Tuesday 28 April 2020

An Unlikely Hero

So it turns out that working from home is considerably more time consuming than going to work, who knew?  It's probably just me, but I find the reliance on the technology, covering lessons I wouldn't normally teach and the obligatory preparation all sapping of my time and energy.  As a result, I have fallen behind on my own posts and those of the many splendid weblogs that I so enjoy following.  That said one of the benefits of being at home, and indeed working from the hobby desk, is that I have embraced the '10 minutes a day' approach to hobby time.  I say 10 minutes, but I can often squeeze in a little more in one sitting and so genuine progress has been made on a number of smaller projects that needed to be finished off.  The first of these is part of a series of character posts, this one showcasing, SS-Hauptsturmführer Kurt-Siegfried Schrader.

A decorated SS Officer, Schrader was seriously wounded in the fighting on the Normandy front, for which he was awarded the Wound Badge in Black having previously been awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class and the Eastern Front Medal.  During his convalescence, Schrader had moved his family to the village of Itter.  It was here, on his many walks from his home to the castle, that he befriended the French prisoners and eluded to his growing disgust of the Nazi regime.  
Having been released from service in the last days of the war, Schrader had returned home and hung up his uniform, but was persuaded back into action by the French prisoners he had befriended to act as their security and negotiator if they were attached; an appointment that would ultimately save the the former  SS-Hauptsturmführer from a considerably stretch in prison himself!  As it stands our rules allow for characters to be attached to units in the game.  SS-Hauptsturmführer Schrader can now be attached to a unit of French Prisoners bringing some much needed firepower to their dice pool.
My representation of this unlikely hero in our story is a Stoessi's Heroes miniature available in the United Kingdom through 'Great Escape Games'.  My worry about painting so much black had seen this idea buried in the 'to do' pile, but a renewed desire to get things done saw me approach the problem from a differnt angle - namely don't use black!  To be fair I did use some, namely the boots, belt and collar tabs, but the rest is made up of a variety of different greys, highlighted and the washed with 'Games Workshop' Nuln Oil.  

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41 comments:

  1. Really nice work as always Michael, Nice model too, I guessing that his wound was to his right arm?

    Nice bit of background info too.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thank you Roger, it is a lovely sculpt that seemed to fit nicely with the real life character.

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  2. Great paint work.

    I just claim my internet went down and I was unable to use google classroom ;0)

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  3. Excellent work Michael, and nice background to the character as well, if we ever get chance to do a painting session I can show you several ways to paint black

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    1. Thank you Dave and yes that would be something we need to put on the agenda.

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  4. Splendid looking chap, very nice black! It's weird not having as much time when everything is closed down isn't it?
    Best Iain

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    1. Thank you Iain and yes, very strange! I keep looking at our postage stamp sized garden and wonder how it is that I haven't had time to sort it out yet!

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  5. Very nice Michael black is often too black so I have some what I think is anthracite ? Which is really a very very dark grey. But looks black

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    1. Than you Matt, the black always seems to final and so like you I have been looking for 'nearly' black substitutes.

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  6. Wonderful paint-job, Michael. You've really given an already characterful sculpt even more personality. Lovely palette, simply lovely.

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    1. Thank you so much Simon, given that this was a miniature that I had been putting off for so long, I was surprised at just how quickly I managed to get him done.

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  7. Very nice; I think the selective use of black is great.

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  8. Wondeful looking figure, one that'll easily catch the eye on the table.

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    1. Thank you Joe. He will certainly stand out surrounded by al the those G.I.s in green.

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  9. Excellent looking character figure, Michael. The long leather jacket is iconic.

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    1. Thank you Dean and that coat was always the worry, it needed to look like polished leather. Not an easy ask.

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  10. Very nice Dave, you got the black right. I use almost no actual black preferring Vallejo Black Grey

    Ian

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    1. Thank you Ian. Vallejo Black grey is my new favourite colour, lots used in this piece.

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  11. Nicely done sir! Black coat turned out extremely well!

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    1. Thank you Mr. Nimrod, certainly better than I thought it would.

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  12. Nicely done, and a fascinating account. I find a good 'rusty' black can be made by mixing flesh pink into plain matte black.

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    1. Thank you A.J. Oh, rusty black, might need to give that a go. I have read that people use pink to highlight black too, not tries it myself though.

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  13. Excellent work once again Michael! What are you using to generate their character cards?

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    1. Thank you Terry. With regards to the cards I made some observations here
      http://28mmvictorianwarfare.blogspot.com/2019/09/on-turn-of-card.html
      but essentially I use PicMonkey. Happy to share the actual process if that would help?

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  14. That is an amazing introduction for this unlikely hero.

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    1. Thank you, I like to think that his was a genuine realisation of what needed to change.

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  15. A wonderful paint job & history lesson combined Michael :)

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    1. Well I like to keep you entertained Frank and thank you.😀

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  16. Lovely contrast on such neutral colors. On a side note, at least you are dedicated to ensuring your students do not miss out during this stay-at-home period. My son is facing uneven help from teachers online. Some, like you, are a credit to their profession and try so hard to help students. Other ... sigh.

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    1. Thank you and thank you! That is incredibly kind of you.

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