1/6 DID D80172 Otto Skorzeny

[Asta]

Second box figures:

A Luftwaffe Leutnant, or z.b.V. Friedenthal SS-Untersturmführer at Gran Sasso:

The button holes on this shirt were even smaller than the other box. Even after opening them to the max with tweezers I had to push them through with my fingers because they were too tight for the buttonhook.

Das Reich SS-Sturmbannführer:

As the metal skull was missing from this cap I resorted to one of the unused stickers from Ujindou's recent LSSAH Panzer set.

 

[Asta]

 

[Asta]

 

[Uncle_Yoda]

As mentioned before, there’s quite a difference between the colour of the Did and Ujindou uniforms. I have been airbrushing the Ujindou uniforms to weather them and give the appearance of fading.

 

[Asta]

As mentioned before, there’s quite a difference between the colour of the Did and Ujindou uniforms. I have been airbrushing the Ujindou uniforms to weather them and give the appearance of fading.

View attachment 700023View attachment 700025View attachment 700024

They look great, and nice scenery!


Ujindou went for a much more brown shade which used to bother me when I saw him alongside the much paler DID Marseille. But after looking into it both shades are historically correct due to nonconformity of colour, as was also the case with the myriad of variations in feldgrau.



OneSixthKit managed to get the missing cap skull, and sent it with the DID Reznov who arrived a couple of weeks ago, so both are now as they should be.

 

[Uncle_Yoda]

Good point regarding non uniformity of the uniforms. Sometimes my OCD takes over
Thanks for sharing the research on the raid itself. It makes for great reading!
The photos also highlight the assortment of ammo pouches, helmets, camo and everything else

 

[SilverPointShield]

DID shade of Luftwaffe tropical uniform is the more close to the real thing you can get, these where quite regular on cloth shade of color most of the time because it's Luftwaffe contrac manufacture where in lower numbers, the other 1/6 brand shade is to dark and sadly is incorrect, in fact looks more like a color seen in Kriegsmarine tropical clothing sometimes from French manufacturing or tailors, the Luftwaffe tropical tunic and pants where a particular design and also produced in fewer numbers than the other two main armed forces branches, also style and details quite different from the army HEER and Kriegsmarine tropical line of uniforms wich indeed had quite a bit of color shade variations depending on manufacturer and area of production.

Even the Italian "SAHARINA" tropical tunic that was issued and used mostly by the Waffen-SS, was very close in shade to the Luftwaffe issue one, never the "toasted tan" color variation.

 

[Asta]

DID shade of Luftwaffe tropical uniform is the more close to the real thing you can get, these where quite regular on cloth shade of color most of the time because it's Luftwaffe contrac manufacture where in lower numbers, the other 1/6 brand shade is to dark and sadly is incorrect, in fact looks more like a color seen in Kriegsmarine tropical clothing sometimes from French manufacturing or tailors, the Luftwaffe tropical tunic and pants where a particular design and also produced in fewer numbers than the other two main armed forces branches, also style and details quite different from the army HEER and Kriegsmarine tropical line of uniforms wich indeed had quite a bit of color shade variations depending on manufacturer and area of production.

Even the Italian "SAHARINA" tropical tunic that was issued and used mostly by the Waffen-SS, was very close in shade to the Luftwaffe issue one, never the "toasted tan" color variation.

I can't remember where I saw it, and wish I'd saved the reference in my list of figures as I often do. It described variations in the shades of cloth, with one being much darker - which gave me heart considering the colour of Ujindou's figure.

The closest thing that came up since reading your post is a description in Osprey's Luftwaffe Air and Ground Crew 1939-45, though it refers to the standard colour rather than a variation:

"...Luftwaffe Tropenanzug was of a more traditional orange-sand colour - at least when new. The combined ravages of African sun, dust storms, heavy sweating and frequent washing (often in petrol, marginally less scarce than water) all took their toll, and some items became bleached almost white."


The Ujindou colour is hard to describe, but "orange-sand" would fit the bill.

It wouldn't surprise me if they were off the mark, because the camouflage parts included with him were garishly bright, and I swapped them out on my second figure with spares from DID's Fallschirmjäger.

This is a uniform advertised by a company who hires out props for filming etc. There's no description about its source, so I assume it's a modern reproduction of what was meant by "orange-sand", and is a shade lighter than Ujindou's, though the cap is actually very close:

https://history-making.com/product/luftwaffe-tropical-uniform-private-basic-uniform/


Ideally I'd like it lighter, as he stands out so much from DID's.

 

[SilverPointShield]

Think the biggest problem is that sometimes these 1/6 companies use reproduction 1/1 uniforms as patterns and colors, also artwork or even colorize photos, even period real color pictures can not be fully trusted, since depending on light source and other ambient things colors could be altered.

I have seen in person thru the years two different mint/never issued tropical tunics and pants, also the infamous "Herman Meyer" tropical visor cap and Luftwaffe cork sun helmet, my color appreciation that I could "better" describe as a "golden light tan", the darker "toasted brown" color used in the figure uniforms sadly is to dark, again in my very personal view and comparison with the real deal, wich was uninsured/not exposed to the elements. The Luftwaffe tropical uniforms because it's light base color tended to fade more quickly without the need of chemicals or "sand washing" to give it a more "field veteran look" , the HEER tropical uniforms colors where another story, their base colors started from the early "pea green" to later the "olive green" ...wich soldiers found out "to dark" or would signal "rookie status" of time served in the frontline of operations, so they resorted a lot of time to the chemical fading or sand washing.

In fact, there is a famous HEER general at Monte Casinos battle that used a Luftwaffe tropical tunic instead of the HEER one/or the private tailors cut "the so called Rommel custom type" that some generals used in the latter stages of the Afrika campaign and latter in Italy as a more comfortable tropical formal uniform with all the HEER general insignia.

 

[Asta]

Think the biggest problem is that sometimes these 1/6 companies use reproduction 1/1 uniforms as patterns and colors, also artwork or even colorize photos, even period real color pictures can not be fully trusted, since depending on light source and other ambient things colors could be altered.

I have seen in person thru the years two different mint/never issued tropical tunics and pants, also the infamous "Herman Meyer" tropical visor cap and Luftwaffe cork sun helmet, my color appreciation that I could "better" describe as a "golden light tan", the darker "toasted brown" color used in the figure uniforms sadly is to dark, again in my very personal view and comparison with the real deal, wich was uninsured/not exposed to the elements. The Luftwaffe tropical uniforms because it's light base color tended to fade more quickly without the need of chemicals or "sand washing" to give it a more "field veteran look" , the HEER tropical uniforms colors where another story, their base colors started from the early "pea green" to later the "olive green" ...wich soldiers found out "to dark" or would signal "rookie status" of time served in the frontline of operations, so they resorted a lot of time to the chemical fading or sand washing.

In fact, there is a famous HEER general at Monte Casinos battle that used a Luftwaffe tropical tunic instead of the HEER one/or the private tailors cut "the so called Rommel custom type" that some generals used in the latter stages of the Afrika campaign and latter in Italy as a more comfortable tropical formal uniform with all the HEER general insignia.

I broke him down this morning to see whether I could improve him.

My first attempt was to soak the uniform in diluted Milton. I was afraid to use too strong a solution as I know Milton can drastically bleach cloth, based on the experience of it splashing when neat.

However, my solution turned out to be so weak that the water barely changed colour.

So after rinsing off with clean water I applied repeated washes of Games Workshop Bleached Bone. It was a shot in the dark as there was no telling what it would look like when dry.

It's a hot day so he dried fast, and I've now reassembled him. Not as light as I'd hoped but it muted the overpowering brown hue, and took the shiny newness out of the material.

 

[SilverPointShield]

I broke him down this morning to see whether I could improve him.

My first attempt was to soak the uniform in diluted Milton. I was afraid to use too strong a solution as I know Milton can drastically bleach cloth, based on the experience of it splashing when neat.

However, my solution turned out to be so weak that the water barely changed colour.

So after rinsing off with clean water I applied repeated washes of Games Workshop Bleached Bone. It was a shot in the dark as there was no telling what it would look like when dry.

It's a hot day so he dried fast, and I've now reassembled him. Not as light as I'd hoped but it muted the overpowering brown hue, and took the shiny newness out of the material.

View attachment 703584

I have had luck with two method for fading/color removal, the first is the "old school" way of Clorox bleach, is slow and one have to be extra careful to no ruin the clothing, but the mix ratio of one gallon of water and 3 to 4 tablespoons of Clorox bleach, mix well, then submerge for 3 to five minutes, take out and rinse in cold water to see the fadding progress until it gets to the point one is satisfied. It is slow and a little tiresome but have used it several times...once achieved a full bone-white color fade in an old feldgrau M-40 tunic from the Old Dragon LTD 1/6 line.

The other method, is the "color remover" solution sold in the dyes section, I use CAREFULLY the hot water method, also checking for the advance of fading...no clean water rinse during this proses is needed...until the end and you have achieve the desire color shade.

 

[Asta]

This is an interesting video.

I'd never heard about the SS raid on the temporary Reichsbank in April 1945, which amounted to cash, bonds and valuables worth $131 million in today's prices, which were extracted in a small convoy. Skorzeny's cut would've been worth "tens of millions of dollars in today's prices", which he used to fund his Spider network, helping SS men to escape and remain free.




This is Mark Felton's original video on the heist:

 

[Nosferatus_lair]

I got Otto Skorzeny today!
He moved to Ireland and bought a large farm and land in Co. Kildare, Ireland in 1959. He was eventually deported a few years later! It's bout 20 minutes away from where I live. I plan to visit the place soon!.
The Gran Sasso Raid figure is nice and I bought a Facepool headsculpt to go onto it.