All true but overlooking the main consideration of his men not having slept for the average of 3 days at that point. Trust me, zombies don’t fight well.
J
Hey ol’ buddy.
I just read through the entire thread and of course, was not disappointed. Your usual thorough research and attention to detail shine through here. The building looks great and exhibits all the main attributes of a house from the Belgian Ardenne.
I had delved into this kampfraum a few years ago when I built my sequence of dios covering the action on the far northern part of the bulge. I got pretty familiar with the locale.
I like your choice of scenario here because most guys always fixate on Peipers’ boys,etc. Nicely out of the ordinary to see Knittels’ bunch portrayed. Your scene is reminiscent of the set of pics taken near “blocking position Mill” to the east of LaGleize I believe. This shows Knittel and his adjutant checking maps and keeping an eye on allied jabos at the same time.
Sorry I missed your thread until now. It is fascinating and excellent. I haven’t been checking here for a while but obviously I need to restart that habit.
J
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SS were hopped-up on dexie-related uppers. As long as they had a supply, they were good! Zombies? Yes…but functional ones! (Rick Grimes, et al, would have taken care of them) 
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some were yes,like Peiper. Didn’t sleep for about a week. But rank and file wrote about extreme fatigue and not all had the magic pills. Drivers driving at night after no rest for 3 days tend to be a hazard. I am just relaying what the vets themselves wrote.
J
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Nice logs! Keep on faking it till you make it, best thing about using the real thing is the Dio police can’t say the colour’s wrong 
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Thanks Jerry, I know that you are a man who has done his research!
It’s interesting that you mention those images of Knittel, because they were indeed an inspiration for me.
In the well-known photo above, we see Sturmbannführer Gustav Knittel doing a bit of map reading for the camera alongside an officer who has been identified as either Obersturmführer Leidreiter, commander of the 3. Kompanie, or Obersturmführer Heinrich Goltz, commander of the staff company of the reconnaissance battalion.
Both men were part of Kampfgruppe Knittel. Interestingly, there is a suggestion that this officer (whether Leidreiter or Goltz) may be the same person snapped at the Kaiserbaracke crossroads by the same cameraman earlier:
In another image both men can be seen anxiously scanning the sky… something which they probably spent a lot of time doing during the offensive! But equally interesting to me are the buildings in the background, including the familiar diamond pattern tiles and chimney.
There is also some moving footage taken of the map reading moment, from which I have clipped these stills…
If it is the same officer in both sets of images, he seems to have acquired, not only a greatcoat, but a better set of gloves! However, once again it’s the background that interests me…
Here you can see a parked Schwim with at least one panzerfaust stowed in the same position which we have seen in the Kaiserbaracke photos. Perched above it in front of a house is what looks to me to be a 251 halftrack with a spare tyre on the nose armour.
What really comes across here is the steeply inclined landscape which is what I am trying to replicate on my diorama.
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Fun geek info. Love it
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Yep, those were the series of pics and cine footage I was thinking about. It is a dramatic bit of terrain I have long wanted to model. Knittels gruppe was tasked with covering the areas to the east and northeast of Peipers kessel and also trying to regain the link between him and the main route through Stavelot. He also go partially involved with holding the line against the 82nd Abn which had pushed a company across the Salm River at Trois Ponts. So his abt was stretched thin. I personally don’t think that is Leidreiter in those pics. I would go with Goltz. Leidreiter was a lot thinner in stature judging from the pics in DITM. But, whatever. Your start here is excellent modeling as usual.
J.
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Just my two penn’orth. From the photos I’d suggest Goltz is wearing the motorcycle coat. The collar appears to be a different fabric to the rest, i.e. cloth rather than rubberised cloth and it has the large pocket in the right skirt. Knittel seems to be wearing the Black U-Boat leathers, acquired during the LAH stay in Italy in 1943.
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The photo with both of them looking up seems to be taken in a whole different location. At first I thought it was mirrored, but the gloves convinced me otherwise. Only the men switched sides.
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I managed to find another image (a cine still) of Knittel and the other officer…
It looks to me like the cine guy was in front and someone else took the shot with the house in the background as they turned around - this would explain why they have apparently switched sides!
Also, Jerry, looking at this image of Obersturmführer Leidreiter from Duel In the Mist Vol.3 my money is on him being the other officer in these shots - it’s the broad bridge to the nose which swings it for me. Perhaps the coat makes him look bigger?
And that same nose means that I don’t think he is the same man in the Kaiserbaracke crossroads Schwim.
And I put my hands up about the ‘greatcoat’ - of course it’s a rubberized motorcycle coat. Another interesting detail is the vehicle to their right: a captured Dodge command car!
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Yep, I hafta agree now. Been a while since I saw the pic. Not so perfect recall now.
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Jerry, I’m impressed you remembered that there was a picture of him in the book! I have all this stuff in my head for about as long as the project - then it’s mostly gone…
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Me as well usually but I worked on that project so long plus was a huge enthusiast in that battle so more than usual stuck with me.
J
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OK, enough history for now. Back to actually building the diorama…
I thought it was time to start looking at the composition of figures and vehicles. The idea I had from the start was that of the German recce group having just arrived at the farmhouse… out of sight is a broken down jeep and a group of GIs who have just realised their predicament. As one of the Kampfgruppe rounds the corner he spots the rear of the jeep and at that moment one of the Americans makes a break for it.
You can also see some of the other work I have done lately…
The tree is work in progress and I will deal with that in another post when I have finished it. However, it is the first leafless tree I have ever had to make and it is being constructed from all-natural materials.
The rocky outcrop which wraps around the base of the hill is made from plaster pieces cast from a Woodland Scenics mould.
Other details are the telegraph insulators added from brass and the rear step for the farmhouse.
Anyway, I’m happy with the way it’s turning out and can hardly wait to get stuck into the actual terrain…
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Composition looks nice… Maybe add another GI still fidgeting with the Jeep, while the running soldier shouts over his shoulder to scram?
Great story telling anyway!
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All falling into place and coming along nicely,
J
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Outstanding concept, and really clever how the slope, in combination with the curve of the base, leads the eye around the corner and up,… just brilliant. 
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Thanks Erwin,
I am certainly going to be adding at least one more GI. Possibly someone looking down at the Germans from a front window - or even someone just around the upper corner of the house with his pistol cocked and ready… it depends how dramatic I really want to make it!
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Thanks Jerry - always appreciate your comments!
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