The Accordionist - Italy 1943

More painting done this Saturday afternoon. 

Cheers,

Calvin

The Accordionist - Italy 1943

Some progress on the painting of the figure this evening.  

Cheers,

Calvin

The Accordionist - Italy 1943

Another figure from Tamiya's German Soldiers at Rest set. This time I decided to modify the standing soldier with the two loaves of bread to an accordionist. 

 

To accommodate the accordion from Miniart, I had to slightly reposition the left arm and remodel the fingers with stretched sprue. The front section of the accordion bellows were not well moulded and had to be rebuilt using stretched sprue. Finally, the shoulder strap is made from Tamiya Pla-Paper and the buckles formed with epoxy putty. 

A scene is composed with a piano and seat from Miniart. The ornate tiles are made using the Canon Selphy photo transfer technique onto epoxy putty. 

Cheers,

Calvin

High and Dry - Scharführer, SS-Totenkopf Div., Hungary 1945

New photos of an old project made in 2001. It is a Hornet figure swapped out with a Hornet head posed on a T-34/76 ChTZ turret from Tamiya. The groundwork was built up from parts found in my scrap box. This is personally one of my favourite builds mainly because I really had fun putting it together. I entered it in the Euro Militaire 2001 competition and it was awarded a Silver medal in its class.

Cheers,

Calvin

Sanitäter - France 1940

I made some corrections and enhancements over the week; added the Sanitäter sleeve badge and changed the piping colour on shoulder board because the service branch colour for the Wehrmacht medical troops is blue instead of purple. 

I also remade the egg as I felt the yolk was a tad too flat. I rolled a tiny ball of epoxy putty and immediately painted the surface with yellow followed by a glaze of clear yellow for to enrich the tone. This was left to firm up for 30 minutes before being pressed into the egg whites which was formed by building up about five layers of Vallejo matt varnish. A final coat of AK Interactive gloss varnish was applied over the egg for a glistening shine. 

Cheers,

Calvin

Sanitäter - France 1940

 Finally completed this simple project using the stock components and some tender loving care. You got to admit that this classic still holds up  rather well against the prevalence of digital 3D scanning technology.  

Cheers,

Calvin

Sanitäter, France 1940

Added a few personal accoutrements like the handkerchief and a butter dish. Elements like these might seem banal but they help to fortify the narrative of a soldier preparing his supper. 

Cheers,

Calvin

Sanitäter - France 1940

The figure is now "armed" and the scene is progressively coming together.

Cheers,

Calvin

Sanitäter - France 1940

 I finally figured out what was wrong with colour scheme. The white floor tiles echoed the cold temperature of bluish grey Jerry cans and the soldier's trousers - making the overall scene cold and dull. I thus decided to paint the tiles with various hues of orange brown and yellow ochre as a colour complementary to the blue grey. 

The orange brown hues of the tiles however proved to be a tad gaudy and overpowering. I gave it a light mist of Grimy Grey and Rubber Black to rein in the brightness  before scattering the debris.

The overall colour composition harmonises better in the orange/blue complementary scheme. 

I also changed the insignia on the medic's helmet to a simpler design as the large red cross on the top appeared too overpowering. 

The arms of the figure were not attached to facilitate the painting of the tunic and medic pouches.

And on a lighthearted note.....

Cheers,

Calvin

Sanitäter - France 1940

The painting begins by misting a fine layer of flat white over a black undercoat to simulate the bright spots on the figure. This is followed by the base colours of the tunic and trousers. 

This approach allows the base colour to appear brighter than just spraying the base colours over the black undercoat. 

The tiles are made with epoxy putty using a photo transfer method and attached to a piece of plastic sheet for reinforcement. Textures and pork marks are created with a ball shaped dental burr. 

After the tiles are painted and weathered, debris are also made from epoxy putty mixed in with some talcum powder to create a more brittle compound. When dried, they are easily chipped with a pair of nippers and painted to resemble brick and concrete litter. 

The figure and groundwork are assembled together to assess the colour scheme of the composition. I am still ambivalent about the colour of the floor tiles and might go about changing it. 

Cheers,

Calvin

Sanitäter - France 1940

This figure set German Soldiers at Rest was released sometime in the mid 1980's. In my opinion  this is probably the finest set of figures made by Tamiya and it is still good after more than 30 years in the market. The box art was painted by the renown military illustrator, Rick Scollins and I read somewhere that the figure set was designed by Bill Hearne. Some of you might recall Francois Verlinden utilising this set on his numerous dioramas before he launched his own line of figures.  

Taking advantage of the accessories included in the kit,I decided to compose a small scene of a German medic (Sanitäter) making supper next to a camp fire. The jerry cans are from a separate set of accessories also by Tamiya and a crowbar holding up the sausage over the pan is made from styrene.  To transform the soldier to a medic, I added a arm band on his left sleeve and converted the ammo pouches to the medic pouches; both using epoxy putty. 

Now that the scene is built, I do hope that the painting can be completed equally fast. 

Cheers,

Calvin

Diptych - Ich hatt' einen Kameraden

Ich hatt' einen Kameraden, 

Einen bessern findst du nit.

 Die Trommel schlug zum Streite, 

Er ging an meiner Seite 

In gleichem Schritt und Tritt.

 Eine Kugel kam geflogen: 

Gilt's mir oder gilt es dir? 

Ihn hat es weggerissen, 

Er liegt zu meinen Füßen 

Als wär's ein Stück von mir. 

 Will mir die Hand noch reichen, 

Derweil ich eben lad. 

Kann dir die Hand nicht geben, 

Bleib du im ew'gen Leben 

Mein guter Kamerad! 

Ludwig Uhland