ColinRF

Painting commences...using Liquitex artists' acrylics, Vallejos and Citadel inks. Colin

Thanks for the kind comments. Here are a few pictures of progress to this morning. Just some sanding and his jump wings to complete before painting commences. Colin

Wow - thanks Freiherr! Except for a couple of early comments you are the first to have a detailed look at the photos. Your proposals look right to me. Thanks for taking the time. Colin

Thanks gents....I have been immersing myself in Rwanda 1994 and its a depressing but at the same time uplifting experience, even as a bystander. I just reread Shake Hands With the Devil and watched the feature and doc of the same name. I also read a few other works. Best of all is the 2004 PBS Frontline doc Ghosts of Rwanda. If the bust turns out well I may cast him in resin and send a copy to General Dallaire. I'M not sure how he'd react though as he hates the hero tag. I would like his signature for my collection too so thanks for the heads up Michael. I will post progress here as I move forward. Thanks for your interest. Colin

Thanks Chris - maybe one day I will try full sized sculpting.....but currently I'm too cheap to pay for all that material! Colin

I have long wanted to sculpt a tribute bust to Romeo Dallaire, the Canadian general who commanded the UN forces in Rwanda in 1994 during the genocide. When ordered to leave as the wheels came off his mission, Dallaire and his second in command from Ghana told Kofi Anan to "go to hell" and they stayed on with a rag tag force of Africans. They probably saved 25,000 to 30,000 souls. The model is in progress. Its sculpted in super sculpey firm, primarily with sculpey dilutant and brushes after the planes of the model were established with an exacto blade and colour shaper rubber tipped "brushes." Once he is done I will paint him in acrylics. Colin

Merci Francois!

95% done - just needs a base and some touch ups. Colin

95% done - just needs a base and some touch ups. Colin

Thanks to Dan and Ian - very gratifying comments and much appreciated. Colin

Thansk Joe - will let you know If I ever kick one off. Right now I am having fun doing my little portrait busts. Colin

One more

Another view

Painting starts - using Liquitex professional acrylics. Colin

Thanks Darren - I think all the bomb plot pix of interest have already been widely disseminated. I have a library of > 100 books on the resistance and July 20 and most available DVDs. Its a fascinating topic. Re. the "victims" and survivors, I actually don't have a lot of interest in the wounds etc. I did consider doing a diorama of the conference hut and still might at some point. Colin

A change to #22 - he's Maximilian Freiherr von Speidel, General a.D. He was Adolf Hitler's divisional commander in WWI. Colin

Finally figured this one out - Max Hermann Freiherr Riederer von Paar zu Schoenau (signing Riederer v. Paar) - also of I. Bayerisches Schwere Reiter Regiment. Due to the fact that he was a relative of Stauffenberg through his wife, after the assassination attempt on Hitler on 20 Juli 1944, he was dismissed from his job in OKH (rank of Major d. Res.) and was expelled from the army. Colin

Ulrich von Hassell before Freisler's court. Deprived of his neck tie, shoe laces and belt he still sports his pocket hankerchief....a gentleman of the old school can't let standards fall in front of a bunch of thugs! Colin

Ulrich von Hassell was a one of Hitler's most implacable enemies. He was a senior diplomat before and after WWI. During the war, von Hassell served in the Second Guards Regiment where he took a serious chest wound during the Battle of the Marne. The bullet was never removed. Von Hassell was a respected lawyer who began his diplomatic career in 1909, serving in embassies in several major cities including Tsingtao, London, Barcelona, Belgrade, Copenhagen and Rome. In 1932, von Hassell was appointed to be ambassador to the Kingdom of Italy, one of Germany's most significant diplomatic assignments. He was an outspoken opponent of Hitler's foreign and domestic policy from the very beginning as he was convinced that it would lead to war and a loss of Germany's hard won international reputation as a seat of Western culture. He joined the Nazi party as this was 'de rigueur' for senior foreign service staff. After the Blomberg-Fritsch crisis and the appointment of von Ribbentrop to replace Neurath as Foreign Minister, Hassell was foreceably retired from active service on February 17, 1938. Nevertheless, he continued to travel to various western countries representing the German opposition groups around Goerdeler and Beck in an effort to promote their goals. Hassell vocally and unsuccessfully supported a continued western orientation for Germany rather than the creation of the Axis. Von Hassell was as senior member of the Order of St. John, a protestant noblemen's organization. He was also a regular attendee at the Wednesday club, an elite think tank attended by Ludwig Beck and Johannes Popitz. Hassell had a well founded sense of irony and humour as is evidenced from his diaries. He referred to Beck and Goerdeler collectively as "his majesty's loyal opposition" and he repeated many of the scathing jokes heard among the populace brave enough to mock the regime. Hassell's diaries (1938-1944) are the best source for getting an insight into the mind and motivation of the senior conservative members of the German Resistance throughout the war. The diaries were smuggled into Switzerland during the war or, when this became too risky, were buried in Hassell's own garden where they were never discovered by the Gestapo. First published in 1946, and taken together with Schlabrendorff's memoir, they provided the Western public with the first indications that there had indeed been an effective German opposition throughout the war years. In February 1940, Hassell met a confidant of British foreign minister Halifax in Arosa. Ulrich von Hassell presented a memorandum outlining the foreign policy aspirations of the groups close to him. The principles of a European postwar order were also communicated to the British government. Hassell also advised Carl Goerdeler, Ludwig Beck, and Johannes Popitz on domestic policy plans and on plans for a coup. Following Hitler's assassination, Hassell was designated to become Foreign Minister. Von Hassell knew that he would be arrested by the regime after the failure of Stauffenberg's bomb. Even so, he continued to go to work each day. When the secret police came for him his wife politely informed them that her husband could be found at his desk at his place of work. On July 28, 1944, he was arrested by the Gestapo. After a two-day sham trial before the Volksgerichtshof or People's Court, Ulrich von Hassell was sentenced to death on September 8, 1944, and murdered the same day in Berlin-Plötzensee. The signature below is found in one of von Hassel's own books, "Tar a Ri" by Georg Quabbe. Von Hassell signs to indicate his ownership, the year (1927) and the place (Copenhagen). At this time von Hassell was the German ambassador to Sweden.

EKI & spange was too big and too high so I ripped it off and resculpted it. Colin

Nice collectibles and great value. Colin

Medals and buttons added. Just need to tidy the underneath, finish his ears and epaulettes. Colin

Great - thanks alot for taking the time! Colin

Perhaps the Wehrmacht Dienstauszeichnung IV. Klasse? He was enttiled to that. Colin

I have found out that the "Bew. abz. V.A.K" is hte V Corps badge. Any ideas on the hand written one? Thanks Colin