Kharkov, 1943: "Backhand Blow" *UPDATE 5-21: new pics*

Kharkov is close to my heart in terms of being my favorite battle I am really making sure that all of the figs are as accurate as possible...stay tuned!!!  

just wondering why this is your favorite battle?

and

Tankluver, the belt around his neck is actually molded on resin!!! It is a Warriors figgie and a good one at that.  The MG is a DML item (I replaced it for the resin one because of detail)...since that pic I added a PE sling as well...

Doog, thanks...I have been using a lot of Alpine heads on Warriors figgies for this dio (and some complete Alpine figs as well)...since Kharkov is close to my heart in terms of being my favorite battle I am really making sure that all of the figs are as accurate as possible...stay tuned!!!  

Man, these are some wicked cool figures, Manny!

They must be a sincere pleasure to paint too! 

Can't wait for the painted figures! 

That dude is BAMF !!! How do you get your machine gun bullets to go around the neck of the gunner?

Tankluver wrote:

Are your figures first painted white? They look really nice what paints do you use on them?

subfixer wrote:

Manny, you've always been an excellent figure modeler, but these show an even better level of technique than your work in the past, especially in the faces and particularly in the eye detail. Well done.

panzerguy wrote:

Manny these are some awsome fig's the detail is something else and the paint job's are outstanding!!! I'm guessing you use acrylic's,my choice also.One thing I noticed,the fig pointing and holding the MP40,you have the sling attatched to the bottom of the pistol grip,the strap should go into a notch located at the back of the reciever. Looking foward to seeing more of this one.

Great eye...actually the sling is glued in the correct spot but the slack is just "laying down" on the back side of the pistol grip on the way there...I actually use Humbrol enamels for everything except the final flesh painting, in which case I go to oils...the white uniforms are "knocked down" in brightness with a nice wash of raw umber. Thanks for the comments!

the doog wrote:

HEY DOOG!!!! Cool stuff, Manny! Can't wait to see it all come together!

yeah like Al says save the russian girl for a summer set  

she's a hottie

HEY DOOG!!!!

Cool stuff, Manny! Can't wait to see it all come together!  

More stuff for the dio:

That Maxim MG was fun to build and looks cool!

Some more figs painted and ready:

...thanks for checking it out...

the doog wrote:

Looking really tasty there, Manny! Whatcha got--PE rifle slings? That's cool! Who makes those? I'm always using lead foil from wine bottles--and that's getting harder to find....

I sometimes use scrap PE for the slings but these actually came from A GEN2 DML fig set...they have started including PE medals, belts and slings in their GEN2 kits... 

Looking really tasty there, Manny!

Whatcha got--PE rifle slings? That's cool! Who makes those? I'm always using lead foil from wine bottles--and that's getting harder to find.... 

Some more newly assembled figs for the dio:

Still deciding on the Russian chick fig....

Should have some newly painted ones up next week...

Oooooo! Don't hide the charms!

Your figures are exceptional, Manny! The skin tones are kind of understated and take great pics! 

ajlafleche wrote:

Given the cold weather gear on the guys, I'd forgo the female figure. Save her for a summer scene where it would be reasonable for her to be in a tank top.

ummmm...I could sculpt some fur on her...

Cool, Manny--that's a kit I'll be keeping an eye out for!

Yup, I'm doing a deep-snow vignette with the FK-I'll be posting it in about two weeks?