WIP Critique Fallschirmjager 1940 - 75mm Miniaturas Fortes

[Filipe]

Friends from pF

My current work. I will depict a german fallschirmjager (a green devil) during the operation at fort Eben Emael, at the belgian frontier, in May 1940. The figure is in resin, of Miniaturas Fortes, sculpted by Diego Fortes, in a limited, numbered and signed series.

The pieces, with two head options and lead foil, to the MP40. The photo is from Tommi´s review.

I like to paint with the greatest possible number of pieces assembled. I had to make just a little filling at the right shoulder, because i exagerated when cleaning the piece. The MP40 and the strap will be done in the end. The head isn´t started yet, i will use the one with the helmet.

Painting all in acrylics. I am using as main reference the book by master Jaume Ortiz, by Osprey, about painting fallschirmjagers.

Here, the current situation. The gray-green smock, the feldgrau pants and gas mask are 90% finished, need only some retouches. The breadbag is too vibrant/yellow, i will repaint with another tone.

Critics and suggestions are most welcome.

Filipe

 

[Martin64]

Very nice color tones and the setting of "Eben Emael" is the same i had in mind when I purchased the figure. If you attach the helmet you should think about the special camoflage that the helmets of "Sturmgruppe Granit" received. It seemed to be a mix of paint and mud or some grainy substance.

Good luck with your project - I will follow with interest!
Cheers, Martin

 

[Diegoff]

Nice work, Filipe!
Just about the breadbag: Remember that it was a Luftwaffe item. The colour was blue gray.

 

[Sturm Grenadier]

Hello Filipe, Nice start to your figure. Diegoff is right about the breadbag color, especially this figure, being in early war uniform and equipment. Good luck with your figure Filipe, will follow this one. Here is a photo of a blue-grey breadbag. Regards, SG

 

[Filipe]

Martin

Thank you for following my work and for the references.

My friend, you have read my mind. One of the main things about a figure of this attack would be the helmet, with mud, to get it a matt finish and avoid reflection on the metal surface.

Also, see this photo of Koch, later on the campaign. It shows the smock with the "flaps" for the zip pockets. That was another one of my doubts.

Diego

It´s a pleasure to have the father of the figure here. I´ve saw references about the early use by the fallschirmjager of the tan/beige breadbag, but, i trust you, so i changed the color.

SG

Thank you for following and for the reference pic. It will be very helpful to paint the seams lines.

Friends from pF

Today i faded i little the highlights of the bottom part of the smock (tip of my friend Fabricio); corrected the color of the breadbag, to the Luftwaffe grey-blue; painted the base color of the straps and belt, to make the outlines and have a broad context; made some retouches on the seams of the smock. With that, i consider the smock finished.

Critics and comments, as usual, are most welcome.

Filipe

 

[Martin64]

Hi Filipe,
good call about the pocket flaps. As far as I can see from fotos taken close to the operation flaps were not attached. Furtheron several soldiers of the engineer unit trained for the attack on Eben Emael were original "Heer(=army)-Paras" that were transferred to the Luftwaffe when the Heer-Paras were amalgamated with the Luftwaffe-Paratroops. Therefore they wore still the Army-eagle-badge on their jumpsmocks. Although I do not have any proof it is highly possible that they retained other Heer-equipment like the breadbags. So your first choice of tan for the breadbag is not impossible.
See pictures about pocket flaps and Heer-badges below.

All the best!
Martin

 

[Johan]

Hello Filipe,

Good figure, and you're doing a good painting job there ! Just my own point of view, but I feel the smock should indeed be lighter than the trousers, but more like an "olive green" - I think Vallejo "Russian uniform" should come close. Also bear in mind that these smocks were made of a material called "Grünmeliert", which means the olive green shade was the result of a mix woven of orange and jade (turquoise) coloured threads. When you examine an original smock, you can see this very clearly.

You and Martin have both raised the point of the flaps on the zippered pockets, such as are sculpted on this figure and all other FJR figures : as far as I know, the first pictures to show such smocks date from October 1940. I'm not saying that there weren't any available in April-May 1940, but there's simply no photographs which show them. At Eben-Emael you see the officers wearing smocks with one or three uncovered zippers for pockets, and the men in smocks without pockets. In Holland in 1940 almost all of them are wearing smocks without any pocket zippers, some are wearing the old first model of paratrooper smock with two opening zippers down the front. In Norway they also mostly had smocks without zippers it seems.

I also do have some doubt if the guy in that picture is really Walter Koch, and if it was really taken in May 1940. My guess would be somewhere on the Eastern Front - maybe this is fe. one of the group of FJR and Brandenburgers involved in capturing that strategic bridge in june 1941 in Latvia (= only para jump during Barbarossa, not well known) ?

I know only one clue that the smock with the flap-covered zippers would have been used in April-May 1940, but it isn't 100% solid proof : it's the drawing Wolf Willrich made of Ritterkreuztrager Oberleutnant Herbert Schmidt, who jumped at Dombaas in Norway (and wrote a book about that operation) : this drawing was made in 1940, and may well illustrate the uniform Schmidt actually was wearing in April-May 1940 in Norway; all other Willrich drawings show the accurate uniforms worn by the RK winners at the time of their actions which earned them the distinction, so based on that we could assume that Schmidt was wearing such a smock in Norway ... although it's very well possible that he lost his original smock during his short captivity, and was issued a new one from the depot when he returned to Germany at the end of May 1940 and got his RK...

The Wolf Willrich drawing of Herbert Schmidt in attachment - hope this helps,

J.

 

[Sturm Grenadier]

Hello Filipe, I like how your fallshirmjager is progressing. Glad I was able to help with the breadbag. You have peeked my interest in the Fort Eben Emael battle. Doing a little research, it seems Johan, may be on to something. It seems that the exposed zipper version or the jump smock, was the predominate type being worn at the time of the battle. Here is a photo of Truppe 7 of Sturmgruppe Granit on 12 May 40:

This is an excellent photo from the Eric Queen Collection, clearly showing the exposed zippers. The men in the photo are L to R; Squadleader, Fritz Heinemann, Alois Passmann, Wilhelm Alefs, and Wolfgang Schulz. Also mentioned was the art work of Wolf Willrich, he has drawn many of the officers from Sturmabteilung Koch at the time of Eben Emael. Here is a drawing of Oberleutnant Delica, present at the battle:

A great site to see other drawings of the men from this battle, and more is at: http://galleria.thule-italia.com/soldaten.html I hope these references help you with your figure. Any ideas on displaying yet? Best of luck, Regards, SG

 

[Filipe]

My friends Martin, Johan, SG

As Jack the Ripper said, let´s go by parts.

The pocket flaps was, since the beginning, a worry of mine. That´s why i called the subject.

For what i read about the subject, the pockets, as the stylized rank patches on the arms, wore made by personal initiative, so, there wasn´t a "rule" there, on the early stages of war. Another example on this may be given on the later stage of war, in Italy. Officialy, it was forbidden to mix regular and tropical clothing, but the FJ did that regularly.

I thank Johan for the reference. As he pointed out, it´s a drawing, not a "100% solid proof". But, for me, it´s enough. There were almost 500 FJ on the operation, that wore trained in secret and just a few images of the operation are avaliable. It´s impossible to say that "no fallschirmjager" wore the uniform Diego sculpted.

For me, that´s a great part of the hobby. To research, to learn, to have the help of friends like you guys. I know that there´s not much evidence. But, for me, particularly, it´s enough. Obviously, this debate can help others to take a different solution.

Johan

Thank you for all your observations and for following the work.

About the photo that i posted, it´s what the caption reads at page 37 of "Hitler´s Sky Warriors". That is a photo of Koch at the end of the campaign in the West. Maybe the book is wrong, that´s a possibility, but i dont have enough knowledge (even FJ being one of my favourites themes) to contest the book in this case.

About the color of the smock, as i said, i am following Jaume Ortiz book. On page 13, he says that second-model jump smocks wore grey-green, with "a high content of yellow fibers in its composition". But your suggestion will not be ignored. I believe that no uniform could be equal to another, due to a lot of factors. So, i will use your suggestion for the Alpine Fallschirmjager, 1/16, that will be in Narvik (calling for a cooler tone) and i will do following this one.

SG

Thank you for more references. As for your question, i am planning a simple base, with just a little grass and lot of dirt, and a heavy weathering on some parts, like if he just went back from the feroucious fight that was Eben Emael.

Well, a lot of words for just one guy. Later tonight i will post some more photos of painting. I really apreciate all contributions, and, as usual, comments and critics are welcome.

Filipe

 

[Filipe]

Friends from pF, specially Martin, Johan and SG

The investigation is over.

A photo taken in 16 May 1940, when Kurt Student was presenting the FJ for their actions at Eben-Emael (look the helmets with mud, the smocks, that two in the photo already received their Knights Cross from Hitler in 13 May, etc, it´s all congruent). Look at the guy that i marked. The flaps are there!

No more worries with over-preciocism from judges

I found the pic at a german forum. I hope it helps you guys too.

Filipe

 

[Martin64]

Hi Filipe!
Your research on the smock is well done. It shows most probably the members of Sturmgruppe Beton that took the bridge of Vroenhofen near the fort Eben Emael receiving their awards. I agree that research (and judging) can end in over-preciocism.
Here is another link that shows pictures taken after the action on the fort and covers many of the participants. Included are videos from youtube about history, attack on the fort etc.
http://www.warandtactics.com/smf/operations-battles/eben-emael-sturmgruppe-granit/msg4253/#msg4253
Looking forward to further steps of your project!
All the best!
Martin

 

[Johan]

Friends from pF, specially Martin, Johan and SG

The investigation is over.

A photo taken in 16 May 1940, when Kurt Student was presenting the FJ for their actions at Eben-Emael (look the helmets with mud, the smocks, that two in the photo already received their Knights Cross from Hitler in 13 May, etc, it´s all congruent). Look at the guy that i marked. The flaps are there!

No more worries with over-preciocism from judges

I found the pic at a german forum. I hope it helps you guys too.

Filipe

Hi Filipe,

yes, I found that piece of info too on that German forum ... but :

Kurt Student was critically wounded a couple of days before in Rotterdam by one of the stupidest blue-on-blues in the history of WW2, and was fighting for his life in a hospital and being taken care of by a Dutch doctor who eventually saved his life. So Student simply wasn't there on May 16th. This is actually a photo of october 1940 when Student was fit enough to visit the boys somewhere in Germany.

So "the Truth is still Out There" ;-)

Sorry ;-)

 

[Filipe]

Martin and Johan

First, the theory

Thank you both for the references and participation on this thread. In the end, is becoming as interesting as the figure.

The pic i posted is of Sturmgruppe Stahl. The Knight Cross holder in the middle is Helmut Arpke. This is the original (in german) link to this photo and text. The sources to the date of May16 are two books by Schifer Books on FJ and the book "Grune Teufel" of Jean Nasse. The man on the photo could be Richard Putzier, who replaced Student due to the wounds suffered that Johan have well said. He was of the same rank at the time, and also "overweight"

So, i still think that it´s plausible that the pockets with flaps wore present at Eben Emael. But, we do not have gathered "100% proof" information, so...

The practice

...i will change the presentation to the Operation Hannibal, the taking of the Corinth Canal in Abril 1941, Greece.

I decided that due three reasons. The already debated question of zip flaps, the fact that i was also a glider operation (which favoured the use of the MP40) and, finally, as Johan also said earlier, the colour of the smock question. The grünmeliert was proeminent in the earlier pattern smock. The yellow fiber tone of green, quoted by Jaume Ortiz, was more proeminent in the M40 all-green smock.

The difference of shades is clear comparing these two images, both from the Wehrmacht-Awards forum, both original smocks:

Finally, i am going to pick another FJ figure, and, since the first steps, convert it into a photo-based Eben Emael figure, with a nice presentation (Diego´s figure is great for that, but i will not start a conversion at this point)

I hope this whole exchange of ideas and material help other guys too and that you guys follow my painting work.

Thank you all and let´s paint!

Regards to all

Filipe

 

[Johan]

Hey Filipe,

Just stick to the original Eben-Emael plan, it was a good idea why worry so much about such a small detail ? Just enjoy what you're doing !


In reply to your post above :

- weapons of early war FJR : the MP38 and/or MP40 were I believe also favoured very much by the FJR who jumped by parachute, as it was a weapon that they could easily carry during the jump, which means it would be ready at hand in case they immediately were under enemy fire. In general, especially NCO's and Officers would all have had one, I guess rank had it's privileges here.
The MP40 was not generally available and so the Kar98 remained the most common weapon for the FJR. The disadvantage with the KAR98 was mostly that it was dropped separately in drop canisters. That is the main reason also why all FJR had a Luger P08 pistol in a hardshell holster, so that they would have at least that to defend themselves on landing. These P08 Lugers had initially been issued to Luftwaffe aircrews, but these people complained about the discomfort the hardshell holsters caused when sitting in an aircraft, so the whole load of P08 Lugers was transferred to the FJR.

- pictures of an original m40 Knochensack in Grünmeliert below.

cheers

J.

 

[Filipe]

Johan

No problem, i prefer to do another one, converting since the start. The operation deserves such attention, and Diego´s figure also deserves a proper historical background.

Friends

Sunday´s progress. Made all equipment and belts. Some retouches on the straps and the canteen are to be made, but let´s say that´s everything 90% ready.

Next step, position the figure on the base and start the ground.

Comments and critics are most welcome, feel free.

Filipe

 

[Filipe]

Friends from pF

Now, the body is totally complete. I made some light points and some retouches on the equipment, and gave a matt varnish over the throusers.

Comments and critics are most welcome

Filipe

 

[captnenglish]

Filipe, I commend your efforts in both painting and research. You are doing Diego's sculpt justice. I am surprise to see that the original jumpsmock is much greyer (to my eye) than you have depicted and than I would have depicted (not a criticism, just an observation).

 

[Martin64]

Filipe, it came out nice so far. I agree with Matt that the tone of the jumpsmock looks well faded but within plausible limits. Following with interest!
All the best, Martin

 

[Filipe]

Matt and Martin

Thank you both for your praises and for following. I did not took it as a "criticism", first, because critics are most welcome, they are constructive. Second, because, as i said earlier, the M40 smocks wore a little more gray-green with yellow fibers, as Jaume Ortiz described. I am basing myself on this photo here, for the colour.

Volstad plates are also on this tone area. But, anyway, as Martin said, it´s within "plausible limits".

Tomorrow i will start the ground (thats why i left the boots unpainted, to leave the foot prints on the setting) and, after, the face and hands.

Again, thank you both and feel free to make any critics.

Best regards to you both

Filipe

Ps: But i will answer only tomorrow, it´s way past bed time at this side of the Atlantic

 

[Filipe]

Friends from pF

First of all, thank you to all who are following the work, even in silence. Everybody feel free to make comments and critics.

The FJ is now on his home. I´ve tried to recreate the rocky grounds of Greece, but it´s only the begining. The figure is glued in it´s final position and the boots are complete.

You can notice that there´s some "textures" on the lower parts of the boots. I´ve added them with paste, and will colour those later, with pigments.

Also, a close-up is included. The photo did not came out so good, but the laces are perfect, superb sculpting and casting.

Any comments and critics are welcome

Filipe