WIP Stalingrad Winter 1943, Street By Street

[Dr Force]

Hi Dave,
i like your SBS and the subject you choose !

Hi eissteban

Thanks for dropping in but what is SBS?

Thanks

 

[JasonB]

Hi eissteban

Thanks for dropping in but what is SBS?

Thanks

SBS=Step by step

The coat looks like the way to go, nice job
Cheers
Jason

 

[Dr Force]

SBS=Step by step

The coat looks like the way to go, nice job
Cheers
Jason

Ok thanks Jason, and the Coat was your idea so many thanks for your guidance.

Just busy adding detail, trimming and tidying up now, before cleaning and priming.

Will report back once progress is made.

Dave

 

[Dr Force]

Hi all and happy new year!

The dead figure is now cleaned and primed. The modifications and cleaning ( this involved loads of scraping away excess milliput with a very sharp blade to thin out the coat etc) has taken around 24 hours to complete, but I am so far pleased with the result.

You can see from the close up pic of the face and torso that I have closed one eye and kept the other open as I wanted to give the veiwer an opportunity to decide if he is dead or dying!! The mouth has also been opened slightly and an entry hole for the single shot that has taken him down added to the garment with pouch & MG42 tool box.

Had to also sculpt the (on his right side) buckle and strap near the belt and replace the Ammo belt with straps along with the modded head scarf.

A little bit of filling required with milliput around the top of the arm and fingers before another thin coat of primer and then ready to paint.

I have a 1/16 MG42 which I will lay beside him once the scene is set and will also add the rest of the ammo belt flung off during the fall ( many thanks to Steve (1969) who has kindly sent this via post and just awaiting arrival)

I am awaiting the two other figures from Elgreco but I am now thinking to maybe mod another Verlinden figure to be stretching out to the fallen trooper whilst looking at the guy pearing round the corner, shouting instructions................this will mean a 4 figure scene which IMO will add more balance ( a massive challenge, I know, as the weight distribution on a kneeling figure is very difficult to do, but hey ho if you don't push yourself........................), I would appreciate your thoughts on this.

This is turning into a rather large project that will take months to complete, but I love it

Anyway updated pics:-

 

[Ferris]

Impressive project you have embarked on David!
Bravo for pushing your personal boundaries. I look forward to following your thread.

Cheers,
Adrian

 

[housecarl]

Excellent conversion Dave.
Carl.

 

[Dr Force]

Impressive project you have embarked on David!
Bravo for pushing your personal boundaries. I look forward to following your thread.

Cheers,
Adrian

Thanks Adrian

It's odd how things develop once you start poducing the figures etc. Ideas start to rush through your mind which in turn creates more work but if it is going to impress then it needs to capture the moment and that takes time and detail.

Dave

 

[Dr Force]

Excellent conversion Dave.
Carl.

Thanks Carl..now its on to the huge challenge of the next one :-o !!

 

[Dr Force]

Hi

I have now put together the very basic pose of the additional (4th) figure.

He will be knelt away from the victim pointing in the direction of where the shot cam from , helping to guide the trooper peering round the corner.

Everything needs to be built up, cut away, re-moulded facial expression, etc,etc but you get the impression I am sure:-

 

[Dr Force]

Hi Fella's

Can I have your advice please:-

1) I am stuck between adding another bottom half greatcoat or just simply bulking out the trousers.

2) Is the pose right or should I try something else?

I want to make sure its 100% before pinning etc.

This was the original figure:-

 

[sam b]

Hi David , the pose looks fine to me ! I’m not sure about adding a great coat, I think it may look like you would to bulk out the top half as well if you did, the smock would be over the coat , saying that there is a bit of space between around the bottom of the smock and the trouser you could roughly try it 1st , post it while still wet n see what people think you can take it away if it’s no good.
Sam

 

[Dr Force]

Hi Sam

Thanks for your feedback.

I think I will stick with the trousers and just bulk them out to make it look more like winter uniform. The top is another smock but I'll go with the standard tunic underneath rather than a greatcoat.

I might add a hood though to help seperate the garments a bit more.

Anyway, I have made a start and added the facial amendments to add more charachter and interest. Once again it needs a bit of tidying once dry but its acheiving what I want it to for now:-

 

[JasonB]

David,
I think the conversion went very well with the great coat. FYI, its always been my opinion, and I have also read frequently, that an odd number of figures in a scene actually looks better. For some reason, at least to me, an even number seems a little artificial and too "balanced" and planned, an odd number less arranged and more natural. Just my opinion, I think the 3 original guys would be fine. These things have a tendency to take on a life of their own and before long, you have all kinds of stuff going on that you hadn't planned originally. Though I guess in this case, having 3 "alive" figures and the one corpse might be different from having 4 guys all in action at the same time. Also, this being Stalingrad 42/43 and Army troops, not SS, there wouldn't any camo smocks being worn. Uniforms would be the standard M36 or M40 with greatcoat, with a few lucky soldiers receiving the insulated reversible white/grey winter uniform as being worn by the one figure you are waiting to receive. I looked through 2 of my Stalingrad reference books , and found only 4 pictures of troops wearing anything other than their M36 or M40 uniforms (during the early warmer weeks) or greatcoats (or greatcoat with white bedsheets as camo), and all were the reversible camo snow suit. The snow suit it bulkier and hooded, unlike the camo smock which was intended originally to be worn over top of the standard uniform and was of very light material.So a smock would be a no go if you wanted to stay 100 percent accurate.
Cheers
Jason

 

[sam b]

Hi David , Jason is right about the smocks , greatcoats , bed sheets and so on ! at the moment i am listening to Stalingrad by Antony Beevor on audio book ,in his book he decides how the soldiers look and feel ,this maybe a great help to you if u could pick up a copy .
It’s just a thought , Sam

 

[Dr Force]

David,
I think the conversion went very well with the great coat. FYI, its always been my opinion, and I have also read frequently, that an odd number of figures in a scene actually looks better. For some reason, at least to me, an even number seems a little artificial and too "balanced" and planned, an odd number less arranged and more natural. Just my opinion, I think the 3 original guys would be fine. These things have a tendency to take on a life of their own and before long, you have all kinds of stuff going on that you hadn't planned originally. Though I guess in this case, having 3 "alive" figures and the one corpse might be different from having 4 guys all in action at the same time. Also, this being Stalingrad 42/43 and Army troops, not SS, there wouldn't any camo smocks being worn. Uniforms would be the standard M36 or M40 with greatcoat, with a few lucky soldiers receiving the insulated reversible white/grey winter uniform as being worn by the one figure you are waiting to receive. I looked through 2 of my Stalingrad reference books , and found only 4 pictures of troops wearing anything other than their M36 or M40 uniforms (during the early warmer weeks) or greatcoats (or greatcoat with white bedsheets as camo), and all were the reversible camo snow suit. The snow suit it bulkier and hooded, unlike the camo smock which was intended originally to be worn over top of the standard uniform and was of very light material.So a smock would be a no go if you wanted to stay 100 percent accurate.
Cheers
Jason

Hi Jason

Thanks for all your help on this one fella, it is much appreciated.

The easiest way around this is to add the great coat to the knelt figure as originally thought. As you can see in the original Verlinden figure he was wearing a great coat anyway and the top half viewed from the side is certainly thick enough to give the impression of the sheet over the top.

I want it to be accurate so I will listen to any feedback and you also have a point in respect of the number of figures.

I like the idea of the knelt figure shouting at the guy peering around the wall so I may drop the standing trooper in his reversible suit??? if this causes too much "uniformity"

It matbe easier to decide once I have all the figures?

Thanks for your continued input.

Dave

 

[JasonB]

Hi Jason

Thanks for all your help on this one fella, it is much appreciated.

The easiest way around this is to add the great coat to the knelt figure as originally thought. As you can see in the original Verlinden figure he was wearing a great coat anyway and the top half viewed from the side is certainly thick enough to give the impression of the sheet over the top.

I want it to be accurate so I will listen to any feedback and you also have a point in respect of the number of figures.

I like the idea of the knelt figure shouting at the guy peering around the wall so I may drop the standing trooper in his reversible suit??? if this causes too much "uniformity"

It matbe easier to decide once I have all the figures?

Thanks for your continued input.

Dave

No problem, glad to help. I was thinking about it a bit more, and the dead guy may well qualify as part of the groundwork, so having the 3 other guys might not be a problem with balance/composition. Like you said, get all the figures together and play around with them and see if it works or not.
Cheers
Jason

 

[Dr Force]

The kneeling soldier works well near the dead one, having played about with the positioning.

I've also changed the left hand of the knelt figure to a clenched one as I want to give the impression of some movement ie the clenched fist will be holding on to the strap of a K98 lifting it off the floor as though he has thrown the rifle down and now (after trying to help) picks it up with a sense of urgency.

I have tried it and it works well, so once I have finished modding figure 2 I'll post some more pics.

Dave

 

[Dr Force]

I have placed a piece of blutac to give the impression of how I intend to add the greatcoat to figure 2, arms are fixed but need to add milliput to shoulders and under arms :-

 

[Dr Force]

2nd figure now has bottom of greatcoat added and arms completed with Milliput. I have also cleaned and primed up the head which will not be fixed until I have the figures in place as I want to see which way the head is best suited for the circumstances.

I have a shed load of tidying up to do with thinning out and smoothing off rough edges once completely dry, then a clean up with light soapy water, followed by rinse & then primed after being left over night to dry.

All joints have been drilled and pinned so very secure. I reckon there is another 2-3 hours of cleaning. Primeing is done using Tamiya's superfine light grey and it sticks very well. I usually give it 2 coats to provide a solid base whilst being careful not to give up any detail by over doing it:-

 

[pmfs]

Hi Dave!

Its gonna be nice with the conversion.
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