Underfire Miniatures: 28mm East Germans team 5

Hi guys,

To begin with, I noticed my blog has now reached over 100,000 hits, so thank you for that. While blog is more a way to fill my must-type quota, I always try to post what someone else might find useful. I really like seeing how other people tackle their hobby, so I have to say I am quite surprised to learn how many people dislike posting WIP posts.

Anyhow, I have yet another team of East Germans from the Underfire miniatures. This is a duplicate set, so I was reluctant to simply paint it. For any new readers, I have grown very reluctant to painting miniatures as they come in the past years. Not that they're done badly (or that I could honestly improve them), it's more that the conversions are the part of hobby I enjoy the most.

So, the problem with East Germans is that they are rather unique as it is - except for their weapons. I can not tell you how annoyed I am at being able to play 70 years of conflicts with one constant - bloody soviet weapons. That is, of course, not the problem or miniature makers.

That being said, I still wanted to do *something*, so I started researching East German special forces and I found a fitting unit, whose gear differs from the ordinary rifles: Fallschrimjaegers of NVA.

They was only one paratroopers unit in the NVA and you can enjoy their superior skills on the video below:

Basically, what I did was quite simple. Firstly, I dropped my expectations way low. I've decided to give them paratroopers helmet, AKs with some kind of folding stock (not being too picky!), sort-of sculpt their signature vest and keep any gear that would not go off easily.

Firstly, I chopped the helmets. Ruthlessly. Really, without any mercy.

Then I chopped them some more. And more. And filled them. And then I sanded them as well.

At some point, very early while doing so, I was left wondering why am I destroying these nice miniatures, but well, alea iacta est, so I carried on. I also made a decision that as opposed to my original plan of having several teams (at least 2!), these 4 will have to do.

Next were the blanket rolls. Gone. Then entrenching tools handles - all gone. Any large remains of any straps that would go across the body (i.e. NBC suit bag) - gone.

Rifle butts were carved into something resembling a wire frame.

As you can see, I kept the large haversacks (where gasmask would be stored) - surely being a paratrooper does not give you any sort of protection from chemical attacks. I decided to cut away the straps, thinking it could be attached to the vest "somehow". That was a mistake, but nobody really notices.

Below you can see how I destroyed fantastic mesh on the helmets (that I would actually need on mine, but there was honestly no other way). Also notice the rifle butt being very simply carved.

After a few days of relaxation, I started slightly resculpting the helmets' shape with milliput. In the end, I opted for clean finish and did not try to reproduce the mesh in any way.

Furthermore, deciding I have enough of the pointing-there miniatures, I resculpted the hand of the team-leader (third from left, with binoculars).

 The painting was pretty uneventful, I am not quite satisfied with the pattern. I mean, the idea is great, but I would much prefer smaller strips with less mistakes. I tried really hard to subtly indicate the vest around the shoulders, but I can't say I succeeded with every man.

One thing I did notice while painting the miniatures was all the extra details (like flag!) on their shoulders that I sadly ignored on the first batches, and didn't really think to fix with this one!

 Talking of the pointy-man, here is a side-by-side comparison of the original miniature and the paratrooper conversion. I have to say I was really glad how it turned out, it's barely noticeable that it is the same miniature!

 And the back shot. The miniatures look very different, but paratrooper only lacks the bedroll and entrenching tool handle! Okay, and the helmet is different. But that's it!

Looking at them all done, it makes me want to do another four (a RPG would be useful!), but I hope my sanity prevails!

As usual, thanks for looking!
Mathyoo

PS I really, REALLY wanted to paint their faces with camouflage black stripes, but I couldn't see how this could be done without messing the faces completely.

Underfire miniatures: 28mm East Germans team 4

Hi guys,

I would like to wish everyone happy holidays, and  - assuming my posting trend continues - a happy new year, too.


In December, I painted up 4th team of East Germans, which is something like a command pack with assorted figures. It includes two leaders of some description (one even has a personal radio, which surprised me and made me wish there was a proper radio man, too!), another RPG and a sniper designated marksman. As you would expect, I am not quite satisfied with my paintjob, but all in all it isn't too bad.

I honestly tried making better photos, but it appears the more I try the worse they get.

I have 16 now that would make up two squads. That's more than enough to fill the tiny 3x4 table I game on.  I will mainly use them in my moderns campaign as the organised bad guys, assisted by the rebels I've been using so far. I got some ideas for the campaign in my head already, but I'll probably play a few random games until I'm satisfied with the rules and while I insist on keeping the games free of politics, I think some sort of background would still be in order.

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo

Underfire miniatures: 28mm East Germans team 3

Hi guys,

I barely caught my November post (could you imagine I once had plans to post twice every week?) with another pack of Underfire miniatures East Germans. I had them on my paint table for about a month or so, sitting half done waiting for me to sit down and finish them. The camouflage is really a bugger and I think I am getting sloppier, but even with a bit of a drop in quality, the result is really worth it. I need to go invest in another tiny brush so next pack I do can be even better.


Without further ado, I present you team 3. It includes 3 East-German-AK guys and an RPG gunner, which I really missed in the earlier packs. For some reason, I really like backpacks on my guys and I plan on revisiting my RPG armed rebels and adding them some rocket packs.

I apologise for crappy photos, but at least they are no worse than usual. You can see they all carry their bags, including the RPG gunner! There are two things I miss with these packs, however. One is the RPG team assistant with extra rockets, the second more RPKs!



Here is a nice video I stumbled upon while searching NVA troops. It is just one part of many and it is about the breach. It shows you just how little things have changed from WW1 as they charge cross open ground, albeit with the tank support.

Thanks for looking,
Math-yoo

Underfire Miniatures: 28mm East Germans team 2

Hello guys,

I am quite pleased that I have finally finished another team of East Germans from Underfire miniatures.
The photo is bad as usual, so some of them seem larger than the others, but they are actually pretty much of the same size.

From left to right there is a NCO (as you could guess!), a gung ho PK gunner (my favorite!), and two riflemen, one armed with a LAW.

 There is not much to add, apart from the pain that painting the camo gives me, they are quite pleasant, I really like the poses on those. There are 3 different helmet covers variations between the 8 figures, which is very welcoming.

In other news, my "work placement" ends by the end of the month and I will have more time to devote to hobby again - hopefully I will do so as well.

I have a long list of things I want to do, from playing a game (!); making more terrain which is why I have trouble starting to play; sculpting as I haven't held a putty in my hands for 4 months or so - which is when I bought a new stripe of GS that I haven't yet used!

I am still gathering courage to work on my technicals some more, which would also be welcome.

Well, this is it for now, I hope I'll post again soon enough!

Thanks for reading,
Mathyoo

Underfire miniatures: 28mm East Germans

Hello guys,

I have finally finished painting a pack of Under Fire Miniatures 28mm East Germans. These are one of the two packs that company does in 28mm, but they have a huge range of 20mm miniatures. They were sculpted by the same guy that sculpts Moderns for Empress, and quality hasn't suffered - they are absolutely fantastic.

Cold war is not something I was planning to dab into (as I opted for moderns instead), alas they were a gift so I was more than happy to paint them.  They will not be put away, however, as they will take the role of the Evergreen army in my moderns that was so far filled by my WWII US Marines conversions.

Being ignorant of Cold War Germans of either description, I had to do some research figuring out the equipment and camouflage. I am not too confident about my paint choices, but I think it should do well enough.

If I am not mistaken, they would fit in the late eighties, should anyone be interested.

 This pack gives you three guys armed with AKs and a guy armed with a RPK for a support. The barrel of the later actually broke in transit, but by simply sanding it a bit and gluing it back, the damange is not noticable at all. Other than that, they pretty much all sport same equipment, with ammo pouches of the RPK guy being a tad larger, which I think was a nice attention to detail.

As I mentioned they were sculpted by the same sculptor that made the US Infantry I am using for Slovenes, but as you can see below the Germans are just a tad bulkier:

Unrelated, below are some notes on the paints used, mainly for myself as a future reference:

I had trouble picking up paints (not to mention painting the pattern). The pattern is horrible, it really is. It is brown stripes on brownish-greenish-greyish-beige background. The pattern gets lost from 5 meters away, so the easiest way would be to just paint the uniforms in one solid colour...but where is the fun in that?

I decided to make the pattern obvious, as these are miniatures after all and for that, I went with lighter brown background, so that brown stripes can be made out.

I painted the uniform this way (because of what I had available):

German Beige Camo base
Green Brown wash, some black wash
Brown stripes

Brown violet for helmet netting and helmet straps.

Helmet  - German grey, highlited with German Grey +  Green Grey to lighten it up

Straps, gas mask bag, bedroll all in Green grey with some black

I finished it all of with a light drybrush of German Beige Camo mixed with some white.


I have to admit I miss the RPG in this pack, but it will be provided in one of the next packs  that are due to be released, so I can always put them in. With my Evergreen army now matching my Slovenes, I am running out of reasons not to play a game soon. I am setting up an idea for a scenario already, but I always find myself missing some more terrain, so hopefully this can be a project for this week - perhaps some waist high banks that could represent various ditches and act like a cover in the large open areas?

As usual, thanks for looking!

Mathyoo