Hello, I am trying to source a 1/16 German tanker or soldier for Russian winter 41-42. Every single one I seem to find has later winter gear and uniform, either the later snow suits or white tanker pullovers from later in the war. I have found these 2…
Is the tanker figure SS? I know the armor units used the Death’s Head also, on his hat is that an SS symbol? Do the boots work for the time period? The Tamiya gunner has an MG42…though I can easily swap that out for a MG34.
Are there any others I have missed that you may know about?
Thank you, in advance.
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It looks like the cap emblem is the Heer eagle, rather than the SS eagle – the distinction being that the Heer eagle has the longest pinion feathers at the top of the wings, tapering down from there, while the SS eagle has the longest pinion feathers one feather down, tapering the wing above and below. Depending on how pronounced the molding of the cap insignia is, it could be painted as an SS pelzmutze.
The figure is for standing along side a Panzer 38t…so I am looking for a Heer figure…do you know if the boots work for the winter of 41-42…I think they look like regular fleece boots, so probably should work. The choice of figures from this time period is not too good.
They certainly look like one of the standard patterns of Heer winter boots, leather with felt tops; there is enough variation between different suppliers that the particular pattern of the uppers, with a ‘tongue’ of the toe piece extending partway up the ankle, appears in a number of designs. I’m not sure if the ribbon for the Knight’s Cross is accurate; the standard ribbon you see with the award is black/white/red/white/black, and I don’t know if there was a field ribbon that was less bright, since the vast majority of the pictures you see of Knight’s Cross holders wearing the decoration have the ribbon disappearing under their collar without being visible.
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Yes he is SS. Specifically it’s a portrait figure of SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer (Lt Col) Max Wunsche of SS PzR 1, later CO of 12SS Panzerregiment HJ. It’s also set later than the winter of 1941-2, more likely the following year. Note the Knights Cross. He is wearing a privately sourced fur cap with SS insignia added.
Thank you, I have heard of him, but did not know it was a figure of him. I thought he looked SS…guess it will be the Tamiya figure with a new machine gun added.
Bear in mind that German tank crews were issued with the standard greatcoat before the advent of specialised winter clothing. If you can source a head wearing a side cap from somewhere and can remove the webbing equipment from the machine gunner and change his posture (e.g. he could be holding binoculars), he could still be tank crew. Tank crew also originally were issued marching boots, but wore the black trousers over them, however it’s easy to find pictures of tank crew with trousers tucked into “dice beakers”.
Thank you, It does not necessarily need to be a tank crew man…I like to place a figure on the base to show scale, as long as the figure is period appropriate, which is hard to find in 1/16.
