• Modelers Alliance has updated the forum software on our website. We have migrated all post, content and user accounts but we could not migrate the passwords.
    This requires that you manually reset your password.
    Please click here, http://modelersalliance.org/forums/login to go to logon page and use the "Forgot your Password" option.

Wittman's Last Drink Aug. 8th '44

panzerace007

Active member
O.K. Guys & Gals,

Sorry for th Delay. Finally I get to dive in. Here is th picture & I'm still waiting on a few figures to show up. I'm cuttin' it close !!! :gogo It's too bad I couldn't find a P.E. set for th Tiger I in time.

Monroe_Perdu_GB.JPG


Time_Stamp_for_Monroe_Perdu_GB.JPG


Here's th time stamp. everything is 100% unbuilt !! Until ... This afternoon !!!
 
Hey Guys,

Thanx. The Premise around the Dio - Wittman Pulls up , Meets up with some Panzer Grenadiers from LASSH. Coordinates a hit just before He takes off to Meet his Fate in th Fields along the Canne-Falaise Road. I'll be adding some more Grenadier figures all standing/sitting around th Fountain quenching Their thirst & stuff . Wittman will be conversing with the Scharfurher of th Grenadiers to get th plan of Attack that Never Came. ..... Did this really happen .... :idonno But It makes for a Good Story ! What town is this set in you ask ( Don't ask, I don't know all of th Geography yet :blush: ) .... ??? That's what Research is for ! I'll have to investigate & come up with a Name for th Town or something ....( looks down & kicks at th ground)
 
Shot, anywhere along the road where the 12th SS moved during that time would work. Check out the maps of Operation Totalize.
 
Shot, anywhere along the road where the 12th SS moved during that time would work. Check out the maps of Operation Totalize.

MOONIE,

I'm not near th research right now , But I think th HJ were a little further South east-ish ... than th LASSH's 1st Kompanie of th 501st. I believe ( IIRC) Their own Pz. Grenadiers were in th area & even then ...not really near enough to coordinate a Hit. I'll dig through some Text & let ya know.

LAURA,

Thanx for th kind words :D ... In all honesty .. this will be th 1st. Tiger I've built in over 8 years. :D I'll get My claws into that Tiger soon enough. I figure( no pun intended) I can start painting th Figgies th same time I'm building that Big Cat !

I wish I could've found a P.E. set for th Tiger while I was at AMPS, at least for th fenders. I'll double check th Only Picture of Wittman's Last that exsists & see If I can tell if it had any Fenders at all.

Stay Tuned My Kitties..( pun intended) :D .. get it .. 'cause a Tiger is a Cat and a Kitt... Oh never mind ... It sounded better in My head ..... :D
 
Ah, I was just thinking about Wittman's unit. Shoot, what am I doing, you know where you're looking. Git'er Done!
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Wittmann

"Wittmann was killed on 8 August 1944 while taking part in a counterattack ordered by Kurt Meyer, of the 12th SS Panzer Division to retake tactically important high ground near the town of Saint-Aignan-de-Cramesnil. The town and surrounding high ground had been captured a few hours earlier by Anglo-Canadian forces during Operation Totalize.[39][40] Wittmann had decided to participate in the attack as he believed the company commander who was supposed to lead the attack was too inexperienced.[41]

A group of seven Tiger tanks from the Heavy SS-Panzer Battalion 101, supported by several other tanks, was ambushed by tanks from A Squadron, 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry, A Squadron, the Sherbrooke Fuisilier Regiment, and B Squadron, the 144 Royal Armoured Corps.[40][42][43][44][45][Notes 1]

The killing shots have long been thought to have come from a Sherman Firefly of ‘3 Troop’, A Squadron, 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry (commander - Sergeant Gordon; gunner - Trooper Joe Ekins), which was positioned in a wood called Delle de la Roque on the advancing Tigers' right flank[46] at approximately 12:47.[47]

It appears the shells penetrated the upper hull of the tank and ignited the Tiger's own ammunition, causing a fire which engulfed the tank and then blew off the turret.[48]"

350px-Wittmann_Tiger_007.jpg


James
 
JAMES,

Thanx for th reference & th Picture. WoW ! Just think of how powerful th explosion was to throw th Turret that far behind. I'm sure th inside of that Tiger looks like Egg salad !! I tried posting a few more pix of this Tiger, but it was all coded wrong. Thanx again James !!
 
O.K... O.K ... O.K ,

Whew !! I guess it's time to get this Big Cat a rollin' ! No pix yet .... :blush: But I'm in th Throws of landing the Verlinden "Through th Hatch" Detail set in th Big Kat & will be able to post some Pix .

I'll start th Figures soon. I think I have enough ....... I'm just hoping that I can Get'R done by th Deadline !! I think I'll have a total of 10 figures in this lil' Dio :woohoo: A mere days work for one Mr. Letterman .... but I'm jumpin in with Both Boots !!

Aw Crocky ! ..... Th deadline is Aug. 31st . ....... :sick: Psssh . Yeah. On My best day I don't think I can get all of this ddone & lookin admirable by them , butI'm still gonna build it & finish it & send th Pix on up th Chain. I'll be on it steadily now .. just not done by th Deadline .... :blush: .... Maybe ...... can't promise ..... :soldier :soldier :soldier :soldier :soldier :soldier :soldier

:drinks
 
you will save considerable time if you paint all figures simultaneously, e.g. paint all black parts, paint all field grey parts, paint all flesh tones etc.etc.

not one figure after another!

i'm looking forward to your progress! :popcorn
 
you will save considerable time if you paint all figures simultaneously, e.g. paint all black parts, paint all field grey parts, paint all flesh tones etc.etc.

not one figure after another!

I agree with everything Laura put forth to one point.

From a time when I actually built models (on commission) I base painted the figures together as described by Laura. Then each figure was painted individually to ensure that the flesh tones, uniforms, and so on, were not identical on all since people have different hues, sun exposure, and fading of clothing, damage to leather, etc.

From Shep Paine's book, I did use a mirror to look at a figure since one's eyes become complacent and we can't see mistakes easily. Using the mirror adds a new point of view.

Regards,
 
changing the tone of the colors every two figures and use the same color for e.g. jacket on one figure and trousers on another does the same job - sorry that i didn't mention that!
 
changing the tone of the colors every two figures and use the same color for e.g. jacket on one figure and trousers on another does the same job - sorry that i didn't mention that!

I did that too so we are 10% in agreement!

Regards,
 
I am fairly sure that Wittman was working more with the HJ at that point as his unit was a Korps asset for Iss PK. I only say this because if you have any grenadiers without cammo smocks or 44 jackets then they would have no cuffbands as the HJ didn't get awarded cuffbands until after Normandy. Otherwise they would look prett much the same as the LAH dudes.
Another tip(which you probably know)is that Alpine now has a jaw-droppingly good casting of Wittman in his "work" leathers. These guys in the Lah tanker units really were good at their trade of soldiering and Max Wunsche and others got ahold of these u-boat crew leathers because one of the most common injuries for tankers before they had to bail out was from burns. The leathers went a long way for protection from this. Wunsche ,during the train- up period of the HJ Div,actually had his tankers detailed to the MAN factory and had them participate in the building of their Panthers. You can never know your weapon too well.
As a retired USArmy"lifer" I am in awe of these German units not because of the "Nazi" thing but because of their stupendous effectiveness against overwhelming odds,just as I am in awe of Joshua Chamberlain and his unit at Gettysburg. I geuss soldiers look at things differently.
MAN! Didn't meant o get so long winded or hi-jack your thread dude. I really want to see this project get done man! Get on it!
J
 
Hey JERRY,

Yes after some further reading , He was in contact with HJ at that point in time. Thanx on th Heads-up on Their cuff bands. I hadn't realized that. Cool lil' Fact !!

I believe that th U-Boat Leathers came from Th Italian Navy. IIRC , 1st. SS pilfered them while They were there , after Italy's surrender & !st. SS passed some onto th HJ. Ah ! to have a set of those Leathers today ! I like th cut on th Jackets !

I have noticed after lookin at some more pix of th HJ in Normandy at th time , They wore a wide variety of Camo . Even with in th Same Squad. It's not uncommon to see Oak Leaf , the Palm Tree, Italian camo & those "Splinter" looking coveralls that a few of th M.G. teams seemed to wear. It will definitely be a Treat for th Eyes , with all th different types of Uniforms in th scene.

Long windedness is Cool !! Look through some of My threads. :D

:drinks
 
Yes,they got the leathers in Italy but I am pretty sure that the leathers were German made. I would also love to have one of those jackets. In fact,for a while there,Bono from U2 was wearing one and is seen on an album cover wearing one.
The reason that so many types of cammo was worn is because of the tremendous attrition in personel in LAH and the other WaffenSS units. The old hands tended to hold onto their issue stuff and the replacements would get the newer stuff,etc. The old guys would get the newer stuff as well but would like to wear their older"lucky" kit. It was also a badge of experience,as you could tell the older hands from their uniforms right off the bat. We used to do that in the USArmy as well. We would wear the old stuff until they had to order us to not use it anymore. The new guys were always envious as some of the older gear worked very well and was replaced with stuff that wasn't as good,etc.
So that is why their was such a mix of gear in the HJ. Plus,remember,the cadre of that new unit was taken from LAH and so they brought their older gear with them(if they were survivers of Russia)as LAH was re-built in Italy and then decimated again in Russia before they gave up people to form HJ.
It really is a wonder how they kept going for 5 years like that.
But then again,our Infantry Regts in WWII suffered on the average of about 85 to 90% caussualty rates. The grunts always suffer the most.
God bless'em,J
 
Fantastic info there Jerry and a great insight into what made the common soldier especially about sending them to the MAN factory.

Don`t worry I always view Nazi leadership and political viewpoints and actions and common SS soldiers completely differently.
 
Back
Top