Fulda Gap - East German DDR

Project finally done! The TAMIYA 1/35 Gama Goat ambulance in MASSTER CAMO…captured in some West German Fulda Gap border village circa 1980 by East German DDR assault troops. The EAST GERMAN figures are converted from the DML Soviet rifle troops set with Hornet DDR heads. The US Army medic is a Black Dog figure originally a Falklands war subject. Base is foam board with carved, painted and weathered cobblestone street. Fun project overall.


20 Likes

Looks good. I keep being drawn to the trailer rear flap. :+1:

3 Likes

Thanks - the trailer cargo cover flap was made from “eye glass cleaning” wipe soaked in white glue, water and paint. The straps are Tamiya masking tape with spare box PE buckles. Though not pictured - the cargo trailer is full of medial boxes, crates etc.

5 Likes

'Love this; not so much a “What-If” but a “What could have been” or even “What nearly was” post Able Archer 83!

I’ve always wanted to model something like this but have, for some reason, shied away from it. I do however, depict my models as almost as they might have appeared come the balloon going up (albeit with reduced camouflage etc).

I just wonder if you could post a few more pics of the figures, perhaps a bit closer? Just to satisfy my curiosity(!)

I’m also a great fan of MASSTER; a nice counterpoint to those who think the Cold War was mainly in Olive Drab and Soviet green.

5 Likes

Nicely done.
Probably shaking him down for his cassette tapes and cigarettes…

4 Likes

Holy crap, I love it! :+1::us:

1 Like

Thanks for the compliments… as for the figures, I will upload some closeups - at the risk that it will dispel any evidence I have figure painting skills - LoL. The MASSTER Camo scheme is one of my favorites and much easier to pull off than MERDC.

6 Likes

Thanks Ted, good work all round!

The East German Strichmuster camouflage pattern is hard to pull off in 1/35. I’m assuming you’ve used a small paintbrush - not that I’m saying there’s anything much wrong with that.

What I discovered - and God knows where I picked up this particular snippet of info - is to use a .003 pen - of a suitable colour; so once you’ve decided on a decent base colour, you then go over it and add as many of the “raindrops” as you can, something like this (although foolishly I based my base colour on the real thing, and therefore didn’t factor in scale colour), however, the pattern I feel, is quite effective:

Overscale inevitably, but it might be something you wish to consider when/if tackling future NVA “What If” builds - which after seeing this effort - I hope you undertake. There will be some who opine that in this scale one wouldn’t see the camouflage at all, and I’m sure they’re right, but I feel that something is needed if only to gain a certain effect.

This is the pen:

I’ve no idea as to availability but it must be obtainable somewhere, not least on the www.

Just to stress, this is not to disparage your work at all, merely to offer up a tip.

6 Likes

You know, I almost did that… but lost steam on the camo. Your figure looks awesome - wish I had seen that before I started mine. Great work

4 Likes

Well Thanks Ted, sorry I wasn’t minded to offer this up earlier, though I may have mentioned it when constructing my Berlin Wall dio:

though my NVA figures within are wearing an earlier uniform. I think the Strichmuster pattern cropped up once or twice; but it’s a long read(!)

My figure is to be part of an Inner German Border dio which I still haven’t finished. Shame on me(!)

4 Likes

What a great scene! The Gama goat came great as did the figures!

3 Likes

Nice finish and it looks great.

1 Like