101st AIRBORNE AT CARENTAN, JUNE 1944

[Steve Ski]

120mm Figures Sculpted by Maurice Corry, offered by Mitches Military Models.

Back in the warm waters of Olive Drab and Khaki tones, after the “Battle of the Tartans”, I pulled from my stash a really great couple of figures that have been itching to be worked. Initially there would have been a total of eight figures in this dio, but I scaled it back for lack of space when completed. My curio cabinet is getting full.

In this build there will be four 120 mm, Maurice Corry figures and a Freedom Model Kits 1/16th German Sd.kfz.2 Kettenkraftrad Typ HK 101. Starting off with some really great poses from Maurice Corry’s Airborne figure sets I couldn’t pass up this pair representing the iconic photo of the 101st AB in Normandy holding the Nazi flag. There are two represented from that famous photo and two others, A GI holding a German prisoner at bayonet point.

The initial set from that iconic photo doesn’t appear to be available anymore, but the second set is still shown on the second page as available, 120mm Us Airborne Private with German POW.
https://www.mitchesmilitarymodels.co.uk/120mm-models?page=2

The Freedom Model Kits 1/16th German Sd.kfz.2 Kettenkraftrad Typ HK 101 is still available and is reasonably priced for this kit, IHMO. It even comes with a driver, not bad.

Now I know some of you are going to mention that 120mm and 1/16th scales don’t mix. True, but it’s all in the presentation, right? So, I will work with a little optical illusion when placing that Sd.kfz.2. I haven’t quite figured out the scenario just yet, but there will be some small structure and lots of rubble within the scene. Point being, I need to keep my figure work going and these figures were in the cue.

These four resin figures themselves have some really great usable poses which makes for so many possibilities in dio placement. Clean-up was pretty much as per usual, nothing too far out of the ordinary, the casting was good. I did have to make a few minor alterations, some of the parts weren’t fitting as well as they should have, but nothing drastic.

The rifle straps were made from sheet pewter and some copper wire for the lugs, and a few other parts. I also made a pair of glasses for the GI with the flag. They appear a bit on the thick side, so I may scour for a bit thinner wire, but that will be towards the end of the build. Lastly, the figures were given a primer coat of Floquil Primer, oil based, to help identify any areas missed and prep for the base tone color application.

Freedom Model Kits 1/16th German Sd.kfz.2 Kettenkraftrad Typ HK 101 is now in production and is available from several vendors. This is a decent kit so far and it appears to be going together nicely. This blog will not feature the Sd.kfz.2 build, per se, but is mainly about the Airborne figures and painting them. I will update the progress, but not with any SBS on this rig.

More to follow soon, the Sd has to be done before the figure work begins at full speed. Thanks for watching.


Cheers, Ski.

 

[Barney]

 

[moon puppy]

Pass the Barney

 

[Rhino]

Well. All right then. Bigger Guys. No schmushed Frenchmen? Aww................

Thanks guys.

 

[Tojo72]

Looking forward to following another great project

 

[Piet]

 

[Greg Kimsey]

watching happily!

 

[Brokeneagle]

 

[JSteinman]

 

[Steve Ski]

Thanks, Gents. Sorry, no smooshed froggies, but we do have Jerry. I'll keep yall posted.

 

[Steve Ski]

Loo, Kybo, Camode, Privy

Or is it just an outhouse? There are many names for taking care of business, but I’m calling this an “outhouse”. This little insignificant addition should bring the scenario to life and help tell the story. A very simple build using ½”x1/16” strips of pine milled on the band saw, plus a few other square strips of various dimensions. The hardware was made form sheet copper with copper wire for hinge pins and sewing pins were cut to size for attachment bolts. This took only a few days to knock out and was a nice diversion.

I made the potty bucket from sheet pewter and copper wire. Just a simple design since it won’t be seen up close.

After the structure was complete, I gave the entire build a wash of Burnt Sienna with a touch of Cadmium Orange oils. I coated all over, inside and out, to make sure the base tone was visible throughout. Next began the sun beat worn effect using Burnt Umber and Raw Sienna with Mig’s pigments, white or light tones only. Several Burnt Umber tinted washes were applied to slowly bring out a sun beat dusty appearance.

I had never done wood weathering with pigments in the past and found this method very simple with great results. It will now be a standard for my tool box of techniques.

Since this outhouse is intended to appear well used and having been in service for some time, I had to beat it up just a little, but not too much. I also wanted to bring out the weathering often found in wetter climates such as areas in Northern France. I tried to not overdo it, but I think this will work out just fine. Mig’s Slimy Grime Light and Dark came in handy for the subtle mold and mossing effects.

No outhouse would be complete without a few newspapers inside, not only for reading material, but for taking care of business. Reading material was printed from photos of WWII French newspapers found on line.

Once the outhouse is attached to the base, I will add boot prints and a bit more dusting, but for now, it will be set aside awaiting final installation.

Thanks for watchin. Cheers, Ski.

 

[moon puppy]

I'm already seeing that story

 

[Steve Ski]

Thanks, MP. Yep, you guessed it, spot on!

One note of intel though, from a friend at PF;
"Supposedly before the adoption of the more familiar male and female bathroom symbols, it was common to use a crescent moon to denote that an outhouse was for women and a sun to denote that it was an outhouse for men. This supposedly being a nod to the fact that women have long being associated with the moon and men supposedly with the sun."

So, given this info, it plays pretty much right into the comical narrative I was aiming for, though I didn't know about the above mentioned beforehand. Perfect!

 

[Greg Kimsey]

Fantastic! Looks utterly real!

 

[JamesOLeary]

You did a really good job on the outhouse, Ski. Is there a floater in the bucket? Although gross to some audiences, that would be a realistic touch not commonly found in other scenes I have seen of outhouses.

 

[moon puppy]

"'recked'it hell I nuked it".

 

[Steve Ski]

Oh boy, out comes the Loo jokes, HA! Ya killin me Smalls, ya killin me. I wanted to keep the nasty to a minimum but still show a fair amount of use. I've added nail heads, rust streaks, and now I will make a toilet seat since nobody wants to volunteer to sit on the bucket, lol. Go figure

 

[MrT]

 

[Steve Ski]

OPR, Oil Paint Rendering

This trac-bike has been on the bench for a few weeks now getting a work over. I won’t go into too much detail on this portion of the dio, but just a minor update on progress. The real issue with this kit is the forks and the tracks, they are weak, IMHO. No worries, the worst is past, now the fun part, painting and weathering.

Using Mike Rinaldi’s “Tank Art” book series I am stepping away from the traditional weathering approach and trying something new, or at least to me it is. Oil Paint Rendering, or OPR for short, which is very thoroughly explained in book #4, German Armor. The SBS sequence is located at the end of chapter in each book for quick reference making for a pretty slick arrangement of the steps to follow.

Being an oiler at figure painting already, this OPR method is right up my alley. This really is a simple process, but it just takes a bit of practice, like everything else in this “Sport”.

I picked up the first four books a few years back, so now I’m ready to give it a go and see if I can incorporate this OPR method to its fullest. Kudos to Mike for such a well written and illustrated set of what I would consider essential volumes for armor geeks. Mike’s books can be found here: https://www.rinaldistudiopress.com/

Off we go,……….. This current camo pattern is not exactly accurate, but close enough for my purposes. My airbrush talents are lacking, so a true hand sprayed on pattern would have been a dismal disaster. I’ll run with this one and carry on. I did use elastic masking putty from AK Interactive. This stuff is great, my first time using it, but it’s rather tricky in tight spaces or on delicate details, so be aware of that if you’ve never used it. I also used the hairspray method for the chipping sequence. I still have a long way to go to feel comfortable with this method, but the possibilities are incredible. The biggest issue being “less is more” when it comes to chipping. It’s too easy to get carried away with the process and trash all that prior work only to end up with a redo.

So, as you can see there has been appreciable progress, but’s it’s slow going, especially learning a new technique and not wanting to jack it up, lol. I will use some pigments for mud work, but not much. I want to blend and fade using the oils and get the rust and dirt streaks down correctly. I’ll post the end results when it’s finished, but remember, I’m working to get to the AB figures, this is just a necessary next step to reach that goal.


Thanks for watchin. Cheers, Ski.

 

[moon puppy]

Sweet Ski!