Wednesday 31 July 2013

Death Korps armour crew

Hi folks! We've mostly got half measures today:


Yup, "top half only" to misquote Brassed Off. The models above are for the turrets of tanks sticking out of the cupola so there's no need for legs. This half of the commission was for tanks with a "Third Reich"-esque camo scheme so the client wanted a Panzer-feel tank uniform. Instead of pure black I went with grey with gloss black armour plates. Pure black is very much the colour of commissars in the Imperial Guard. The pinkish red piping on the cuffs and epaulettes is actually authentic colour for german tank crews back in the '40's. Pink being a girls colour is a fairly recent development - heck napoleonic Russia had whole regiments with pink and green banners - we'd initially dismissed the pink as it might have seemed silly. But during painting the crews needed a little something else and so the pink was lurking in the back of my mind. Tried it, and who knew? It works.


Then as an example of how much a different paint job changes a model we have the DKK infantry scheme on the same figures. These guys are destined for chimeras. I used the grenadier scheme to add the green ballistic plates to the steel helmets. Figured if your job includes sticking your head out of armoured vehicles you'd want the extra protection.

Just add a girder and a New York skyline right?
Finally today we have the centaur crews. These chaps are actually destined for Salamander troop compartments. As a result the "driver" models needed some converting:


I had a spare DKK lasgun and grenade launcher and was able to get reasonably convincing "at ease" poses with their weapons across their laps. But what to do with the third. I tried having him sitting there just weaponless but the fist in the air just looked weird. I sat there looking at it and trying to figure out what to do with him. Then the idea struck me. A brew. A section of plastic tube closed off at one end and smoothed off with a thin strip of plasticard for a handle and the classic squaddy enamel mug is formed. Add some chips and dings and he's all there. There is one important question about the model though and I wonder if anyone will ask it in the comments? ;) That's all for models today but I thought I would finish with a wargamer fitness report:


Nope, hadn't forgotten about this! Weight loss progress has slowed a little, but I've still lost another 6 pounds or so putting me down to 19st 7lb. More importantly, my fitness is increasing exponentially. I've been doing the NHS's couch to 5k program of running podcasts. They're designed to take you from sedentary to running 5k without rest. Over the past two months or so I've gone from being barely capable of jogging for a minute at a time to running 8 minutes - over a kilometer - at a time. (The program is interval training so the current run is two eight minute runs seperated by a recovery walk). I honestly feel better than I have in years and haven't been this weight since university 13 years ago. I'll keep you posted on progress and there'll be a before and after pic in the fullness of time (probably at the end of the year).

TTFN

4 comments:

  1. I have two questions abou the mug. First, do the DKK take their tea with milk and sugar? Second, how is he drinking it with a gas mask on?

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    Replies
    1. huzzah! Maisey wins the question game!

      The answers:

      1) But of course, nato standard and brewed orange.
      2) Ahhh, there's the rub, I'd made it before I had this pointed out to me BUT! Modern NBC suits have a drinking straw and filter built in to the gas mask so that they can safely drink. Alternatively, he's just the saddest man with tea ever having to decide whether the air is a bit too mustard gas-ey to risk a sip of increasingly cold brew!

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  2. Or he could do what I've seen some asbestos strippers do: they cut a small hole in their RPE so that they can poke a fag through and smoke whilst in the asbestos enclosure. When they've finished their fag, they bung the hole up with blu-tak.

    You know it's sad but true.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Also, he isn't sticking his little finger out, a la Death Korps tea etiquette.

    ReplyDelete