Because of the amount of pictures I am having to use for this project, and the size that it has finally become. I have had to make a second page to show how I have put together this kitbash. Also hopefully it will help to load the pages faster, rather than having them all together on one page, which can cause problems for some browsers.
Something else that I have had to try to work out for the figure, is the other climbing equipment as shown in the main reference picture. Because the soldier has not only the hammer hanging from the front of the uniform, he also has some pitons on a rope as well. Which looking at it is a different diameter to the main rope that is around his shoulders, so to get this effect I am using another scale model rope I have here which is 1.5mm in size. Also to add other effect to the figure, the rope that I am using for the hammer is even smaller at 0.4mm in size, plus to get them all to hang right I am using the DiD metal hammer and pitons.
Rope Assembly
Working out the assembly of the climbing rope and how the figure will hold it, has been one of the items that I have been dreading doing because when I first started it all I did not realise just what I was getting myself into. Mainly because I had no idea about it apart from the main reference picture I have on the cover of my book. But with some very generous help from Patrick Kiser, I have finally been able to work out how the ropes are tied together.
Because with the tutorial that want to use, which I have included on my Knots page. I now have a lot better idea about how to assemble them together, and as shown on the right it is all done with one single rope, rather than the two that I thought it was. So this has again has diverted me away slightly from my original idea of the main reference picture.
Pitons and Rope Assembly
Below are some views of how I have used the information on my Knots pages, to put together the harness for my kitbash. And once I had it worked out by following the tutorial, I was surprised at how easy it actually was to put together.
Is a front view of the figure with the “Jägerknoten mit Schulterschlinge” which is also shown on the right. But the problem is that I have been told that I got the position of the main harness wrong, as it is too low and it is around the waist.
Whereas in the other picture I have altered it and now it is in the correct position higher up on the chest, which is more like the original reference picture. Also the ropes for the hammer and pitons have been changed as well, so that they are now over the top of the main harness and not under it.
Figure Assembly
The pictures above are of the figure in the final stages, as I needed to decide on the diorama for it along with working out how the figure would look on the model. The other picture is of how I have set the pose with the climbing rope. One last thing I did, was to move the figure’s foot nearer to the edge of the ledge, so that the rope was resting on his boot, rather than the sharp edge of the rock.
Adding the picture to the diorama
The last part of this diorama I had to do was to add the photo to the base, and the only way that I could think of doing it was by making a paper template as shown below. Note: I should have done this before I set the rock face and ledge onto the base.
I started with one of my dental tools that I use for my models, and I had to scrape out some of the plaster from under the ledge and the cork bark, to make a slot so that I can slide the edge of the card under it, so that I don’t have to cut it to the exact shape of the ledge. the picture on the right above. shows how I have gradually been able to get the template under the cork bark, and from this I will draw around the edge to get a better shape.
The next pictures show how I will use the template to cut out the shape from the photograph. Note: It took me a while to work this out, and what part of the picture I wanted plus I wasted a few sheets of paper doing this. Now I have to decide which of the pictures I have looking down a mountain, that I want to use on the base.
The photos above help to explain what went wrong, when I tried to add the photos to the base. On the left, had to get another piece of card, lay the template shape on it, draw around it. So that I now had the shape of diorama. That was then laid over another piece of card, cut out to get the card in the middle photo.
Now I could lay the green card over the photos, to show what the photo would look like it, if it was on the base. Below are some of the experiments I did with the various photos.
The photos below are of the finished diorama.
Thank you to Heeresbergführer (Patrick Kiser) for all of the very detailed help with this Gebirgsjager figure.