SS Demolition Engineers at rest
When Dragon Models released Bernhardt, their anniversary figure, with
demolition equipment, flamethrower, and sapper mines, I had to have
it. There was enough material for two or three figures, so I kitbashed
them. I threw in the 21C Ardennes trooper, and some Camo smocks, and
the rest nearly built itself.
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Basic Diorama
A very basic scene, just a couple brick walls and some rubble. I can
switch out figures and make this nearly anywhere in Europe. The walls
are made of plaster using a plastic brick mold. I double sided them
simply by making two moldings, and sandwiching them together with some
plaster and glue.
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Engineers/Specialists
One thing i enjoyed about this diorama is that because these guys are
elite specialists, I get a chance to outfit them with equipment that
may not otherwise get to be displayed. I can use the German Teller
mine, an MG42, and even this anti-tank rifle in the hands of the
Senior NCO.
Discussing the task
War is dirty, so throw some sticks, rocks, sand, and dirt on your
dioramas. I even threw leaves (locust or mimosa leaflets are perfect)
in some of my dioramas. You can keep them in place with a light spray
of hairspray.
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The details
Scrap brick and rubble are simply the broken pieces of my wall,
unusable because of their size. Never throw away any brick molds, you
can always use them for rubble.
The book is a wooden knick-knack book, with some small font cut out
from an advertisement. Fine print (the legal stuff) is best. I simply
glued it to the book, weathered it and viola, you have an opened book.
Grenadier
I had always liked the grenade bags from the 21C Eastern Front
soldier, but never had them displayed. This figure was the perfect
opportunity to cram them full of every stick grenade i owned! I also
loved the rifle with the grenade launcher, so this grenadier displays
that for me.
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I admit it, i was inspired by the movie "Anzio" (Robert
Mitchum, Peter Falk... now there would be a great kitbash!) to create
this sniper. I loved the volcanic rock around Anzio, and simply wanted
to use the rock in a scene somehow. this is a fairly simple diorama,
and i like it for that simplicity. One man, some rocks, grass, and
blasted trees. It really, to me, brings the feel of the terrain atop
the cliffs at Anzio, where the US invasion force fought for every inch
of ground against well placed and reinforced German opponents.
Anzio Diorama
Top view of a German Sniper diorama I was inspired to make after
watching the movie "Anzio". I loved the scene in the movie
where a sniper lay hiding in the lava flows above the beach, and kept
a squad pinned down.
I knew i had lava rock (bought a package for my gas grill), so I
quickly built a diorama to feature it.
I couldn't decide between the two sniper rifles (the G43 and the
FG42), so I put them both in.
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Details
I glued the lava chunks into wet plaster, and used some plaster in a
RR Rock mold to make some larger (built up) rock sections. The rocks
were spray painted black and brown, then given many light washings
with greys, splotchy rusts, etc. to get the weathered effect. Little
splotches of color were added with a paintbrush to simulate lichen
growing.
The clumps of grass are paint brush bristles died tan and green.
Unraveled hemp and long burlap work well too, as do horse hair. It was
set into wet plaster, and the roots were painted after it dried.
The tree here is simply a root scrap that I dried. Other plants are
actually dried weed tops. The camo shirt my sniper wears is NOT
historically accurate, but I liked it and thus, he wears it.
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A quick redo of the first diorama, with a
Waffen SS Machine Gun crew in the same diorama setting. A
Fallschirmjaeger observes the crew, resting a bit perhaps. A
Third crewman works on a flamethrower unit, perhaps adjusting a sticky
flow valve. Keys to this diorama were to simply get the Tripod
displayed nicely, with the MG 42, and scatter as much "neat"
gear around as I could. In the background is an anti-tank
rifle. Around the MG are a spare barrel case, ammo can,
link/belt ammunition, and repair kit. |
| Close up of the Repair operation.
This shows the Fallschirmjaeger with his FG42, with
telescopic sight. Behind him stands a hand grenade case.
Unseen, but behind the technician, is another case fully loaded with
grenades.
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