Revell/ICM 1/35 German Infantry 1914

[Neil Merryweather]

Ok, I’ve done the Tommies, now it’s time for some Germans.

I bought this set for painting practice and I still need all the practice I can get, so I’m breaking out the Fritzes.

They come with 2 of the weapons and kit sprues, and at first I thought I had a cheeky bonus sprue, but once I got down to sorting them I realised you need BOTH sprues for enough personal kit. It’s a very strange decision by the manufacturer because we are only talking about cartridge pouches, mess tins, and water bottles. You even get 4 Stahlhelms per sprue so now I have EIGHT in the spares box. In fact, because the fourth figure is an officer, they only needed to include one more of each. Somebody wasn’t paying attention, I think.

As with the Tommies I will mount them on a little piece of 1914 France or Belgium.

I had this in mind

If anyone has any ‘bright’ ideas about what colour the flowers might be (bearing in mind it’s probably August) I’ll be grateful for suggestions.

Again, as with the Tommies these boys are clearly based on this guy

From this classic book


Anyway, I have separated the ‘Four Fritzes’ into ZipLock bags each with their kit, ready to work on them one at a time as interludes during my main projects.I don’t like to do groups of figures all at once for fear of them becoming a production line and losing their little ‘souls’.

"What happened to the one job at a time rule?" I hear you cry.......
It evolved


Cheers

Neil

 

[JR]

I shall sit and take note.

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Looking forward to this Neil.

 

[Jason Crausby]

c'mon, c'mon,c'mon!!!!
I want to see more!!

 

[Dave Ward]

Neil,
I think you'll need a few more boxes of Huns to replicate that scene! Seriously, looking at the picture, are they not sunflowers? Grown for their seed across Europe.....................
Dave

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Thanks for the suggestion, but don't think they are big enough for sunflowers Dave
not even immature ones..............

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Thanks for your interest everyone.
I do like these sets, as I’ve said before, but they DO have some tiny parts

But I don’t let that beat me

The Carpet Monster shall not have them!

The sculpting and engineering of these figures is very good, but I do struggle with the poses. I couldn’t make the arms and hands work with the rifle without resorting to the old copper wire trick.

A smidge of Duro and Fritz is all ready for the wet stuff - I'm painting all his kit separately

thanks for looking
Cheers
Neil

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Nice work Neil. The flowers are possibly a mustard crop, which would be bloody ironic:

 

[tr1ckey66]

Looking good Neil. I’ll be sure and keepm up with the progress.
Cheers
Paul

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Nice work Neil. The flowers are possibly a mustard crop, which would be bloody ironic:

View attachment 390597

Thanks Peter,that's very promising as a contender.
Yes,ironic indeed.

 

[JR]

Neil, Peter is probably correct, the only other plants grown like that would have been Linseed, more commonly known as Flax, grown for linen and the coarser for rope.
Didn't think it would be long before the wire made an appearance and green stuff.

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Neil, Peter is probably correct, the only other plants grown like that would have been Linseed, more commonly known as Flax, grown for linen and the coarser for rope.
Didn't think it would be long before the wire made an appearance and green stuff.

Cheers John, I hoped you would be lurking.
Having googled linseed, I find it has a blue-purple flower and mustard is yellow.
Hmmmmm
I'll have to think about that.
The yellow would look better with the field grey uniforms, but field of purple would be very striking.
Can you imagine a German staff officer saying to general Von Moltke " I say sir, do you think that's wise ? The men will clash terribly against those purple flowers......"
Or maybe not. At the right time of day it would be very good camouflage.

 

[scottie3158]

Neil,
Count me in mate I will watch for pointers.

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Looks like it's Flax then:

 

[JR]

Found this photo of a field of Flax, which might be of help Neil.



Has that same pattern of flower .

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Thanks John
In the photo the flowers are white, so I'm thinking it must be the mustard.
The jury is still out

 

[JR]

Could well be Neil, both crops are about the same height, and we have no idea of the type grown at that time. Both grown in Northern France and Germany.

 

[Neil Merryweather]

So Fritz 1 is painted.
he still needs weathering and rife sling

I'm a bit irritated about the join of the Pickelhaube. I must stick it on and fill the gap next time.
I also found the cartridge pouches difficult to fit so I will do that before painting next time.
AND if you look closely you'll see that he's got two bayonets - I'll have to remove the one in Fritz 2's scabbard.
I used Vallejo chipping medium for the mess tin again, which worked fine because I sprayed the black. I also used it on the personal equipment hoping to make the leather look a bit worn, but it really doesn't like being brush painted over, so I left it.
So that's one down ,three to go.
Thanks for looking
Neil
PS- I KNOW the rifle bolt is in the wrong place, another lesson learned....

 

[Tim Marlow]

I think you’re looking at white mustard here...Mostly due to the Expected plant height of about 2 foot.

White mustard - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Flax grows to about 4 foot high, and would Then show as waste high or better. The image Foliage is only knee high....
Good start on the figure by the way, he looks suitably apprehensive about the advance....

 

[Neil Merryweather]

I think you’re looking at white mustard here...Mostly due to the Expected plant height of about 2 foot.

http://https:tongue-out3:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_mustard

Flax grows to about 4 foot high, and would Then show as waste high or better. The image Foliage is only knee high....
Good start on the figure by the way, he looks suitably apprehensive about the advance....

Thanks Tim, I wish I had the skill to influence his expression, but it's just the way it shook out -must be down to the sculptor.
Now I've got three flower options, but thanks