Gut schütteln!

Panzermuseum Thun Switzerland

2007-02-11T22:57:00.000+01:00

Here's a huge photo assortment of the vehicles and artillery on show in Thun. Of note are the StuG Ausf. G , Königstiger, Panther D (with incorrect mantlet), Hetzer and other German panzers.

Koblenz Panther G

2007-02-11T22:43:00.000+01:00

Here are some more shots from Markus Lack, of the Panther G from the Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung Koblenz. The more eagle eyed amongst you, may spot the vertical ribbed stowage bins.

Germersheim Stadt und Festungsmuseum

2007-02-11T22:32:00.000+01:00

Here are some photos from Markus Lack, a good friend and modeller living in Germersheim. These photos were taken a few years ago, and show some of the exhibits at the museum.

Otto von Bargen

2007-01-18T21:29:00.000+01:00

One aspect of WWII that makes both figure building and genealogy so interesting, is the methodical record keeping employed by the German forces. These scanned documents were sent to me via a Norwegian with an interest in the Wiking and Nordland divisions. For anyone who also has an interest in military history, these scans are an in depth insight into one man's military career. Read on and enjoy.

I would have to say at this point that good looks do indeed run in the family.

As does a great sense of style.

I appreciate that the scans are quite small, and for anyone with a genuine interest, I can provide you with high resolution copies of the scans.

Das Panzermuseum 2003

2007-01-18T20:02:00.000+01:00

I paid this splendid museum a visit in 2003, and must say that the exhibits and the entry price make for a great day out, even if it did take place during the summer heatwave. The photos below show a small sample of the varied WWII exhibits on show.

Imperial War Museum Miscellaneous

2007-01-18T18:52:00.000+01:00

There is never enough time and flash card space to record the treasures in this museum, but hopefully these photos will give you an idea of what awaits visitors. For anyone who has read 'Grenadiers' by Kurt Meyer, the middle photo should be of added interest, not to mention Himmler's lasting impression...

Allgemeine? SS man's Personal - Ausweis

SS Brigadeführer Kurt Meyer's Personal - Ausweis

Himmler's death mask

Imperial War Museum Armour And Weapons

2007-01-18T18:50:00.000+01:00

Some of the other exhibits to be found there, Flak 88 36/37 and some hand held weapons .

Imperial War Museum Uniforms

2007-01-18T18:45:00.000+01:00

Likewise there are some decent uniform references for figure painters. Apologies for the poor quality of some of the shots, since the lighting isn't conducive to great flash free photography.

Imperial War Museum Jagdpanther

2007-01-18T18:33:00.000+01:00

These photos were lying around on a CD at home. They are sorted into some form of order, and should be useful to anyone looking for reference material.

Hornet head experiment

2006-11-26T14:44:00.000+01:00

This head comes from Hornet's HH23 set, and is an experiment in applying blood to a bandage. So far only the blood has been highlighted and shadowed, and my idea is to show a fairly freshly dressed wound. Skintones will be fairly light, considering the soldier has lost blood and is in shock. Hair will be the regulation blond.

Here's the next step. Blonde hair has been added with mixed of 141 English Uniform, 011 Lemon Yellow, 010 Light Yellow and 149 Chocolate Brown. The bandage has been defined with thin washes of 170 Glossy Black. More to follow...

Having started the next step of the painting, I made several cock ups and decided to restart. So on with a layer of Model Air 034 Sandy Brown and a fresh attempt at a decent head paint. I will be following the instructions of the Vallejomeister himself, Jaume Ortiz. His forum and article can be found in the following links:

Forum

http://www.network54.com/Forum/412233/

Head painting article

http://www.planetfigure.com/articles/jaume_face_eng.pdf

Both heads are from the HH23 set and I decided to use two so that I don't waste too much paint if I get a decent colour mix.

Here's Siegfried and Roy with their bandages applied with Model Color 004 Off White. The exposure is intentionally dark to show the shape of the bandages without any glare.

Royal Models

2006-11-26T11:51:00.001+01:00

This build is intended to show the stages of painting for newcomers to Vallejo Acrylics and how to tackle the application of various camouflage patterns. So far the figure has been assembled and the neck portion drilled out to accept a Hornet head. The trousers are half finished as is the webbing. As for the jacket, that will be finished in a Pea Pattern camouflage.

Here is the assembled figure showing the Hornet head and a DML Kar 98.

Next, the figure was primed with Vallejo Model Air 057 Black, which gives a good base for pre shading.

Here we see the base coat of 10:3 103 German WWII Beige Camo and 007 Pale Sand airbrushed on in thin coats.

The webbing has received coats of 168 Black Grey, 150 SS. Cam. Black Brown and 150 lightened with 007 Pale Sand. A wash of pure 170 Glossy Black was added to darken the leather and define the shadows.

For the highlights on the trouser base coat, 007 Pale Sand was added to 103 German WWII Beige Cam. Shadows came from 085 German Uniform added to the 103 German WWII Beige Cam.

The brown areas are 140 Flat Brown, highlighted with 007 Pale Sand and shadowed with 035 Cadmium Maroon.

Green is finished in 95 US Dark Green again highlighted with 007 Pale Sand and shadowed with 168 Black Green.

The Steilhandgrenate was left in the basecoat and had a thin layer of Burnt Umber oil laid over, and then removed 5 to 6 hours later with a shortened no. 1 brush.