Today’s picture is a figure in a new line of 1/48 WWII figures I’m making as a commission. The project is well funded and they’ve ordered about 60 figures to be made over the next three years. There will probably be enough for a release in about six months.
What makes historical figures like these interesting for me is the challenge of depicting nuances like fabric weight and texture and bringing out anatomy through modern clothes. 1/48 is a good scale, the size is big enough to do just about anything but still small enough to cast in a simple mold in two or three pieces at most. In this figure I particularly liked making the camo smock with it’s unusual seam placement.
The hands and rifle are a separate piece as is the trenching shovel, the head is turned so the mold seam will not fall on the face, he’s mounted on a bar for a slot base and would be about 1.41" (36mm) if he stood up straight, which makes him 5’8". Average height for this line will be about 5’9"
The design brief for these figures is for them to have individual character, this one in particular is a hardened veteran with elements of older and newer equipment issues.
Trackbacks
Comments
-
Rob
says:
#1 2006-10-05 13:50 (Reply)Tom,
Great figure ! I don't suppose you can say who you are doing these for (and I assume they will be on the market in plastic ??).
He is obviously circa late 1944 German SS -the cammo smock and Sturmgewehr 44 give it away. Can you say if they are planning more than just SS ? Perhaps some US Airborne or German Fallschirmjagers ?
Design note: I'm not sure off the top of my head, but I thought the Germans were using the lower laced boots by this time in the war (sort of like hiking boots). The pants were usually over the boots, again I think so, and may be wrong, but it might be worth checking again.
Thanks for sharing,
Rob -
Anonymous
says:
#2 2006-10-05 14:45 (Reply)The first set is SS and U.S. Airborne.
This fellow is a mix of old (the boots and camo smock) and new (the MP44) equipment. The idea is the sort of field appearance of a veteran line trooper. -
Rob W.
says:
#2.1 2006-10-05 17:50 (Reply)Ah, yes, Tom alluded to that above. Are you the comissioner of this figure line ? Great idea, they are already looking nice.
-
Zac
says:
#3 2006-10-05 16:35 (Reply)Very nice pose and great work on the face. Looking forward to seeing this and the rest of the figs on sale.
-
Lucius
says:
#4 2006-10-06 09:14 (Reply)Love the figures.
I also would like to know if they will be metal or plastic. I've never done WW II, except with plastic models, but this is my favorite scale.
Count me in, if the owner of the line is making them for general release. -
Dallas
says:
#5 2006-10-06 13:31 (Reply)Rob said:
>He is obviously circa late 1944 German SS -the cammo smock and Sturmgewehr 44 give it away.
Firstly let me say, beautiful figure, superb sculpting. However if the camo smock has a hood (which it appears to) it would have to be either an Army smock or a field-reworked SS model. The SS camo smocks did not have hoods.
The helmet cover appears to be SS all the way though, with the attached foliage loops.
The MP44 was also issued to Army troops so its presence is not necessarily indicative of an SS man.
As we cannot see his collar insignia, he could be equally representative of a soldier of an Army formation such as the "Grossdeutschland" regiment that was well equipped with both camo and automatic rifles.
Cheers
D. -
Rob W.
says:
#5.1 2006-10-06 14:48 (Reply)Wow, you really know the uniforms. I did not realize the army and SS had different smocks, but I don't know that much. The Stg 44 places the year as 1944-5 though. I forgot the elite army units also got the smocks. GD was a really odd unit - I think it was actually larger than a division (on paper) by the war's end, if I remember correct.
These will be fun to paint. -
Dallas
says:
#5.1.1 2006-10-10 14:33 (Reply)You're right about the GD - it ended up as "Panzerkorps Grossdeutschland". A little optimistic in view of the materiel that actually existed at the time!
D. -
Tom
says:
#6 2006-10-06 16:37 (Reply)My understanding is, initially at least, they will be done in metal with the possibility of resin in the distant future.
They will be for squad skirmish gaming and eventually include British and Russians as well as Germans and Americans. -
Lucius
says:
#7 2006-10-07 08:27 (Reply)Good news on the metal. Match these figures with the new 1/48 scale Tamiya AFV kits, add the vast amount of great 1/48 modeling terrain available, and the result will be spectacular.
Maybe this will be the beginning of the end for figures measured sole-eyes in mm, instead of a real scale like 1/48, as God intended. -
Tom
says:
#8 2006-10-07 09:11 (Reply)Amen brother! Though I will refrain from holding my breath.
-
Leo Charron
says:
#9 2007-02-05 11:44 (Reply)I am new to your work, being a 1/48 military modeler. Of course I am interested in your 1/48 military figs. Would it be too early to disclose the when and where and by whom your figures will be available? I took a look at the German figs, and they are truely outstanding in this scale. Metal is OK, but resin castings would be nicer.
-
Tom
says:
#10 2007-02-05 12:41 (Reply)Fox Miniatures, a new company. The four figures shown here have already been molded successfully and samples are being painted. The first release will probably be late spring, about 10 figures each of SS and U.S. airborne.
