Project - 'Fallschirmjager'

[SteveKrieg]

G'day all...

Whilst I've posted pics of next Feb's model show theme covering WW2 snipers, there is also a second model show next November (the traditional month for them). With that in-mind, preliminary work is being done to pull together all the stuff I need to plan the 19 vignettes required for the story of the German Fallschirmager. Unlike previous shows this one will focus not on one battle but will cover the FJR during the whole war so all the varying dress and equipment including larger weapons will have to be covered in order to tell it all accurately. So, having dusted off all the old DML FJR releases, taken off the shelves all the boxed figures (including the recent DiD purchases bought just for this story) and a crap-load of bits and pieces; all of which I've squirreled away over the past several years I've enough to assemble some 75 figures that'll be required to fit-out all the scenes.

Much more to follow on this one which I won't really start until early next year but I couldn't help myself today and began work on one scene featuring a line-up of paras getting their final fitting prior to emplaning, a sergeant noticing the injury-causing additions to one para who thinks he can land with his weapon as opposed to taking the chance to retrieve it from a container (another pose, this one taken from an Osprey 'Men-at-arms' title on German airborne troops). It's coming together nicely but won't post any more pics 'til she's completed. Enjoy, Steve

[rdjmchris]

So, that's where all the loose FJ stuff has disappeared to....

Looking good. Can't wait to see the finished stuff.

[SteveKrieg]

haha, yeah - sorry about that but you can be rest assured I won't be needing any more and that, post show, I'll probably look to sell most of it. Making some good progress on the figures to-date however will not post 'til completion. Cheers, Steve

[SteveKrieg]

G'day all,

One of the smaller vignettes of the FJR story will focus on its "father" - General Kurt Student. I was going to replicate an illustration from the Osprey 'Men-at-arms' title on German airborne troops where he's presenting an iron cross to a major in the FJR's unique parade dress. But then I thought I could also utilise a figure that i've had on the shelf for years but never taken out to assemble (nor envisage a need to as the years ticked by) - the inept head of the Luftwaffe - Herman Goring to which the FJR was a formation of. The third officer is just a composite (DiD largely). In order to make the figures similar in appearance I chose to use DiD bodies to match the 3R figures of Student and Goring. For the scene's base I'll use thick-grade sandpaper to resemble a gravel parade ground. Enjoy, Steve

[SteveKrieg]

G'day all,

With the sniper series complete, it's time to get back into this November's diorama plan - Project - 'Fallschirmjager' (though Project - 'Green Devil' would've had a better ring to it, I reckon, in hindsight).

During the past few months, my mind's been spinning not only with the 20-odd scenes required of this one, but those of next year's USMC in the Pacific and 2024's salute to D-Day (the 80th anniversary year)...but back to the FJR.

The story of the German airborne during World War Two is indeed a very interesting one and one that I hope will reflect well in the various scenes (done in narrative timeline order) and supporting text panels.

Research of course plays a major part in order to get everything just so and, as with previous years, my book collection has grown as a result. The superb 3-Volume set on the FJR by collector Karl Veltze is similar in style to LTC (Ret.) John R. Angola's 4-volume tome covering the U.S. Airborne during the war - Heroes in our midst - and like Angola's set which I relied on heavily for my 2019 series on the 'Screaming Eagles' in Normandy, I'm hoping Veltze' series will do likewise in gearing-up my FJR figures (which will figure - so to speak - at around 75 in-total).

Of course, the many Osprey titles will play their part in terms of uniform detailing and books concerning the battles fought (centring on Crete for my main diorama) and supporting weapons/vehicles will not only have text panels with the diorama but a whole information board on the pinnacle German airborne battle of Crete.

Over the w/end, I tore apart my workshop in order to make space for the sniper scenes (the game of textrus goes on) and pulling out all the bits and bobs required for the FJR story and brought them all forward for ease of access with particular attention to what I've used in the past that I can re-purpose and new items. I have been tinkering with a few ideas (previous entries to this thread) so I've a reasonable lead and all scenes completed will be posted on this thread also...

I guess there's nothing more to be said than on I press. Cheers, Steve

[pp]

Very good collection of figures and incredible collection of books... I don't know which of the two I like more?

[montañes]

Love the officer in the ceremony award in splinter jumpsmock showing all his medals.

Jaime.

[SteveKrieg]

Concur regards books and figures...I think I have way too many of both but, as I'm sure many in the SAG can attest, the books contribute greatly as a reference to getting it right.

Cheers Jaime, this is my first rendition of the scene though not happy with the size of the helmet to headsculpt nor the collared shirt/tie worn underneath the smock (both too oversized for my liking)...I intend to rectify both for the final product.

Steve

[Squidley]

Looking forward to seeing this project. It's one of my favorite subjects.

Like the rest of you, I've accumulated quite the library to go with the stack of figures.

[SteveKrieg]

G'day all,

Hope everyone's travelling well?. Just a quick update on the production of this years Fallschirmjager series. I've sort of got several diorama details going on at once with the intention to work on all the larger pieces prior to commencing the figures that'll accompany them.

The Donkey and the panniers will used in a vignette covering the defence of Italy (along with a mortar scene depicting Cassino). Artillery will cover several scenes, the PAK36 w/steilgranate - Normandy, the PAK38 - Eastern Front, the panzerschreck - Holland (an attempt to recreate a famous photo of a group of paratroopers walking past a knocked-out Sherman) and with no scene for them, I intend to just cover the two 'squeeze gun' pieces - the LG40 and PzB 41 - as part of airborne artillery and weapons designed for the airborne forces.

Two kettenkrads will feature this one, the standard Sd.Kfz .2 (which will be towing a Flak 38 w/trailer) and the 2/1 cable layer (Eastern Front). Drop containers were a necessary feature and I plan to use four. One (that shown full) will be the centrepiece of the Crete story as, amongst the turmoil of that battle, a sergeant will be shouting out to others to come on and grab a rifle whilst surrounded by dead and wounded paras and an MG34 gunners propped-up against a stone wall (such as the inner workings of my head vividly detail). Another will have a radio fit-out (that with the lightning bolt emblem), another will feature in the mid-war dark yellow finish whilst the fourth (shown at the rear in its inaccurate DML light blue colour) will be used to show a container prior to loading with chute and absorber.

More pics to follow but it's all coming along nicely at the moment. Aside from the models, I'm also concurrently working on the narrative for the supporting information panels.

Enjoy, Steve

[SteveKrieg]

And the Krad work in progress pics. You might recall the camo version from my 2018 and 2019 offerings. I thought it high time to repaint the camo in more accurate blurred edge as opposed to the sharp lines it previously had (which always gnawed at me).

[Ostfront43]

Man, you really have a huge amount of awesome stuff. Have these been in your collection, or are you finding them as you need them. I ask because some items, like the donkey/mule sets I haven't seen in the wild for quite some time.

Totally looking forward to Fallschirmjager project progress!!

[Squidley]

That is some sweet looking stuff! I love the ketts!

[SteveKrieg]

Cheers all for the kind comments,

In answer to your last. I've had the majority of the items since their initial release in the early years of the 21st Century - sitting on the shelves boxed ever since waiting for their 'time to shine'. whilst other objects, such as the pannier baskets for the donkey, I've searched high and low for over the past several years and only found last year via E Bay.

Online stores specialising in 1/6th (such as the grand 'Monkey Depot' and 'Wartoys') have been my go-to, particularly over the past couple of years in terms of uniform/equipment items required to fit-out the last remaining twenty or so of the 70-odd fallschirmjager required in-total.

Fortunately, I first got the idea back in 2014 after purchasing a 2008 book by Histoire & Collections titled 'Fallschirmjager in action figures' which told the story of the FJR in action figure form (largely by the use of DML figures); the book was a sequel to the H&C title '12-Inch action figures'. This has given me a lot of time in-between to source the desired bits and pieces to tell the story right covering their role in the war in its entirety.

It wasn't until 2019, whilst doing another airborne story - the American 101st in Normandy - that I seriously put some effort in thinking about how I would tackle the FJR story.

Over the past couple of years, I've concentrated on uniform parts in order to have enough kit to fit-out the 70-odd fallschirmjager required.

No doubt they'll make another showing in 2024 when I put together my planned 2024 series covering D-Day where they'll share table space with American and British paras.

Cheers again, Steve

[SteveKrieg]

G'day all,

Has been quite awhile since my last post on this theme; however, I've falled behind schedule which is unusual for me but that's just the unusual way this year has, to-date, gone. I reckon I'm up to only 15% of what I desire of Project 'Fallschirmajer'. But not to worry as I've realised that this year marks the 50th Anniversary of our local model club (ACTSMS) and, as a result, I've decided to go for a Plan 'B' - a scene or part thereof from each of my eight past shows at ScaleACT (see my new thread - Project - 'Showcase').

As for the German airborne, do not fear. I'll have more than enough time up my sleeve to get them ready to drop in on ScaleACT 2023 and because it's only postponed and not cancelled means I'll leave this post open. Attached are some more recent pics - the Kettenkrad cable variant is finished but I've no pics of its completed state but here are some under construction. This vehicle, cable assembly frame and trailer were fun to detail in Tamiya snow effect and lends great to the intended winter scene (so much so that I was sure to get frostbite from it).

Also, I decided to upgrade my old DML CHE 'Radl' and 'Steiner' figures from the movie tie-in 'The Eagle has Landed' which will open the diorama series. Lastly, some original FJR objects that'll form part of the historic display which, as of 2019, is now something that accompanies my 1/6th scale themes.

Enjoy, Steve

[SteveKrieg]

Additionally, I've been fortunate to track down a period 'Signal' Magazine which features an article on FJR posterboy of the time - famed boxer turned paratrooper - Max Schmeling which DiD brought out as a figure a while back. With the figure in a pose replicating a propaganda photo taken of Schmeling and the magazine (similar to the pic seen here) it should make a nice vignette.

[Squidley]

Love the Max stuff!

[SteveKrieg]

G'day all,

Sure has been awhile so thought I'd better post some recent builds pertaining to this year's model project on the German Fallschirmjager.

Of all the scenes planned, three will focus on the pinnacle battle for Crete - the first and last large scale strategic airborne assault of the Fallschirmjager (and for that matter any airborne force). It's a battle that should've gone the Allies way in so many ways (and in so many interesting facets that I'd be here all day trying to cover in-detail.

Suffice to say, the battle turned into German success through Allied ineptitude enhanced by communications failure and mis-understanding quite early in the battle which was brought about not only by this revolutionary form of warfare (which by May 1941 was not so new nor revolutionary and a type of insertion expected no less by the Allied high command) which was to be a prelude to a threat from the sea which was actually miniscule in comparison to the parachute and air-landing formations designated.

...the first of the three scenes covers the emplaning detail: the seven hastily-built dustbowl airfields in Greece from where the morning flights to Crete (some two hours in duration) took off from. I wanted to convey the 'gear-up' aspects of the German paratrooper in its various stages of assembly.

[SteveKrieg]

The paratrooper second-in from the left features a unit-made weapon carry-all for his MP40 SMG and has strapped his magazine pouches for it to his ankles. This was against standing orders as such a fitting risked injury upon landing (it was risky enough as it was); however, period pics do show such an arrangement of carriage during the Crete operation.

I decided to use fuel drums as a backdrop to illustrate that this was how the aircraft were fuelled-up on those airfields - by handcranked pump from fuel drums, a time dependent operation that was to push groundcrews and even paratroopers awaiting the second wave to the limit given the hot weather in the Med at the time.

It was this method of fuelling that was to impact greatly on the afternoon second wave in-particular and compounded by rising dust from the props of the Ju52s let to not only delayed takeoff but a piecemeal arrival which in itself impacted greatly on co-ordination and rallying once on the ground in Crete.

[SteveKrieg]

The second diorama covering Crete (the largest of the three) illustrates the chaos once on the ground as paratroopers (expecting light resistance) dropped amongst a hodge-podge of British and Dominion units far exceeding the numbers stated by German intelligence. The result was heavy casualties and none of the four main objectives seized by nightfall...it was at this crucial juncture that the Allies, had they'd known the true extent of the German situation, could've launched several counter-attacks during the night (before daybreak where the full might of the Luftwaffe could again intervene via close air support) and rid the remainder...it was not to be due to reasons already touched-upon.

Here a sergeant (the focal point of the scene) turns to his rear in order to rally the survivors nearby whilst others gather weapons from the few drop containers recovered (Most could not be got after hitting the ground due to the pressure of the Allied defence - an achilles heel of the German paratrooper who could only rely on his sidearm and perhaps a grenade until he could reach a container to grab his assigned rifle or machine gun).

[SteveKrieg]

In order to assist in rallying, a paratrooper nearby lobs a smoke grenade after having successfully retrieved a rifle and bandolier from the weapons container. A dead paratrooper lies nearby having been most likely shot during his decent (which was scarily common during the drop as Allied soldiers and anti-aircraft artillery honed-in for the 30 or so seconds it took for a paratrooper to drop from an average of 400ft).

Behind him, a paratrooper who had fired his pistol empty in-defence during the drop shows the fear that many would've faced. Whilst there were veterans from earlier campaigns (Denmark, Holland, Belgium), many were young and idealistic having joined after the French victory of 1940 - the allure that entices many to airborne forces worldwide is their unique espirit-de-corps.

The rocky ground was another hazard which was not helped by the clumsy designed of the RZ series of parachutes where the chute was secured to the centre of the pack on the man's rear meaning no means of controlling his decent and necessitating a knees/elbows impact followed by a role.

Not only was the chute a disadvantage but the harness also which took some unbuckling to get out of...time-consuming when under fire.

[SteveKrieg]

One more scene to go Crete-wise...and covers a hard-won victory... but more on that by weekend's...end.

The good thing about this series is that given it's covering the whole war, the plod to completion won't be too hard as the variety in uniforms/equipment and the battles fought will ensure a fresh approach to each scene.

Enjoy and I hope all is well with all on in the SAG?, Steve

[The_Dutchman]

Loving your work Steve!

[Squidley]

These are great dios. Love the early war FJs. Kudos on having enough gear to deploy that many of them.

[SteveKrieg]

Thanks all for the most kind comments. As for having the gear well it had taken me a few years (a few years ago) of sourcing enough to carry me through the war in-total with an emphasis on the early years where their novel approach (that of vertical envelopment) was crucial to the Wehrmacht's 'blitzkrieg' successes.

By the time of Crete though, not so much, as the Allies on Crete knew an airborne assault was on the cards (and the key objectives); however, General Freyburg - the commander on the spot - was fixated on the approach from the sea which, though no less threatening, was well within the capacity of the Royal Navy to deal with. A fascinating 'near run thing' if only the Allies took as much risk in counterattacking the meagre survivors of the Fallschirmjager that first night as the German risk in conducting the mission in the first place...anyway, on with the scene...

[SteveKrieg]

It's late in the battle and the once clean appearance of the Fallschirmjager is no more giving way to stifling heat and the need to move on foot given the lack of vehicle transport (always a 'bugbear' of airborne forces).

With this in-mind, he has discarded his woollen tunic (showing his Luftwaffe-branded singlet and dogtag pouch underneath) and cut off his trousers at the knees in order to improve ventilation and reduce body temperature; however, cold nights experienced wished he'd have given it more thought. Over his smock is light belt order with an early-war period rifle ammunition bandolier.

Not all FJR jumped in with the recently introduced helmet covers, many had gone in with applied mud in order to break up the shiny finish prior to leaving Greece whilst others applied it during a break in the battle.

As the Allies withdraw, surprisingly to many including their own side further along the coast, the FJR along with reinforced Gebirgsjager advance and here the para has stumbled upon a hastily vacated Vickers MMG position - out of ammo and the water needed to keep it firing (what was left of the water probably emptied into water bottles prior to leaving) and breach-block removed to prevent enemy use.

[SteveKrieg]

On second thoughts, I've come to realise, given the other two larger scenes covering Crete that, in this instance 'more is less' and there is the issue that the Vickers MMG may be taking away my intent for this scene - that of focusing on the paratrooper himself and how his appearance has changed during the course of the battle.

So, a reduced scene sans Vickers will now go in as part of the Crete trilogy.

And now a step back to 1940 and the assault on the Belgian fort of Eben Emael.

Enjoy, Steve

[Hammer's Africaners]

Keep posting pictures of your work. Fantastic figures and gear.

[Squidley]

I lost the breech block for my vickers in a photo shoot years ago.....But you made a story around it!

Nice setup, either way.

[SteveKrieg]

Cheers muchly all,

Covering such an extensive project, one is expected to go off on a tangent here an there and with the Crete trilogy, I found my first tangent...but only because I feel it is hard to tell the Battle of Crete as a German success story without them - the crucial close air support (airborne artillery) that played a vital part in softening up the defences prior and on-call airborne artillery after the drop given the FJR had little if any artillery of its own to speak of and what they did have was small in calibre due to the constricting nature of the Ju52 transport plane.

This was made possible by the Luftwaffe's VIII Air Corps with around 650 combat aircraft - 150 of which were the dreaded Junkers 87 'Stuka'.

Now I know this is the 'Ground Pounders' section so not too sure if I'll get banned for featuring air force but...my defence could be, in this case, that these guys pounded the ground and anyone who knows the value of a good JTAC will back me up when it comes to how much of a (using today's terminology) 'force multiplier' ground attack aircraft can be to those on the ground in-need of a little more firepower.

With that in-mind, I intend to cover this 'tangent' by two means - firstly I thought to repaint/detail one of the classic 1:18th Scale BBI Elite Forces Stuka that I bought back in 2005 in the hope I can hang it from the ceiling at this year's model show...but then that tangent went onto another with the need now to have a pilot figure representative of the close air support factor. I decided on DML's 2007 release - Rudolf Mertens - which by coincidence is stated as a pilot circa Crete '41....job done...or so I thought.

The out of the box figure, like so many DMLs, needed additional work if I was to convey the classic Luftwaffe pilot. So referring to period pics and coloured illustrations from the Osprey range, I gave him a promotion to Oberleutnant, changed-out his Browning HP (which a few Germans were sporting around this time of the war) to a classic and better-fitting Walther PPK, added a flare belt above his boots, a wrist compass to his gauntlet, replaced his flying cap with a better BBI example complete with the all the trimmings and gave him a service cap.

Something was still missing and then it occurred to me that the very nice sitzfallschirm was missing its ripcord handle so some scratch-building required there. Then, given the crews were going over water, I had to add a Schwimmweste SWp734. Mission accomplished. Enjoy, Steve

[Squidley]

I don't think any of the mods are going to pull your post because of the "ground pounders" violation.

He's well kitted out and looks ready for action. And the bird in the background is menacing!

[Pangaea95]

Beautifully done presentation of some outstanding figures, and this is exactly what the “ground pounders” is about…showcasing 1/6th scale figure projects

[SteveKrieg]

Much appreciate the comments and without further ado it's time to add a couple more FJR scenes with an on-going narrative to their early war successes - namely the assault on the Belgian fort of Eben Emael followed by the airborne assault on Holland (both May 1940).

For the Eben Emael scene, I wanted to go a little further into the assault aspects via demolitions and scaling gear as well as highlight the subtle changes in the uniform worn - the application of sawdust, paste and mud to the helmets in order to reduce glare and the addition of zippered pockets to the early pattern smocks. This via three figures - one of whom represents the commander of the crucial 'Granit' team - Lt Witzig (with MP38 SMG) who was to play a prominent role in the story of the WW2 FJR. I was also keen to repaint/detail a Flammenwerfer 35 (DML) to illustrate the assault nature of the raid.

Further research alluded to the use of shortened stick grenades (some 300 were handed out for the mission) which were never employed again with the paras hamstrung by the inability to throw them as far as the traditional 'masher'. The then highly-secretive shaped charge (the two-piece 50kg Hohlladungwaffen) along with differing explosive charges were other key pieces of equipment that I want to use as part of the scene but as a separate display piece.

[SteveKrieg]

Whilst Witzig's 'Granit' team went to work (along with three other sturmgruppen who were charged with securing nearby bridges), the remainder of the 7th Flieger Division jumped shortly thereafter jumped into Holland to secure airfields (for the follow-up air-transportable 22nd Infantry Division) and capture bridges across key waterways for the ground advance by 9th Panzer Division as part of the German invasion of the west (Fall Gelb) - with the swing down through the Low Countries.

The airborne assault met with mixed success with defeat staved-off largely by Kurt Students use of the 'oil spot' delivery of his troops ensuring the Dutch were spread thin to try and counter the possibility of further drops (of which none were planned). The 9th Panzer also had arrived just in time to prevent disaster; however the success of Eben Emael overshadowed the lessons to be learned from Holland which included the loss of many Ju52 transport planes to ground fire as they landed (many of these lessons which would rear their ugly head again in Crete).

[SteveKrieg]

As with the Eben Emael scene, I thought I'd again illustrate by way of three figures (all DML as with the bulk of the FJR figures I'm employing this year); one with the near useless (even by 1940 standards) PzB39 A/T rifle and the other an MG34 team in the alternate support platform firing position.

I've been keen for some years, having seen imagery and footage of this tandem firing pose, to replicate it and even by using DML's later more poseable NEO figures it was still a tricky marry-up with the assistant gunner acting as a stable firing platform for the machine gunner in firing at an elevated height. Surely today WH&S representatives would have a fit with such 'ersatz' firing positions but back in the day there was a war to be won by all sides and at any cost (including perforated eardrums it seems).

Next figure - Denmark/Norway, yes I seem to be regressing to where it all began back in 1936 before I then move forward past the Crete scenes (with an addition or two to the 'gearing up' scene) and on into North Africa and beyond...suffice to say, still many a figure to go on this one...phew. Enjoy, Steve

[SteveKrieg]

Oh, one more thing, for the PzB39 gunner, I scratch-built the special pouches (each held 20 rounds of 7.92mm ammo for the gun) though, at the time, not realising I'd have the figure in the prone supported position where the pouches would not be fully scene...oh well, at least I know they're there. One small seemingly intricate feature of the FJR are the blousing of the trousers, I've managed to apply it to the recent paras (and now having to go back to do same to those assembled previously) but it isn't easy given the length of the trousers versus the relative short height of the jump boots, hard to tuck them in with sufficient material to allow blousing but it's a work in progress. Anyway, cheers for viewing and hope all are travelling well?, Steve

[Squidley]

Fantastic stuff! I've always loved shots of 2 man fj teams firing their MGs that way. Great to see how you deployed it.

So many nice touches here, and a bit to learn as well. I never heard anything about shortened granades. Candidly, they look kind of silly, and you'd expect them to be harder to throw as far.

One question - what do you use for grass in your bases? It's something I struggled with back in my modeling days, but you've done a beautiful job.

[Kapernakis]

Nicely done. You never disappoint with your scenes.
Looking forward to more.

[rdjmchris]

I am very impressed by your work - you've inspired me to re-start working on my FJs. What method are you using for the trouser leg blousing, if I may ask? I use small rubber bands on the figure legs, tucking the trouser material under them. Then I carefully pull the trousers up. Looking forward to more scenes!

[SteveKrieg]

G'day all,

I plan to post some updates by weekend's end however keep getting a warning that any new posts won't carry over due to a board re-opening (anyone else experiencing this?).

But quickly, that is a top notch idea Chris ref the small elastic bands, I've found this works for me fine on the later DML versions but not the earlier ones which are too short in length and the leg cuffs too thick so using craft glue to style the blousing whereas the later issues have a bit more length to provide give with the bands. Utilizing either draw-string or double-sided material tape to give the blousing impression on th earlier versions. Given the number of figures involved in this one, I therefore am using whatever above methods to suit but the rubber bands - genius. Thanks for sharing, Steve

[SteveKrieg]

Oh, Squidley, for the grass mats - JG Miniatures produce the range in several styles ranging from grasslands, desert, snow and such (some with tracks) and are designed for a smaller scale (1/32nd King & Country, Peter Jenkins etc) but when brushed with a scalp comb (thus raising the grass) is perfect for 1/6th. They come in elongated lengths and unfortunately cost a bit (AUD is normally $95 per sheet) but as alluded make a damn fine base for the stuff I do. Hope this helps?. Cheers, Steve