Much as figures drag me down – not least as for the Cold War period they always need modifications – they do, I feel help set any vehicle in context, or even tell a story on their own. Being mainly a Cold War modeller I thought it high time I concentrated on something that exemplified the whole atmosphere of the Cold War if you like, and I decided on a Royal Military Police patrol set in Berlin, August 13th 1961.
The idea has been rumbling around for some time and I’ve acquired an appropriate stash:
Elite Model’s MUNGA
A couple of figures from Resicast and Ultracast
The opposition in the form of Alanger’s now hard-to-get NVA set
And various scenic bits and pieces:
Now, figures are laborious, or at least to me, as every last one will need modifications but I’ll try and set up a production line; that doesn’t mean that there won’t be any delays but I hope Kitmaker followers will bear with me.
The first problem will be the MUNGA; I say problem, as it’s resin, and quite old at that. The aim will be to produce a model reproducing one of these:
Hi Brian,
take into consideration that in 1961, NVA and Grenztruppen had a different uniform. Strichtarn was first fielded the 1970`s. Before that, the wore the Wehrmacht-style uniform. Remember the famous picture of the Grenztruppen soldier, jumping over the demarcation line.
I did refer to modifications re all figures, and for the NVA ones this will involve uniform modifications so that they end up in the Flachentarnmuster type. I plan to bulk out the uniform and add a hood from Milliput. I’ll use the same material to manufacture ammo pouches and possibly water-bottles. The Alanger respirator bag will probably do. Hornet Heads will hopefully, complete the figures. Oh, and an AK-47 from Italeri. Slings and straps from lead foil and I should be good to go. I hope - a lot of work!
However, I’ve been looking forward to painting the Flachentarnmuster for a long time, for some perverse reason.
I’m aware of poor old Herr Schumann; I only found out fairly recently that he ultimately committed suicide.
As always Brian, I’m looking forward to your project. Sadly there is little in the way of Cold War figures as a whole. Modifications are necessary.
The box art on that Alanger set of figures looks like the one on the ICM set. A rebox maybe? I have that set as well as a set of heads from Hornet with East German helmets.
Richard, I think Alanger were the originals then ICM took them on; they’re actually quite good but I could do with a few more I must admit. They seem to have become quite rare!
Thanks for the interest Terry; it’ll be quite small on an A4-sized base, but I hope to capture something of the times.
Not much progress this evening; the Elite MUNGA has fought me all the way. Brittle resin and poor fit. Some parts shattered when removed from the casting plug, let alone me trying to understand what goes where - not necessarily the instructions - more down to me!
Designed back in the Second World War, although an improvement, Hitler refused to accept it into service as ostensibly, he thought the existing helmets were iconic and more representative of the German soldier. The East Germans picked it all up when forming their own army. There’s a couple of variations in design and manufacture as it progressed but I can’t recall what they are/were.
If you scratch around on the www you’ll find plenty of info, especially if you list in German.
You do know that Ace has advertised a Munga on the box art of the Iltis? I’m still battling the plastic Iltis, and frankly your broken resin Munga may be the easier option…
There was an Iltis at a model show I attended in Connecticut a month ago and I asked the modeler how it was to build and he said it had issues but did not elaborate. He did a great job on it.
'Well aware of that Tom, but I’ve been wanting to do this for ages and as I have the component kits, I thought I’d give it ago. The Elite Model has almost defeated me so I’ll tackle the stash shortly and dig out the CMK one to compare - which of course, - is what I should have done in the first place!
I too have the Iltis (unbuilt) and I must admit it looks Bronco-ish in its complexity, so I suspect the eventual MUNGA may well be the same, but hey! That’s better than tackling resin hell I’m sure.
(To be fair, as this will be a German one, it’s likely to have a lot fewer problems than the Dutch ones did.)
