This conversion was from Dragon kit Afrika Korps Infantry, kit#6138 1/35 scale, guy carrying rifle and ammo box.
At the time, I was really interested in the battle of Narva in Estonia. The Germans had dug defensive trenches between Baltic sea and I think it was called Lake Balatan to defend against the Russians. Some volunteer SS units fought including the SS Langemarck. So I thought I would put together a soldier from this unit. I also found this photo of a soldier carrying two magnetic mines on a rope, and thought this would add great effect to the over all piece, and of course like most of my pieces I added lots of 'GEAR'! The figure was painted in acrylics and oils. The ground work wasn't all to impressive to me, so I opted not to photgraph too much of that. Straps are lead foil, and rope is sewing thread. The SS langemarck also wore what were called Styrian gaters over their boots. So, I sculpted these over the soldiers boots. Not sure if Styria is a country or what, or why they wore these. I guess I'll have to do more research on this!

Thanks for looking!

Jim

Outstanding work, Jim, i really like it!

I believe the head you used is not one provided by Dragon?

Cheers,

Nemanja

Hi Jim,

awesome work I really like this little fella.
Is cool the way you load your figures with gear, looks very natural
Lake Balatan is in Hungary
See this please:
http://www.vincelewis.net/t34.html

Great stuff... how many of these Dragon figures have you converted? You are showing us masterpiece after masterpiece almost every week.

What's your technique for getting such nice textures on uniforms in 1/35?

Awesome job once again,
Mario

Excellent looking figure Jim!

regards,
Marcel.

great painting and conversion with a lot of gear , you are a master of these little germans

cheers

stefano

Can't but agree the nicest kit festooned WW2 german in 35th I've seen - well done mate.RobH

Excellent work!!!!

Nice work Jim well done.

Jim looks like he's ready for some serious action, another great painted and crafted conversion.

Cheers Ken

Hi Jim,

Loads of details on this figure. Great work.

Nice Jim- his stride is good... Looks like he is carrying a heavy load. Good conversion work again my friend-
Scott

First I would like to thank the nine members that like my work! Thanks much!

Nemanja- Thank you for liking my work, I do appreciate it! Yes, I forgot to mention earlier, the head is not Dragon, but is Warriors. Thanks for the reminder!
Pedro- Thanks Pedro for you feedback! I appreciate it. For me modeling is adding all these extras, and like you said, creating that natural look that is really very pleasing to the eye. I almost forgot, the lake! It was Lake Peipus!
Carl- Cool new Avatar! Thanks again Carl!
Mario- It's always nice to here your supportive feed back, Very appreciated!
Mario, to answer your question on how many conversions I've done. The answer is there is one figure before this that I finished, but that's it. I decided to come to PF to help motivate myself to start becoming more involved in the hobby. Looking at this forum night after night, seeing all the great modelling, truly inspires me to keep going to produce more works. Having two kids 5 and 2, working full time, it really drains you. For me anyways, I have to be motivated after 8pm. Believe me, I have my head full of modelling ideas just waiting to be created. This forum helps a lot!
What is my technique for painting to get nice textures? I've always used Vellajo acrylics for base coating my figures and Windsor Newton oils. My style is primarily wet on wet blending. Once the oils dry I do some wet on dry detailing ie seams, major highlights. For my detailing I like to use a 00 liner brush from American Painters, cheap but good. On my next figure I will be experimenting with a different Brand acrylic from Americana for base coating. I talked with Master painter Greg Difranco Chicago last year and critiqued my work and asked what I used for base coating, i said Vallejo's. He said that Vallejo's have some sort of vinyl element that is not most suited for blending oils over, doesn't give as good of a bite for blending.
I'm going to give these acrylics a go and see what happens. I'm glad you like the texture, and my painting overall and hopefully with this new Brand of acrylic I'll come out with an even better finish. Thanks again Mario!
Marcel- As always, thanks for your compliments!
Stefano- So, what do you think the chances on Tommy Thayer singing 'Back in the Milan groove' in May? As always, thanks for the kind words!
Rob- Thanks for the great feedback!
T50- I'm glad you like my work, I'm very appreciative of the compliment!
Christos- Thank you for your kind feedback!
Ken- Thanks for the compliment, much appreciated!
Tony- As always, I value your feedback! Thank you!
Scott- My modelling bro from another mo! . Thanks for all your support and friendship. Everyone, Scotts my good friend here in the Twin Cities that's a very, very skilled sculpter and painter, and has shown me a lot of what I know today, and for many years to come we'll continue to progress together. Thanks Scott!

i think this one is my favourite so far, very nice work on getting all that equipment nicely onto the figure, i dont think any T-34 will stand a chance against this guy.

exellent work again Jim,

Steve

Re: Styrian Gaiters

Jim,
Hopefully to answer one of your questions:
Styria is a region of the Austrian Tyrol, & Styrian gaiters were a type of snow gaiter worn by some German mountain troops to keep their boots dry in deep snow. The association between these & the Waffen-SS Langemarck Brigade may have stemmed from the fact that it was composed of both French & Flemish-speaking Belgians. The French-speaking Belgians (Walloons) were one of the first European nationalities to form their own Legion within the Wehrmacht, led by the Belgian Rexist leader Leon Degrelle, & control of the unit passed to the Waffen-SS. During the unit's early career on the Eastern Front it worked in partnership with a German mountain division, & adopted the Gebirgsjager Edelweiss badge as an honour.
In photos taken of Degrelle both in Wehrmacht & Waffen-SS uniform, he can be seen wearing the Edelweiss sleeve badge & in some, the peaked mountain cap with W-SS insignia & cap edelweiss. It's possible that some of the Walloons may have adopted the Styrian gaiters from the Gebirgsjager, & continued to wear them throughout their campaigns. They were certainly common in W-SS Gebirgsjager units (notably the 7th SS-GebirgsDivision "Prinz Eugen", many of whose Austrian members had served in the Mountain units of the former Austro-Hungarian Army), & it would have been possible for the Belgians to replenish their clothing stocks through the wider Waffen-SS supply chain.
Hope this helps you out, you've created a stunning figure there.
Congratulations,
Chris

Steve,

I'm glad you like! It was a bit tricky getting the ropes and straps layered just right. You had to first figure out what the guy was carrying, then, you had to think what the guy was going to put on first, second, third and then fourth. Makes sense to put on the gas mask cannister strap first, then throw on the rifle, then the panzerfaust sling or rope, and last, since the mines will be distributed first, the magnetic mine sling. Lots of fun!

As always Steve, thanks for the great feedback!

Jim



Chris,

Thanks much for this fantastic research on Styrian gaters! Most helpful!
Thanks for the compliments too!

Jim