Jump to content
News Ticker
  • I am now accepting the following payment methods: Card Payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal
  • Latest News

    Bored German Landsturm on Sentry Duty, 1915


    lazyschnauzer

    Recommended Posts

    I started this one several months ago, but after having quite a lot of difficulty with the 1888 Mauser rifle, finally this vignette is complete. Actually, not quite, I still have some rifle buckles to do and a thorough cleaning.

    This figure is a German Landsturm in 1915 on sentry duty in a quiet part of the front. He's bored, thinking about home. Maybe he's musing about the local beer garden, his little farm and wondering whether his frau is managing to get the crops harvested.

    Unless I've given John something impossible to cast (!!!!), this will be the third The Old Contemptibles kit.

    As you can see, you can build it with one of two head-and-hat choices, either the Landsturm M1861 schako or the M1813 Landsturm oilcloth visor cap. In 1915, the Landsturm were mostly issued with obsolete equipment and uniforms. The Litewka coat he is wearing is the 1903 version. As I mentioned, he's armed with an 1888 Mauser rifle, but he also has a wicked-looking Pionierfaschinenmesser (I hope I'm not butchering the German!) bayonet, one side of which is a blade and the other is a sawtooth. The bayonet can be slide-mounted on and off the rifle. Unlike most bayonets, which fit below the rifle barrel, this one fit sideways and below the barrel. There is one ammunition container, a brotbeutel bag and a water bottle (canteen), a trench head-breaker - wooden with embedded metal studs, and a "potato-masher" grenade.

    In the trench observation wall, there is an armored metal plate with an observation slit, a piece of cloth used to cover the slit when not in use, and - two apples he picked and brought with him from his last rest period in the rear. Unfortunately for our hero, one of the apples has a little worm in it.

    I know you probably can't see all this in the photos. Sorry!

    As soon as John McNenney has this one cast, our good friend Ulrich Biroth will be painting the box art.

    Hope you like it!

    All the best,

    Dan

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    The Mauser 1888 rifle and a head-basher - wooden with metal studs.

    All the best,

    Dan

    These are very nice :cheers: anothr great added addition to your Sentry Duty Diorama:

    I sure would hate to get hit by that club.... :shame:

    Thank you

    Lorenzo

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    its what we call in Flanders a Good Day.

    Nothing good about the day you got hit with that though !

    Herr

    To me that would be a bad day, to get hit by one of them clubs.

    Lorenzo :D

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Lorenzo, Herr and Charles: Many thanks for your kind comments (and jokes :) ) ! The Landsturm is about to go off to John McNenney (Military Miniatures Warehouse) to be cast. It will be the third kit in The Old Contemptibles product line.

    http://www.milminwh.com/theoldcontemptibles.htm

    During our online discussions about the casting process, John recommended removing the apples and the "cloth" to cover the viewing slot. These were part of the trench wall. I separated them successfully and now we should be good to go for casting. The apples will be cast and the "cloth" will be a piece of lead foil. The kit will be resin mostly, but the trench bits may be plaster of paris to reduce the cost.

    All the best,

    Dan

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Lorenzo - Your comments are most kind! As soon as John has cast the entire piece, he'll send it to my good friend, Ulrich Biroth, who will be painting the cover art. Hopefully I'll be able to show you a painted example and tell you of its' availability on the TOC web page.

    All the best,

    Dan

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Lorenzo - Your comments are most kind! As soon as John has cast the entire piece, he'll send it to my good friend, Ulrich Biroth, who will be painting the cover art. Hopefully I'll be able to show you a painted example and tell you of its' availability on the TOC web page.

    All the best,

    Dan

    Thank you

    Lorenzo

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now
    ×
    ×
    • Create New...

    Important Information

    We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.