CONSTRUCTION
I am going to prepare this 1/35 scale piece of the Dragon. It is part of a group of 4 subjects
Ref. 6703, in the company catalog. It is a shame that Dragon stopped producing figure kits in this scale, also because, in addition to costing the right, they were well sculpted and in the Gen-2Gear series, they provided many very well finished accessories.
I started by selecting a resin head from the Warrior range. Nothing to say about the heads provided in the kit, but I always prefer to put something of my own. Vanity.
Having selected the head, I proceeded to build the chinstrap of the helmet with Royal Model Metal Tape. Metal Tape which I also used to finish the belt and the strap for the MP38.
The construction is simple and intuitive. You just have to pay attention to the printed belt so as to allow the insertion of the grenade. Commendable initiative, BUT to the test of facts, nothing comes back. I decided to rebuild it all over again with the above Metal Tape.
The subject holds two bombs in his hands, a kind of Bangalore Pipe and a smoke bomb. I have not entered either of them. Unless it is functional to the posture of the figure, I prefer not to decorate it like a Christmas tree: simplicity always pays off.
Certainly the right hand appears in mid-air. I may have some ideas as I proceed with the model. I didn’t want to go the cigarette route I used for the Ritter again.
Finally the strap for the machine gun. For the end close to I kept that of the original sculpture, for the one close to the release device of the buttplate, I preferred to hold it all the way, and then fix it after positioning the weapon.
I applied a coat of Tamiya gray primer and now I’m ready to paint.

INCARNATED

It represents the most delicate and difficult part of each figure. For those who attend or will attend competitions, it is necessary to know that a good complexion can mitigate the judgment of the competition judges on other imperfections of the piece. An ugly complexion demolishes any paint job that has been done on our figure. Of course it is: the face represents the mood of the character, defines it, gives it credibility.
I started with a base color, specifically Brown Sand (Ref. 876) by Vallejo. The acrylic base is valid whether you want to continue with oil or acrylic colors. The former are suitable if you want to obtain a shaded painting, the latter if you want to obtain more marked results between one tone and the next.
I chose to proceed with acrylics. Using for the lights the Golden Skin of the Scale Color (Ref. SC-19) and for the shadows the African Shadow also of the Scale color (Ref.Sc-24). You don’t need to use 36 pigments for a complexion. Just mix three colors together: Base, Lights and Shadows.
The lights are arranged on the nasal septum, nasal fins, high cheekbones, eyelids, on the passage between cheeks and upper lips, chin, jaw, Adam’s apple, neck tendons, phalanges, knuckles and in the case of uncovered arms and legs, on the part in light of the musculature. The shadows follow accordingly: attachment of the nasal fins, low cheekbones, inner cheek-lip, inner eye cavity, border between the complexion and clothing, in the thong spaces, and shaded parts of the musculature. A rosy color, which can be obtained with red and the base color, will serve you for the lips, the lobes, to redden the cheeks. Once a first light / shadow draft has been made, I proceed to a SELECTIVE wash with the shadow darkened with a dark brown, on all the treated surfaces. Then I go over the extreme lights and shadows, adding black and white to the colors I have chosen for the lights and shadows. I paint my eyes with oil. The reason is obvious. Oil color is not liquid like acrylic colors and “stays” where you put it. Of course you have to wait for it to dry, to paint the irises. But there is worse. If you cut the base color with a very diluted blue, you can apply a wash to simulate a long beard.
The face is a long job, you need practice and patience. I threw away a lot of stuff before I got any noticeable results. But remember: for each model you have 10 expletives to the divine, 25 generic expletives and 40 minutes of despondency.

HELMET
I used a blend of glossy black and ScaleColor’s Trash Metal, highlighted with the same brand’s Heavy Metal. After painting the decals, I dusted everything with MIG’s Brick Dust.

UNIFORM
Although apparently it might seem like any German tanker, it is a “Panzer-Pioneer, (armored combat engineer) Black Panzer uniforms were issued in the early years of World War II, around the end of 1941 or 1942 changed the uniforms … (because a black uniform was not practical for field camouflage!). They were therefore supplied with the gray field assault cannon uniform “, as Stephen Andrew informs me, to whom I requested enlightenment being the designer of the BoxArt of this kit by DragonSi An assault engineer then.
The black uniform can be painted with any set dedicated to this color, following the information contained inside. For this figure I used the Black & White Paint Set from Scale Color.
The difficulty could be found in the Waffen Farbe, ie the colors of the weapon to which this figure belongs. It is in fact an alternation of black and white. Arm yourself with holy patience, a brush 0/8 or similar, and waste some time.

Belt, holster and boots.
As for the uniform I used the same set, but being careful to use a darker shade of black, then passing at the end a satin opaque for the leather effect.

MP38 ammunition holder

I used a light ocher, giving lights and shadows by darkening or highlighting the base color. The straps are in a Red Leather color. Given the small size, I worked on Acrylic.

Anti-gas and smoke mask holder.

A dark green is used, if you want you can mix it with a gun metal, to give it a metallic result, but be careful not to overdo it. The writings on the smoke bomb were made using a white titanium oil. If you need to make small details, it is better to use these pigments, they are much denser and hardly smudge.

Bottle

A beautiful Emerald Green is used, then passing over a glossy covering. The label is pure fantasy.

MP38

Base Gun Metal + Glossy Black. Gloss black wash. Gun Metal + Silver highlights.
The bakelote rod cover can be made with a black Gray, as in this case, or black or dark brown.