"Death in the Courtyard" *finished, more pics, page 15*

Thanks, guys---Well, GI's are painted up and ready for action...now the finishing touches to the hay-wagon and tying all of the elements together with the groundwork and she'll be in the books...comments welcomed:

Excellent paint work on the soldiers, Eric!

Hmmmm...where did this guy come from?

They look great, is the guy with the thompson an nco or officer? nco's have a horizontal white band and officers have a verticle white band on the back of their helmets.

On a side note, was there a rank or specialty needed for an American soldier to be issued the carbine?

ps1scw wrote:

They look great, is the guy with the thompson an nco or officer? nco's have a horizontal white band and officers have a verticle white band on the back of their helmets.

That was only true during the initial few weeks after Overlord.  As the Americans moved inland, they found that the Germans learned the system and snipers started picking on the guys with striped helmets... Same reason that NCOs started removing their stripes from their sleeves... 

Thanks, Buddho---Copycat !!! LOL-- Looks like you got some more GI's primed in the background...

psc1scw, thanks for looking...typically Officers or very senior NCO's carried the Thompson...Carbines were carried typically by NCO's...In my dio the guy w/ the Thompson is depicted as a Lt or Captain and the point man is a NCO (platoon or company sergeant)...the scurrying chickens are a cool idea but I don't know if I'll add those...my thinking is that they have had time to clear the area...

doog, appreciate your looking in man!!!

wbill76: don't see you out of the Armor forum much--I appreciate your looking in and the kind words...

Von Hammer...you are correct; you didn't see a lot of flashy rank on the US side (unlike the Germans), although I have been toying with the idea of maybe adding a butter bar or RR tracks on the officer's helmet just for effect...

No problem with the Butterbars or "First Lieutenant-Second Award" (Captains), Manny...  Officers usually kept those on the helmets.  Many Infantry company-grade O's went with the EM combat uniforms with O-ranks, since they felt that the Officer's Uniforms, being a different color, were a liability and helped single them out in Rifle Companies... I wouldn't make the O a Captain though... Company Commanders don't get out on point, unless something has gone horribly wrong... Wouldn't have both the Platoon Sergeant and the Platoon Leader out there either... A Squad or fire-team leader, yes... Say a Sergeant/Staff Sergeant and the El-tee... The only Senior NCOs in the Company are the 4 Platoon Sergeants and the First Sergeant, and the First Sergeant would be with the CO at the Company CP, his main function being beans, bullets, and bandaids getting to the rest of the Company. 

The US Army really didn't learn that lesson until well into the '60s with subdued rank insignia and the same combat uniforms for Officer and Enlisted alike...  In fact, the miniature subdued rank insignia was first used by the USMC in the 60's, and the Army followed suit in about '67... 

Hans von Hammer wrote:

No problem with the Butterbars or "First Lieutenant-Second Award" (Captains), Manny...  Officers usually kept those on the helmets.  Many Infantry company-grade O's went with the EM combat uniforms with O-ranks, since they felt that the Officer's Uniforms, being a different color, were a liability and helped single them out in Rifle Companies... I wouldn't make the O a Captain though... Company Commanders don't get out on point, unless something has gone horribly wrong... Wouldn't have both the Platoon Sergeant and the Platoon Leader out there either... A Squad or fire-team leader, yes... Say a Sergeant/Staff Sergeant and the El-tee... The only Senior NCOs in the Company are the 4 Platoon Sergeants and the First Sergeant, and the First Sergeant would be with the CO at the Company CP, his main function being beans, bullets, and bandaids getting to the rest of the Company.  The US Army really didn't learn that lesson until well into the '60s with subdued rank insignia and the same combat uniforms for Officer and Enlisted alike...  In fact, the miniature subdued rank insignia was first used by the USMC in the 60's, and the Army followed suit in about '67...

I've been researching where the US had the most contact w/ the Waffen SS in Normandy, since the bulk of the SS were tied up w/ the British and Canadians...I think I've settled on Operation "Cobra"...a lot of US infantry units were involved in the breakout, as well as one large SS unit: 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich"...This fighting primarily occured around St. Lo...and wouldn't you know it: I have a laser-etched wooden "St. Lo" sign!!! Perfect!

  Manny looks like another winner coming together. Hard job trying to get those Tamiya figs to look decent but you'v done a great job Cant tell but is the water going to be spilling on the German? I think that would look pretty cool

Mr. Revenge,

I would like to formally let you know that................

I HATE YOU!!!!!!!

Sincerely,

Jester75

(Not really, but damn I wish I had just a mere fraction of your figure paintings skills!!)

Those GI's look fabulous, its good to see some allied stuff from you Herr Feldmarschal!!

Manny - As usual your figures are insperational and awe inspiring. The are fabulous. I wish I had 1/10 your talent for figures. That would make me 10 times better than I am now. 

You should write an article/tutorial for the magazine. There is very little written on figures and you could help so many with so few words. If they did not publish it they would be fools.

Rounds Complete!!

panzerguy wrote:

Manny looks like another winner coming together. Hard job trying to get those Tamiya figs to look decent but you'v done a great job Cant tell but is the water going to be spilling on the German? I think that would look pretty cool

Panzerguy, I think I will move the barrel to the left-rear of the scene near the pump as it sort of accents the dead German...the water will be pouring near the body but not directly onto it...I plan on having the ground around that area begining to get saturated w/ the water and maybe a little staining from the German as well...having the barrel there also conveys the feeling (along w/ the corpse) of bullets flying...as far as the figgies go, I wish Tamiya hadn't stopped w/ this set as they really provide a dynamic scene w/ their poses, etc...too bad there aren't more "in action" sets---not even DML makes many convincing "in action" sets...

too bad there aren't more "in action" sets

Heh... Pull out that razor saw, wire, & putty, mein Herr...

Heh.  Im going to have to agree with hans here. 

Look at my current WIP.  I have turned a russian winter soldier, and a german radio man into a lanky baseball loving Bostonite.  Im quite sure you can work something out.  You have the skill, you can make them better, stronger, fas... wait, wrong show.

I didnt see the shot of the barrel before.  I must have missed it.  Thats quite amazing, Great job!.  Im trying to do something like that, except ALOT thicker.

One thing I noticed.  The bucket with the water in it, that water looks really to clean.  Looks like the kind of water you see on comercials for the bahamas.

...yeah, yeah...I could sculpt them---and really that is the ONLY way to get the exact figgie you want for a specific situation...

...there are some even better shots of the barrel earlier in the thread...clear sprue, stretched...

Ahh, I don't go that far, Manny... But doin' a Frankenstein with your figures really will open up a lot more poses for ya and doesn't take all that much to do, as long as you got a fair selection of parts to scrounge from.... Myself, I buy figure kits every time I go near a hobby shop, even if I already have them, just so the parts bin stays stocked...

Don't even have to be from the era you model, as long as they got arms, legs, and heads you can use in more than one era..

manny - I rarely come in here, dios are so much over my head in skills.. but man yours is awesome... my eyes follow the 'action" in a natural way (which I guess is the point of good dios? I may be wrong....), going over details and such.... I also see new/different things depending o nthe angle..anyways, Im such a newbie I have no clue what Im talking about, but hey, thumbs up from me! :)  cheers

JMart wrote:

manny - I rarely come in here, dios are so much over my head in skills.. but man yours is awesome... my eyes follow the 'action" in a natural way (which I guess is the point of good dios? I may be wrong....), going over details and such.... I also see new/different things depending o nthe angle..anyways, Im such a newbie I have no clue what Im talking about, but hey, thumbs up from me! :)  cheers

 Missed a lot in the last week. Manny those figures look amazing and the shot showing the leaking barrel in front of the German Casualty was very convincing! The last thing I'll say about the water is go for it as water does what it wants too! I took notes last week.

Manny, those Tamiya figs come alive with your painting skills. Great work.

Steve

SteveM wrote:

Manny, those Tamiya figs come alive with your painting skills. Great work. Steve

I don't know if this was asked yet, so if it was I apologize:

What color do you use for the 5 O'clock shadow, and do you apply it while the base skin tone is still wet?

That's REALLY some amazing work you have going there, Eric!

Very interesting and educational seeing the progression; Outstanding!

Take care,

Frank

Thehannaman2 wrote:

I don't know if this was asked yet, so if it was I apologize: What color do you use for the 5 O'clock shadow, and do you apply it while the base skin tone is still wet?