Spearhead, US 3rd Armoured Division, Paderborn, Germany 1945

The Battle of Paderborn was hard fought by the US 3rd Armoured Division towards the closing stages of the war in Europe. I wanted to summarise the bitter mood from the aftermath of the fighting by contrasting the tank crew's weary "thousand-yard stare" and his nervous grasp on his cigarette against his one foot on the severed gun barrel of his adversary - a symbol of a costly victory.

The figure was painted with a mixture of Vallejo and AK Interactive Gen 3 paints. Colour for Vallejo Acrylics mixes can be found HERE from an earlier project. I used a combination of grey and dark brown tones for the shadows areas to render a sombre mood. Warms tones are employed to direct the viewer's gaze towards the face and the hands. 

Crafting the story of the battle has been the prime objective of this project. Though, simple as it may seem, I hope that I have proven that even a single figure can create a strong impact when all the visual elements meld to form a coherent narrative. 

Cheers,

Calvin

Spearhead, US 3rd Armoured Division, Paderborn, Germany 1945

A very enjoyable painting session this evening accompanied by Jim and Barry's podcast Small Subjects. 

Cheers,

Calvin

Spearhead, US 3rd Armoured Division, Paderborn, Germany 1945

 More progress on the painting over the past weekend. 

Cheers,

Calvin

Spearhead, US 3rd Armoured Division, Paderborn, Germany 1945

A little more progress this evening on the face, barrel and groundwork. 

 Cheers,

Calvin

Spearhead, US 3rd Armoured Division, Paderborn, Germany 1945

 Swapped out Tamiya's Tiger I barrel for a more detailed offering from Dragon.

Cheers,

Calvin

Spearhead, 3rd Armoured Division, Paderborn, Germany, 1945

A little more progress over the past week.

 

Cheers,

Calvin

Spearhead, 3rd Armoured Division, Paderborn, Germany, 1945

A quick project for the month of August inspired by Adam Makos's WW2 novel Spearhead. The upper torso of the figure was taken from Verlinden Production's US Tank Crew WW2 set (134) and the legs were sculpted from epoxy putty. The head and hands are offerings from Hornet Models

The figure is test fitted on the base with one foot on top of a Tiger I gun barrel ;symbolising a bitter victory in the aftermath of the Battle of Paderborn when the 3rd Armoured Division suffered heavy losses together with their commander General Maurice Rose. 

Cheers,

Calvin