101 st Airborne paratrooper

[Jacek Spychalski]

Another example of my paint work is the U.S. Paratrooper D-Day (Warriors 1:9) Painted with acrylic and oils colours. The pose of the figure looks a little like an actor from Shakespeare theater :lol:

My figure:

And .....

Me!!!

:lol: :lol:

Cheers

Jacek

 

[Rob Brown]

nice job on warriors figure and you look good in the photo!

 

[Johan]

Jacek, cool haircut - guess you don't use "Herbal Essences" shampoo though ... :lol:

And seriously, that's some brilliant painting on that large scale figure, really superb !!

 

[Pete Wenman]

Jacek hi

The figure pose might be Shakespeare, but the painting is spot on

Excellent work


I watched Episode II (Day of Days) from Band of Brothers yesterday, great in 5.1 surround sound, and for the first time noticed in the background of the scenes in the farm prior to the assualt on Brecourt, that there was a trooper with a mohican and face paint. Nice touch I thought, he even had the white walls !

Pete

 

[nagashino]

Hi Jacek

"alas, poor Yorick, I knew him, Horatio" ... or something along those lines.

You must let me know your hairdresser's phone number....maybe he can sort mine out!! :lol:

Seriously, the painting is excellent although I have to say IMHO the pose is a bit "old hat" (VLS did a German hoding an Adrian helmet in much the same stance) - nevertheless you have made a superb job of it.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the 101 used cocoa powder for the red/brown streaks on the "warpaint" - was I imagining that?

Cheers

Phil

 

[megroot]

I like the painting. I don't like WW II and modern warfare, but the way you painted him make's me thinking. Shall I, maybe ?????

Great job.

Marc

 

[Jacek Spychalski]

Thank you my friends!

The haircut is my "sacrifice" for our modelling magazine( references for this figure)
:lol:
The 101st used cocoa powder for the "night camouflage" only:

Thanks again and all the best

Jacek

 

[Jason W.]

Very cool, Jacek! Your "cut" is hardcore! Well done on the figure.

 

[Pete_H]

Originally posted by Jacek Spychalski@Apr 30 2005, 01:35 PM

The 101st used cocoa powder for the "night camouflage" only:

... amongst other things. Cocoa powder mixed with linseed oil was one form of facial camouflage make-up used by paratroopers, but not the most common. The most common was actually coal dust and ashes. Some also smeared off some of the fresh black paint from the C-47's invasion stripes (these were painted onto the aircraft at the last minute). The use of mohawks and Indian war stripes has been popularized in history books because of a handful of photos of 101st. troopers gearing up for the big jump. However, these handful of photos created several "legends" about the paratroopers of the 101st. which are false:
1. the use of "Indian war paint" was confined to only one single unit in the 101st - the demolitions company of HQ/506 PIR (otherwise known as "the Filthy Thirteen," a unit who eventually inspired the story behind "the Dirty Dozen").
2. the war paint's colors were not red and white, but black and white due to the fact that these colors were the ones used on the C-47's invasion stripes.
3. mohawks were not widespread. In fact, the 101st's CO, BGen. Taylor (he got promoted to Major General while in Normandy), immediately ordered his troops to stop cutting their hair like this. Why? Because German propaganda fed stories to the French about "convicted murderers with shaved heads falling from the sky." The only unit to truly have a large proportion of "mohawk-wearing troopers" were, again, "the Filthy Thirteen."

I strongly recommend the following references besdies "the World War II GI in color photographs" (I thought I recognized that photo ):
"Vanguard of the Crusade," "101st. Airborne at Normandy" and "101st. Airborne: the Screaming Eagles at Normandy" by Mark Bando (also, check out his forum: www.101airborneww2.com where you'll have the chance to talk with actual veterans from the 101st. in WWII).
"Geronimo!" by Bill Rentz.
"At the Point of No Return" by Michel DeTrez.
"Currahee!" by Don Burgett.

P.S - talk about one hell of a motivated haircut!

 

[Don Freeman]

The consensus of opinion is that (1) this is an excellent paint job and (2) the haircut is the zenith of devotion to the subject. I agree on both counts. The figure has been around for a while and never sparked my interest, but you have gotten everything out of it that could be gotten. I also read with interest all the other postings and particularly the lore about the airborne and the invasion. I'm not surprised that the "mohawk" haircut was not widespread and that it caught on the public's fancy. Thanks for the info. Whatever those troopers deserve the honor of memory, and your painting does them service.

D

 

[Edson]

Hey man nice work on that buddy, just let me ask you the oil colour mix for the uniform?

Cheers
Ed (back in town.. :lol: )

 

[Jacek Spychalski]

Thanks again guys!

To Pete :


About face paint is not 100 % true. If you seen Michel De Trez
book "At the point of no return" you should have or even see
"American warriors". It's so clear that wasn't only in HQ/506
demolition company but also in C/326th Airborne Engineers. It's easy
to recognize because of white "E" on helmet with "tic" on left side
instead "ace of spades". About colours it's not clear because even
veterans don't remember it. Some describe as green and black. I took
pattern of painting from that book.
About hairstyle, HQ/506 and C/326 AB they had mohawks. You can
find in "Band of brothers" book that Forrest Guth and Joseph
Liebgott from E/506 cut mohawks in Uppottery airfield just short
before invasion. My friend which collecting para stuff was in 60th
Aniv. in Normandy and talked with veterans from different companies
and regiments. Some of them said that they had mohawks, even in 502.
As you can see we can't judge straight that mohawks were only in HQ/506.

Any way thank you for your interest about my figure.

P.S. You should add to list of books: "American Warriors" by
Michel De Trez "101st airborne at Normandy" by Mark Bando (both books)


To Edson:

my mixture (Vallejo) :821 Germ.Cam . beige WWII+983 Flat Eaeth + 888 Olive Grey (few drops )


Thank You again and all the best!

Jacek

 

[Pete_H]

As I posted, "mohawks were not widespread" and yes it's mentioned in "Band of Brothers" as well as in Don Burgett's "Currahee!" and "the Cow Spoke French" by Bill True. Funny how the Germans almost seemed to have "predicted" such a bold fashion statement, eh? :lol:

You're right about the 326th. Engineers; I completely forgot about them. Still, "the Filthy Thirteen" by Jake McNiece makes a fascinating read; IMHO, far better than "BoB." In it, Mr. McNiece explains the use of the Indian warpaint and how it came about. The pictures depicting them with their warpaint and mohawks is exhaustively discussed on Mark Bando's "Trigger Time" forum (http://p198.ezboard.com/ftriggertimeforumfrm1) which I'm sure you've heard of this place. It was there that I managed to confirm the story about the pictures and how they were misidentified for decades (as Mr. Bando personally confirmed this with many members of the Filthy Thirteen, including Mr. McNiece).

As a sidenote, Mr. Bando is without a doubt "the" authority of anything having to do with the Screaming Eagles in WWII. By the way, any word on when Michel DeTrez is releasing "Orange is the Color of the Day"? This one's been on hold for a couple years now.

 

[Jacek Spychalski]

Thank You very much Pete!!!


Thanks for all the info, it is harder for me to get such information in Poland,

thanks for the link to that forum (I did not know about it)

Unfortunately i have no info for this De Treze's book

All the best!


Jacek