Completed. Gerfreiter Lensen. Gross Deutschland Division 1945...

[spanner570]

Here is the completed 1/16 Tamiya Machine Gunner. Gerfreiter Lensen. Here is his story:-

He was conscripted into the German Army in July, 1942. He fought in Russia and in particular Kharkov and Kiev. In spring 1943 he joined the Gross Deutschland Division. After the German 6th army was defeated at Stalingrad, Lensen and his comrades started the retreat westwards closely followed by the ever expanding Russian Army. Eventually, in late 1944 with the Russian advance finally on German soil, and fuelled by terrible stories of revenge on German civilians, the retreat turns into a panic stricken route, with everyone's eyes on the East Prussian Baltic ports, and to get a ship to the West and safety.

Lensen arrives at Gotenhafen in mid. January 1945.... He is filthy, his uniform is in tatters and on hearing a rumour that all 'Crack Division' members will be shot on sight by the closing in Russian Army, he has removed all his insignia, even scratched off the helmet one. He has only one magazine left in his MG42, but has found an MP40 with a full ammo pouch. He has lost some of his gear too. The situation at the port of is total chaos with refugees trying to get on board ships.

Eventually, Lensen, and six other soldiers are detailed to get on board a particular ship and try and keep some sort of order aboard. He can't believe his luck and literally runs up the gang plank. The ship is the Wilhelm Gustloff, when she eventually sails at 12.30pm on the 30th. Jan. for Kiel in the West, she will have 10.000 refugees on board. Built as a Nazi cruise ship, she normally carries less than 2000.

Lensen doesn't mind the stench or the humidity below, he is on his way to safety, it's also freezing up top, so he finds a space and settles down for the night......

At 9pm, three torpedoes fired from a Russian submarine slam into the Gustloff. Within the hour the overloaded ship sinks to the bottom of the Baltic Sea, taking 9,500 souls with her. Gerfreiter Lensen is one of them........

This is still the largest loss of life from one ship in maritime history.

The base is simply a small photo frame, bit of scrap polystyrene for the wall and the fence is more of gern's stirrers. I then painted it and added sweepings from the drive.

I didn't want to over complicate the base as I thought it would detract from the figure.

I hope you like this, my first attempt at 1/16 scale and all comments are more than welcome.....

Cheers,

Ron

If this is in the wrong forum, can a moderator move it please?

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[Ian M]

Well Ron me ol' mate!

It could be your first attempt at a figure in that scale but you would not guess by looking at the result. I hope that it is not the last one either!

Nice simple base as well (Never thought I would write that in a comment to you Ron, lol but it proves that you can do simple as well!)

Well deserved 5 stars from me mate!

Ian M

 

[geegad]

I

Love the story as much as I love the figure it's self I especially like the bandage nice little touch in my opinion you've nailed it..

And the base is very nicely done and as youve said it doesn't detract the eyes from the figure

5 bigs coming your way Ron

Gergad

 

[John Huggins]

Nice one Ron, outstanding well worth 5*****.

Nice suttle changes to the figure well done.

John

 

[spanner570]

Thanks boys for your great posts on my soldat and the 5*. I appreciate the comments and the award!

Ian, I may have a go at another, not sure yet....

John(Geegad) I'm glad you liked the story. My man's adventures are part true, but what happened to the Wilhelm Gustloff is perfectly true, and makes good reading. Of the 10,000 on board, 4000 were children...

Oh! I'm pleased with the bandage too!

Mr. Huggins, all I altered was his left arm and attacked his uniform, just look what you altered on your soldier!

Initially, my bloke was going to be holding his water bottle, but it looked really naff, so as I had the excellent MP40 in the kit, I used that instead.

Thanks again boys,

Ron

 

[spanner570]

Sorry boys, I have forgotten to post how I painted the figure, so here is a brief description.....

It's all brush painted. I used Vallejo Model Colour acrylic:-German Field Grey (830) for the uniform and Humbrol Gun Metal for the weapons. Any weathering and wear on the guns and buckles is simply done with a soft pencil.

As this is my first go at a face, I kept the painting simple. Everyone has their own method for face painting.......Give a model head to six people and all will produce a different finish, depending on their individual style.

I used just one wash of Vallejo US. tan earth. I find it unneccessary to accentuate creases with other colours as the natural light will highlight these anyway. Then I added a mere suggestion of pink for his lips and hardly any blue/green for his eyes. I added some slight shading under his eyes for 'Bags' with a pencil.

Regarding eyes, again everyone has their own take on this, but for me, I don't like a face that has 'white eye balls'. I think they look unnatural. Even in 1/16 scale, I reckon eye detail should be kept to a minimum. These figures represent combat soldiers. they will be tired, hungry, scared, dirty and possibly cold, so for my money, squinting, bloodshot, sunken eyes with black bags under and a sallow complexion would be the norm.......Take a look at photos of real soldiers in action, how much eye detail can you see? Very little.

Please understand, I'm only a newby at this and the above is my initial impression of face painting, and I appreciate that we will all have a different approach to the subject. That's what makes this hobby all the more fascinating!

But one thing I am convinced of, figure painting doesn't neccessarily have to be a complicated process to achieve satisfactory results....

Cheers all.

Ron

 

[dubster72]

Having watched this from almost the start until completion, it's great to see how well this has turned out. I think the effort you put into the conversion of the pose & uniform has really paid off Ron. It's really showing the feelings of hopelessness & despair at that point & the backstory brings that alive.

Well done for trying something different & achieving such an excellent result.

Patrick

 

[spanner570]

Wow! Thanks Patrick for a great post...

I'm glad you like the soldat.

The poor bloke had a rough time for sure and I tried my darndest to put that over, so I'm well chuffed you think I have succeeded!

Thank you again for the really nice comments,

Ron

 

[stona]

Well you've done it again,I'll give you six. The poor b*gger looks absolutely frozen and desperate. Love the story too.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Centurion3RTR]

Great work Ron, cracking build mate. The story brings it all together, five stars from me too.

Have fun, John

 

[spanner570]

Thanks Steve and John for your positive comments and awards! Glad you like me mon!

I alway appreciate both your contributions and advise during to my model building....

Cheers,

Ron

 

[Gern]

Excellent as usual Ron, and your desire to highlight the figure with a simple base has worked a treat! Another ***** to add to your collection.

Gern

 

[spanner570]

Cheers Dave, I'm glad you like it, and thanks for the 5*

More importantly, thanks for your contribution towards the building of the base!

Ron

 

[papa 695]

Hi Ron sorry iv'e not commented on this earlyer must have missed it some how. Its been great wathcing this build, the changes and work thats gone into this are just fantastic ,and for a first figure you would not be able to tell well worth the 5 stars

 

[yak face]

Top work matey! Reading the story first before looking at the pictures really adds a depth and poignancy to the piece, quite moving. Great base too ron, you say simple but it still looks superb and complements the figure perfectly , cheers tony

 

[spanner570]

Ian and Tony, thank you for your positive comments on 'Me mon.'....Glad you like him.

The story is for the most part fact. I added a bit of fiction and mixed it all up.

Joking apart, it must have been a horrible time for the German refugees, particularily children, fleeing west during those latter days of WW2.

Thanks again boys,

Ron

 

[spanner570]

Thanks for the post Danny, but I'm not sure I understand the content, sorry.

Cheers,

Ron

 

[treyzx10r]

Ron ,great results and my hats off to you for venturing out and doing something different!5 stars from me!

 

[rogue-one]

great ron, subtly painted figure but very neatly done. the equipment is prefect. like everyone says..the story of the soldier at the start really reels you in and you look at the figure and feel his despair and tiredness. like usual, quality base.

 

[Alan 45]

That is very nicely don ron I like the frosty look you've given it and your weapons are really good