this badge

The badge Heinz has done looks really good and will look great once you've finished

Thanks for sharing

Happy bench time

Nap

 

[Martin Antonenko]

26. Day, February 25, 2020


In four steps to the finished badge of the "Wolves Division" ...:

1. I paint the wolf's head and the crown of thorns with pure silver printer ink.

2. With a medium-dark mixture of the silver printer ink and "neutral black" I put on the
wolfs head the necessary shadows and work out the deepened details of the crown of thorns.

3. After a short drying time, the raised details of the crown of thorns with silver printer ink
dry "brushed".

4. I use black acrylic paint to remove the three or four spots where I "sawed" the black surface
have.


Finished. It have become a fancy piece, I think ...:








Again the original - for comparison ...:


Cheers

 

[Nap]

Hi Martin

I think we can safely say ..." That looks rather good "

Do like the "V" colours ...looks like it's enamelled

Thanks for sharing

Happy benchtime

Nap

Just wondered do you have Cossack ancestors ?

 

[Wayneb]

Hi Martin



I think we can safely say ..." That looks rather good "



Do like the "V" colours ...looks like it's enamelled



Thanks for sharing



Happy benchtime



Nap



Just wondered do you have Cossack ancestors ?

 

[Wayneb]

I agree with Nap...It looks good....Sorry, but I sure would like to see that fur more finely tuned all around.....But then again to put it bluntly, I don't think there should be any smooth spots on fur unless the fur is soaked with water...... it's just my opinion...

Wayne

 

[Martin Antonenko]

27. Day, February 26, 2020


Two thin coats with "Gloss Varnish" ...



... give the "marble" of the base the desired subtle sheen ...:






After drying, I glue the division badge with two-component glue ...



... in place ...:




Cheers

 

[Nap]

Hi Martin

We now have the look of marble for sure

With the badge in place now ...looking great and very professional

Lovely work on the base and the horse as we have seen

Looking forward to the rider on the horizon

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Martin Antonenko]

28. Day, February 27, 2020


I go on with the head!

It is - as usual with me - first cleaned in an ultrasonic bath ...:



And not for nothing! Afterwards there is a lot of dirt swimming in the water ...:



Then it is primed - the face in gray and the papakha in black.

I separate the colors with so-called "flying masks", which are small "sausages" made of masking tape, which are not almost on top of each other and ensure beautiful, smooth transitions. In the foreground of the next Fptps you can see a "flying mask" ...:



So - the head is ready to be painted over the weekend at the workshop in Goslar ...:



My painting rattle is already packed...:




Cheers