90. Day, April 15, 2021


Ready!



















Tomorrow I'll start with the base...

Cheers

Would be nice to add Phil's version soon...

Watch this space..................

91. to 94. Day, April 16 to 19, 2021


Let us now turn to the base!

It will consist of an antique "marble" column, which is decorated with typical symbols and signs of victory of the Red Army.

The first thing on the program is a miniature replica of a troop flag!

So first do some research - that's why I haven't shown any photos in the past few days, because an old sack in front of the computer is not that exciting ...

The most famous - and most photographed - troop flag of the Red Army is this one ...:





It is that of the 2nd Rifle Unit of the 150th Rifle Division. The aforementioned 2nd division bore the honorary name "Iiridsa" (a small river in the Soviet Union, where the troops had distinguished itself) - the division itself bore the honorary name "Kutuzov".

It is the flag of the unit whose members hoisted the Soviet flag on the Reichstag building in Berlin in May 1945 - the ultimate symbol of victory in the Soviet Union!

The original is now in the Museum of the Great Patriotic War - the flag is a kind of national relique ...:



A copy of the banner - next to the national flag - is carried in front of the parade on "Dem Pobjedi" (Victory Day) every May 9th ...:





Only - that doesn't help me a bit!

The flag I'm looking for should match the bust - and our friend was never in Berlin, at least not as a fighting soldier!

He wears a number of combat medals that make his way in war very understandable:

He took part in the battle for Moscow, was then involved in the liberation of Belarus and at the end of the war was involved in the capture of the East Prussian metropolis of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad).

So I was looking for a unit of the Red Army that went this way.

And I actually found such a unit!

Here is her way ...:



It is the 39th Rifle Brigade, which was given the honorary name "Vitebsk" because its soldiers excelled in the liberation of this Belarusian city (June 24 - 27, 1944) as part of Operation "Bagration" ... :









In the bitter fighting in Vitebsk, 18,000 German soldiers lost their lives, around 10,000 were taken prisoner ...:



The LIII. German Army corps of the German 3rd Panzer Army, which consists of three divisions, comprised 30,000 soldiers, practically no longer existed - the city of Vitebsk was completely destroyed in the fighting.

The flag of the 39th Rifle Brigade looked much simpler ...:



Here it's backside...



... which was practically the same for all units that were hastily set up in 1941 ...:



I want to make this flag of the 39th Rifle Brigade!

First I took tinfoil paper and "ironed" it with a marble stick, because it was pretty crumpled in the closet ...:



The piece was then primed black ...:



Then I scanned the front of the flag on the PC in matching scale and transferred the writing and the star to the tinfoil using the good old tracing method.

Then I painted - as best I can ...:



The front is finished - I will paint lights and shadows as soon as the flag is "up", and I also want to make the golden fringes.



But now the back comes first.

Tomorrow.


Cheers

First class Martin! Both research and painting. Very impressive

Phil

95. Day, April 20, 2021


The backside.

Original...



... and my miniature copy ...:




Please do not look so closely at the lettering! Well, you can read what it says there (namely "Sa hashu sovjetkich rodinu" - "For our Soviet homeland") - but the letters could be better.

But I just can't do it any better and am satisfied with the result - gritting my teeth.

Cheers

You are dissatisfied with that!!! Looks very neat to me. You did hand paint it, not fake up a decal on your printer.

Phil

I'm already happy when my old Epson ink printer manages to print on paper.
I can only dream of decals ...

96. Day, April 21, 2021


The next item on the program is the flagpole!

The problem is not the rod itself, but the tip!

In the first years of the Great Patriotic War, two points in particular were used in newly erected units:

The first variant showed only one star ...





... the second variant, on the other hand, showed the complete Soviet iconography - the "Molot-Serp" (hammer and sickle) symbol was added to the star ...:





Neither tip looked like the other, which was due to the fact that the units were made by more or less talented soldiers themselves - in 1941, when the Soviet state was desperately fighting for its life, the Soviet state had other things to do than industrially tip flagpoles manufacture!

Means:
The flags were awarded without a point, often not even with a pole!

It was not until 1943, when they came to Siegerstrasse, that the tips of the flagpoles were made uniformly - they then went to newly established units or existing ones that were renamed, for example when a part of the troops had earned the "Guard" title ... :


So I have a bit of artistic freedom when making my lace - the 39th Rifle Brigade was set up as early as 1941, so the lace is handcrafted!

I decided on the more difficult variant, so Soviet star and Molot-Serp ...:



So you have to imagine the whole thing with pole and flag ...:





And because I still had a little mixed "Milliput" left, I reworked the bouquet:

Below I have turned the "tulip" into a yellow "daffodil" with oil paint - at the top another daffodil from "Milliput" has been added - it will turn white ...





I don't know yet whether I can continue tomorrow - because in an hour and a half I'll get my first anti-corona shot.
And because our state is so particularly caring, they bang me the same stuff that the mother of all Germans got ...

Let's AstraZeneca, baby!
Cheers

First of all.....I don't like the side by side comparison as it's hard to give an honest opinion, so I can only say, I really like the concept and the sculpt is very well done along with the painting of both.

Wayne