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| Dismounted DSWA Schutztruppe Miniatures, 25mm - 28mm Figures, Various Manufacturers |
In addition to the four mounted figures featured in the previous post, I have also finished painting my first batch of Schutztruppe figures on foot. These include officers, NCOs, a musician, a two figure wounded set, and a number of private soldiers from a range of manufacturers in 25mm - 28mm scale. Those who wargame in 25mm scale will need to rely on a large number of
Matchlock/Falcon and Askari's figures for this period, while choices are more numerous and varied in 28mm.
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| Officer and men, Honourable Lead Boilersuit Company (HLBS), 28mm |
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These three figures are from the Honourable Lead Boilersuit Company's late, lamented German Colonial line.
I picked them up on Ebay last November, but based them and repainted everything from the neck down, mainly because they were in their gray, home uniforms rather than tropical khaki "feldrock". I wish I had the ability to paint the eyes the way these were done by the previous owner, however, and aspire to develop that technique. I have another, rather expensive eBay lot of HLBS that requires complete repainting and includes duplicates of these three figures, along with three other soldiers advancing, two other officers, an NCO and a two man Maxim gun section. HLBS Co.'s Schutztruppe came properly equipped with cavalry boots and accoutrements and I wish they were still in production. The commander figures are extremely helpful for meeting the field, line and staff officer requirements to complete the German forces in the much anticipated
Jones /Alvarado Herero War scenario and rules book.
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| Brigade Games, Great War in Africa, Germans in Slouch Hats |
HLBS is comparable in scale to the 28mm
Great War in Africa figures produced by Brigade Games. Although they are wearing puttees and do not have the cavalry accoutrements that were issued to the Schutztruppe in Southwest Africa, I have a few of these and they paint up well. I also painted the
German big game hunter from a set in Wargames Foundry's 28mm Darkest Africa Line, complete with monocle, as if he were an officer in the Schutztruppe. It's not easy to find on the
Foundry website, but is often
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| Foundry, Big Game Hunter 28mm |
offered directly from the manufacturer on eBay.
Pulp Miniatures make lively and robust 28mm German colonial figures, both Schutztruppe and Seebataillon, and though they too lack the ammunition belts and harness that were issued in Southwest Africa, they are wonderfully detailed , very clean sculpts. I painted up two in Südwester hats and one marine in a feldcap as if he were in the Schutztruppe. I worked very hard to get all the detail painted correctly on his hat, including the blue piping around the crown of the hat and a leather chin strap above the visor. It took me longer to finish painting these than the
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| Pulp Figures, Colonial Germans 28mm |
others, in part because their faces were sometimes hard to get at with my brush and also because of the richness of the detail. While they are slightly larger than the HLBS and Brigade Games figures it is not particularly noticeable when they are mixed together.
Tiger miniatures produce Schutztruppe figures that are larger than the 28mm offerings from other manufacturers, with some approaching 30mm scale. The one I painted up, an officer in a double breasted greatcoat, shown here with a Tiger mounted Schutztruppe figure that was discussed in the previous post. The officer on foot came with a five figure artillery crew, and when he is placed next to smaller figures such as those produced by Old Glory, Askari, or the diminutive
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| Tiger Miniatures, 30mm |
Matchbox/Falcon lines , he is a true giant. Tiger sculpts are rougher than the others brands discussed here, but a careful paint job can help add detail and they have figures advancing at the trail that are not available elsewhere, so I am likely to include a few of these on my table.
Old Glory makes a 4 figure German Maxim gun set that they call their
Spanish Fantasy Pack (SAW-26). It took a while for them to get my order straight but once I received the right set I painted up the officer as if he were wearing the brownish "kord waffenrock" piped in blue with blue cuffs and collar and silver
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| Old Glory Germans from the SAW and Boxer Ranges, 25mm |
litzen (white for private solders) at the collar and cuffs. Here he is, at left, with another Old Glory mounted officer figure that I shared earlier. He is too small to stand in a unit with the Tiger figures but can serve with the other 28mm makes.
Askari Miniatures produced these wonderful 25mm figures, below, as part of a four piece Schutztruppe command set released last October. I am very pleased to have been able to paint the cord and tastle around the bugle on the musician's back in the imperial colors, and the blue and white "swallows nest" on each shoulder. The tip of the rifle snapped off, unfortunately, but I am still delighted with how the figure turned out. The officer with the drawn sword makes a nice change from the many others with binoculars. Askari are closer to 26mm in scale, a bit small along side the 28mm but still usable with them.
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| Askari Miniatures, German Commander and Musician, 25mm |
Matchlock Miniatures produces most (but not all) of the German Colonial figures originally sculpted by Falcon. As Falcon has been unresponsive to my efforts to contact them, I have made two purchases from Matchbox, ordering single figures in each pose. They are very small, a true 25mm, and will not look right next to those that are 28mm or larger. Most are sculpted as if wearing the corduroy waffenrock uniform, and they include some unusual figures such as these walking wounded. My plan is to use a small number of these dismounted figures on my table, and perhaps to paint some of them as Hereros in captured uniforms (though the scale issue will be a factor there as well).
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| Matchlock/Falcon Miniatures, 25mm |
I painted all of these figures in a mix of Vallejo Acrylics. The khaki is largely German Camouflage Orange Ochre 128 with lighter and darker shades created by adding either Dark Sand or Ochre Brown. I used a range of blues and grays to get the hat and trim colors, and the leather is a base of Cavalry Brown with a touch of Light Rust and New Wood. I also used English Uniform and Tan Yellow, as the khaki and corduroy were often mixed even in the same unit and faded to a range of shades.
I am still working on how best to add highlights and shading to faces, as was done with the HLBS figures, above, and how much I want to outline edges in a darker color to make things like chevrons and marksman's cords stand out. I still have not solved the problem of how to make the shoulder straps in this scale look like they are comprised of 4 cords woven in imperial colors. Still, I feel good about what I've managed to do thus far. Next up, Native Auxiliaries (Witboois)! Meanwhile, here is the vanguard of the Schutztruppe to take its curtain call.
