Modelling Fallschirmjäger Figures 'Tactical withdrawl' Fallschirmjäger on the Eastern Front, 1944: In 1/35 scale

Contents

Introduction

‘Tactical withdrawal’: Fallschirmjäger on the Eastern Front, 1944

Bibliography and further reading

Figures available

Introduction

From its early beginnings as a battalion in 1936, Germany’s paratrooper branch grew to a body comprising several divisions. About 230,000 men served as Fallschirmjäger throughout the Third Reich period, the greater part of them during World War II, when paratrooper units were engaged in every major campaign, earning an elite status, admiration and respect even from their enemies.

The coveted paratrooper qualification badge.

This image seems to have endured in our own hobby area, and Fallschirmjäger are plentiful in the figure market, making this popular subject an excellent choice for this series of how-to modelling guides.

We hope that themanymodellers who concentrate on painting out-of-the-box figures, as well as those who also indulge in figure conversion, will both profit from some of the techniques explained in the painting tutorials. We have also found that painting techniques are especially well suited for a step-by-step presentation. Our chosen medium is acrylic paint, which has steadily gained popularity in our hobby.

We have also dedicated some space to converting and scratchbuilding figures, hopefully encouraging the modeller to try to expand his horizons, and use a commercial product not as an end in itself, but as a basis to accomplish an out of the ordinary, more original project.

We engage in our hobby from a historical modeller’s point of view, and try to do detailed research before beginning projects, to ensure accuracy. We understand historical miniatures should have both accuracy and artistic appeal. This is just our personal choice, and every modeller should feel free to choose their own framework, but we genuinely feel research widens the possibilities and results in more satisfying models.

Each guide is prefaced by some brief historical notes, to put each subject in context, and some basic explanation of Fallschirmjäger-specific uniform development and details. This is not meant to be more than an introductory guide, and we invite you to consult the bibliography at the back of this guide for fuller details of such topics.

This guide is the product of joint authorship; we have