Rudolf's Roadside Rant ~~(FINISHED)~~

I dig it.  For some reason the pose on the guy to the right, with his palm turned up as if to shrug and say, 'What the F, Herr Ober-paininmybutt' jumps out at me.  For me, that little posture makes the whole thing! 

Awesome painting and nice WIP on how you did the base - thanks!

Right on C.J. ~  Thanks Man. glad you like it and find it inspiring (I in turn took inspiration from the small brick wall piece you scratched) --Not "real" work? LOL. You mean like Helo-logging? Or Crime-scene-clean-up? Nope, not that hard !!!    Gives me a chance to get something done before I embark on another long build(you know)

Boyd ~ funny man ! You completely get this. I am improving 'Rudy' but I'm getting a little tired of his additude :

I went with the grey of an artillery officer instead of the black uniform of the SS as on the box art. I probably didn't get the grey quite right(though it matches B&W reference photos I have perfect )It was an accomplishment at that point in my figure painting so I probably won't change it.

Mostly this view will be seen:

 Oh and Maniac ~ NO. Not. See, it's an acrylic display cube. Cover fits in that groove :

More updates on painting coming before completion............see ya soon........

bbrowniii wrote:

For some reason the pose on the guy to the right, with his palm turned up as if to shrug and say, 'What the F, Herr Ober-paininmybutt' jumps out at me.  For me, that little posture makes the whole thing!  Awesome painting and nice WIP on how you did the base - thanks!

Ditto... It's agreat "WTF do ya want US to do about it?" pose...

I went with the grey of an artillery officer instead of the black uniform of the SS as on the box art.

Actually, tank crews wore the black uniforms, and assault gun/SP artillery crews grey ones whether Waffen-SS or Heer until about mid '41 when the black was replaced by feldgrau (Heer) and Waffen-SS got Mausgrau (Mouse grey) uniforms.  The cut of the SS uniform tunic was different from the Heer tunic, so they really can't be interchanged by simply changing the color.  Your guy is wearing the Waffen-SS uniform...

You are of course, quite correct Hans. The main difference of 'cut' being that where the jacket of the SS fell near straight down from the button at the 'buttoned-over' postion, the SP Attillery grey jacket had more of a 'V' shape, falling away from that button. This small difference is something I'm aware of now(though 2 years ago when I painted Rudolf I was not) Where I really made a mistake though, was in deviating from the kits intended colors, as an out-of-the-box build, I have no place converting the uniform.    But I painted it grey.       So now, knowing already that (this)Rudy was a weakpoint, do I replace him? Convert him ?Paint him as SS? Or live withthe shortcomings of a model made yesteryear...?Open to suggestion here guys ~ I do have his replacement right here on the bench ~ I just have 'some' value in the old model still.

 As for the other figures, small improvements are ongoing :

Smoothing out some features of my painting without really 'changing' anything too much

Some of the detail on these MB figures is too good to be styrene :

Others is not. On Vehicle Equipment is kinda sad, Especially tried to hide the breadbags :

Building OOTB is turning out to be harder ! I'd really like to reach for some of those way-better looking X-tra personal items from DML kits I have in the spares box!!!

 Still, small improvements are being made without totally changing my original work. What to do about Rudy however?  He always has been a problem-child.

So now, knowing already that (this)Rudy was a weakpoint, do I replace him? Convert him ?Paint him as SS? Or live withthe shortcomings of a model made yesteryear...?

Nah, I'd leave it as is, man...  If you replace "Rudy", I think you'd lose the "spirit" of the vignette...  Although... If you were to paint him as SS, it might be even funnier, since the SS guys were pretty arrogant and had a tendency to look down their noses at Heer troops.. Those Heer Panzergrendiers don't seem to care about Rudy's ranting and that's a good thing...

I still like it as is though...

Minor update ~ Base coats on everything :

Everything base-coated in acrylics(Tamiya & Vallejo)

Next  ,the more interesting layers and ....placement.....please stay tuned......

camo junkie wrote:

will stay tuned. still looks good so far!

Thanks Buddy, please do. I've got the base just about finished :

The stage is set. there where a few more steps to get there :

A few heavy, dark grey washes on the cobbles, a chocolate brown 1 on the earth, lighter grey on cement.

A thick wash of Grungy Grey Doc O'brians pigment powder & alcohol is layed in wet, so it flows into cracks & lowspots

When it dries it lightens alot, I like the effect

A few more detail items to place, and as soon as I'm satisfied with the figures, it will be complete......

psstoff995 wrote:

This is great! I love the figures, nice work Indy

Thanks alot  ~Chris ~ , hope you like this......

 ~ Hans  ~ thank you, you helped light a fire under my butt to improve this build greatly, by replacing the actor who will be playing the role of Rudy, as he was a weak figure in many regards, though his pose & expression we're importaint to the vignettes' story, a conversion has taken place . Rudy will now be tall & slender, with nicely defined clothing, a well formed hand pointing, a scowling,speaking while growling expression, and the proper black Waffen SS Panzer Commander uniform.

  Platoon PT-013 German tank Commander, Warriors replacement head,modified arm,and hand from another Warriors figure,(still adding same thin putty layers to his new arm here, to adjust for the new position with some spot thickening. 

Then a primer/basecoat was added using Tamiya TS-4 German Grey for a dark-mid-tone

Don't worry, that's not filled detail on the face, it's covered with masking fluid(the hand  has tape) to save the dark yellow of the resin surface to base the fleshtones on.

A dark blue-grey Vallejo mix is 'washed' into reccesses. Later, small amounts of Tamiya XF-15 Flat Flesh is mixed progressively into that color(with a tad of retarder) and VERY lightly drybrushed on, in lighter and lighter tones, focusing on the tops of folds as I near a light-fleshy-grey to the top

This will be my 1st all-black uniform though I intend to have this figure complete fairly quickly.

[

Still, no actual  'black' has been used yet. This will come in the next steps. Thanks for tuning in.......................... Indy

That's an outstanding figure, Indy... That guy's no rookie though.. With his two Iron Crosses (1st & 2nd Class), Armored Assault Badge and Wound Badge (German equivilant of US Purple Heart Medal), he's been in he sh*t for a spell... Of course, the Heer Grenadiers could be just seasoned... The Army didn't didn't give its medals out as readily as the Waffen-SS did.. They were usually awarded to Army troops en mass when a unit was taken out of the line for rest & refitting.

Also, and this is just a little thing, you may want to re-do the haircuts on the Grenadiers... Here's a reference site for managing Otto's wavy locks in the service of Der Vatterland..

http://www.dererstezug.com/GermanHaircut.htm

Indy nice little vignette. Next time, try using real wood and dark grey/black washes to simulate wood. I like the cobblestones a lot. Keep building.

PS I don't know anything about soldiers and military stuff, so I don't comment on it, and leave that to the poeple who do know.

vespa boy wrote:

Indy nice little vignette. Next time, try using real wood and dark grey/black washes to simulate wood. I like the cobblestones a lot. Keep building.   PS I don't know anything about soldiers and military stuff, so I don't comment on it, and leave that to the poeple who do know.

Hans von Hammer wrote:

That's an outstanding figure, Indy... That guy's no rookie though.. With his two Iron Crosses (1st & 2nd Class), Armored Assault Badge and Wound Badge (German equivilant of US Purple Heart Medal), he's been in he sh*t for a spell... Of course, the Heer Grenadiers could be just seasoned... The Army didn't didn't give its medals out as readily as the Waffen-SS did.. They were usually awarded to Army troops en mass when a unit was taken out of the line for rest & refitting. Also, and this is just a little thing, you may want to re-do the haircuts on the Grenadiers... Here's a reference site for managing Otto's wavy locks in the service of Der Vatterland.. http://www.dererstezug.com/GermanHaircut.htm

Thank you Hans, yes,  I think so. Even more to the 'spirit of the vignette' in the end I hope. He is well decorated as to make a more interesting model I guess(Then I suppose us modelers could always scrape off an award or two !)Not hard to find reference for Axis medals, but that site you list is fabulous for anyone needing details on German troops! Thanks for the tip, as for the haircuts, I feel well-advised. I could trim a bit , but, I really think that a few months into the campaign bushy heads of hair would become common, and the MB figures show this well. True most photos of Heer in good marching order appear well-kept, most of them are looking quite shaggy by time they lay dead on the Russian plain.  

Excelent work as always indy!

Great looking base work!

falschimjager wrote:

better yet have both of them ranting at the grenadiers.

Probably not. A.  The Vignette was designed for (3)  B.The two Officer figures aren't all that compatible. & C. I think if they we're in that much trouble they'd likely just be shot  

Hello INDY,

Very nice work. Different subjects on matching bases - I followed that idea once, too. Keep up the good work and have a nice day!

Pawel

Excelent work as always indy! Great looking base work!

I missed one!!  Sorry about that Will !!   Yes, Thank you 2X very much, Sir.

]

Thanks Pawel 'ole Buddy !  Yeah-fun to do a few short-term projects inbetween the 3-4 month kind. I might try it again sometime, plus, hey, they're decorater friendly!