101st AIRBORNE AT CARENTAN, JUNE 1944

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Stikpusher
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Re: 101st AIRBORNE AT CARENTAN, JUNE 1944

Post by Stikpusher »

Considering that factory applied camouflage did not start to come into being until autumn of 1944, and prior to that it was applied by the user unit, I don’t think that you need to worry about matching any pattern exactly. :wink: The k-rad looks good so far!
"Surely I have made my meaning plain? I intend to avenge myself upon you, Admiral. I have deprived your ship of power, and when I swing 'round, I intend to deprive you of your life."

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SteveSki
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Re: 101st AIRBORNE AT CARENTAN, JUNE 1944

Post by SteveSki »

Ya, Brother, it's been a haul making this kit work, but I do like the fact that it's in a period of,....not so sure, but it'll work. I understand the SS units in Normandy were a mishmash of numerous groups, so I'm not too worried about this rig, it's only a set piece for the story line. The key is to let it tell a story in and of itself, as a side note.
Give Blood, Play Rugby, cause everyone knows football is for wimps!

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Stikpusher
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Re: 101st AIRBORNE AT CARENTAN, JUNE 1944

Post by Stikpusher »

Of course. This K-rad is just for added context. As far as the SS in Normandy goes, at the beginning of the campaign, they were well equipped cohesive units, some more than others. But by the end of the campaign when they were fighting to escape encirclement after weeks of constant battle, they had been attritted into a shadow of their former selves and amalgamated into ad hoc small battle groups. Most of the SS units were in the British sector around Caen, while a minority faced off against US forces in the bocage country.
"Surely I have made my meaning plain? I intend to avenge myself upon you, Admiral. I have deprived your ship of power, and when I swing 'round, I intend to deprive you of your life."

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SteveSki
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Re: 101st AIRBORNE AT CARENTAN, JUNE 1944

Post by SteveSki »

LyleW wrote: Tue Jan 03, 2023 12:15 pm This will be interesting.
I've got it mentally figured out, now it's just a matter of the tight layout, veggies, brush, etc.
Give Blood, Play Rugby, cause everyone knows football is for wimps!

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Re: 101st AIRBORNE AT CARENTAN, JUNE 1944

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Stikpusher wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 12:13 am a minority faced off against US forces in the bocage country.
It's comical actually, that it had been suggested that this rig should be "clean, dry, and serviceable", HA! We both remember that phrase, don't we? But that would be boring, so I will handle accordingly. The well-intended Gent went on to tell me that the units were kept in spit polish shape until D-Day. Ok, so what? The 27th SS Panzergrenadiers were around Carentan and that is the loose story line. There's always that fall-back, artistic license.

I'm looking this over and it appears a bit much on the chipping, so I will attempt to dial it down, but we all know once the battle starts the rigs are a pig pen.
Give Blood, Play Rugby, cause everyone knows football is for wimps!

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mostrich
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Re: 101st AIRBORNE AT CARENTAN, JUNE 1944

Post by mostrich »

Rinaldi's stuff is next level. I have two of his books and I can't imagine how many hours he sunk into them.
I'm sure what follows now is pure fun!
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Re: 101st AIRBORNE AT CARENTAN, JUNE 1944

Post by Stikpusher »

Right? Everything is “clean, dry, and serviceable” before it leaves the motor pool. :hmm: Just moving to an assembly area tends to get stuff pretty dusty/dirty. Add in any weather such as was present in the first half of June’44 in Normandy, and you’ll get serviceable. Open tops don’t get dry, and clean… :whistle:
"Surely I have made my meaning plain? I intend to avenge myself upon you, Admiral. I have deprived your ship of power, and when I swing 'round, I intend to deprive you of your life."

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SteveSki
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Re: 101st AIRBORNE AT CARENTAN, JUNE 1944

Post by SteveSki »

mostrich wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 12:59 pm Rinaldi's stuff is next level. I have two of his books and I can't imagine how many hours he sunk into them.
I'm sure what follows now is pure fun!
These books are really good, I love em. If I wasn't so stuck on painting figures, I'd be refining my armor skills. Yes, you can see he's put a ton of time into making these top of the line.
Give Blood, Play Rugby, cause everyone knows football is for wimps!

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Re: 101st AIRBORNE AT CARENTAN, JUNE 1944

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Stikpusher wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 2:56 pm Open tops don’t get dry, and clean… :whistle:
My thoughts exactly. There happens to be a self-appointed mentor that I somehow got hitched to my tail on another site, he's an expert, just ask him, HA! I know he means well, but he can be a bit annoying. I'm having fun with this one, but trying not to overdo it. Yall can be the judge of that, but I think it's coming along nicely. Pics up soon.
Give Blood, Play Rugby, cause everyone knows football is for wimps!

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Re: 101st AIRBORNE AT CARENTAN, JUNE 1944

Post by SteveSki »

Trackin it Now!

The Trak-bike has been completed, finally. Ok, for the technically inclined, it’s really a German Sd.kfz.2 Kettenkraftrad Typ HK 101. That’s a mouthful, so it shall henceforth be referred to as a “Trak-bike” for purposes of this article.

Note: As mentioned before, these tracks for this kit are pathetic and have a real tendency to break at the most inopportune time, while being installed. I painted, weathered, and left the sprockets uninstalled, so I could install the tracks over the sprockets, place the back end of the link over the rear running wheel, and carefully slip the sprocket into place. HA, ya right, they still broke. I had to “pin” each side in at least one link to keep these buggers from coming apart during installation. The design team gets a “swift kick in the pants” for that brain dead maneuver, IMHO! Ok, onward.

After using Mike Rinaldi’s “Oil Paint Rendering”, or OPR, I was decently happy with the results. This was, after all, my first attempt at weathering a vehicle using oils only,………..well almost. I did use Mig’s pigments to add a bit of mud crusty above the running gear and I also used a mix of pigments to form a Euro-earth tone and added thinner to splatter a bit on the rig lower sections. All in all, I do like the OPR method and will be using this quite a bit from here on out. Like I said before, I’m an oiler anyway, so what’s the big deal, right?

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As you can see from the photos, I added some foliage using MiniNatur Plant tree foliage from Germany, to add interest and help support the story line. This stuff is great and I now need to replenish my stock, it’s very handy. I also made a few crates and some rope for the back end of the trak-bike as well as a cover tarp that has been drawn over by some of our characters. More on that later.

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It might seem a bit odd having that MP40 sitting on the driver’s seat, but that will become obvious later, HA! I’m really not going to give up the story line just yet, but I’m sure there a few that have already figured this out.

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Now that this trak-bike has been finished it will sit safely in the curio cabinet until the final dio placement. Next up, changing gears and painting faces, Yehaaaa!

Thanks for watchin. Cheers, Ski.
Last edited by SteveSki on Wed Jan 11, 2023 2:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Give Blood, Play Rugby, cause everyone knows football is for wimps!

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