Another economy figure here, this falley is simply Dragons Pieter with some weathering, refinements to gear and of course a swap out of the figure itself. In this case I used BBI's Panzergrenadier. Let's face it, the Peiter sculpt just doesn't stack up to some of the newer sculpts. I think the BBI sculpt gives a good impression of a hardcore paratrooper.
The first thing I did was suit up the figure and saturate the uniform with hairspray, I sculpted the wrinkles and folds and then allowed the hairspray to dry thoroughly. I also added a couple of spare FG42 magazines to the thigh pockets of the jump smok to give him some of the characteristic bulges these uniforms had in the field. I also painted all those plastic buttons with aluminum paint. At this point I drybrushed a very light tan to the high points and egdges of the uniform to get a slightly faded and used look.
Keeping things simple, I drybrused the gear with various shades to pick out detail and simulate slight wear. The canteen was flocked with Detail Masters flocking to simulate the wool cover. The boots were drybrushed with a dusty color and the eyelets were spruced up with a bit of silver paint. I also repainted the FG42 and added a new leather sling.
Closeup view of the sculpt and helmet. The head sculpt was repainted with oils. The helmet was lightly weathered with drybrushing and a few simulated paint chips. I added a helmet net made from fishnet stockings dyed tan. I then covered the helmet tightly with Saran Wrap, sreteched the netting over the helmet and twisted it together. The resulting wad of stocking was held tight with a couple of wraps of thin wire. I then saturated it 2 or 3 times with hairspray. Once dry I removed the netting and Saran Wrap and placed the now shaped netting back on the helmet, dabs of Medium CA hold it in place. I simulated the drawstring with model ship rigging. The chin straps were also repainted the correct dark gray and stitching was carefully painted in.
An often overlooked detail on these helmet nets is the drawstring. You can see in the pic on the left that it is woven through the net. I made pull ring from fine galvenized wire. It's a cinch to make and adds a nice little bit of detail.
Here you can see the bulging pockets better. It's the little things that add up. Not much else to this guy, I might revamp him later but for now he looks pretty good in my collection.
