Modelling Fallschirmjäger Figures

From its early beginnings as a battalion in 1936, Germany’s paratrooper branch grew to a body comprising several divisions. About 230,000 men served as Fallschirmjäger throughout the Third Reich period, the greater part of them during World War II, when paratrooper units were engaged in every major campaign, earning an elite status, admiration and respect even from their enemies.

This image seems to have endured in our own hobby area, and Fallschirmjäger are plentiful in the figure market, making this popular subject an excellent choice for this series of how-to modelling guides.

Of the diverse subjects dealt with in this book, painting techniques take the lion’s share; given the limitations of space, we reasoned that it would be natural to prioritize this, the most widely followed discipline. We hope that the many modellers who concentrate on painting out-of-the-box figures, as well as those who also indulge in figure conversion, will both profit from some of the techniques explained in the painting tutorials. We have also found that painting techniques are especially well suited for a step-by-step presentation. Our chosen medium is acrylic paint, which has steadily gained popularity in our hobby.

We have also dedicated some space to converting and scratchbuilding figures, hopefully encouraging the modeller to try to expand his horizons, and use a commercial product not as an end in itself, but as a basis to accomplish an out of the ordinary, more original project.We have tried to present a balanced choice of subjects; accordingly, the most popular sizes (1/35, 54mm, 1/16) and materials (plastic, metal, resin) in which World War II figures are available have been included.

We engage in our hobby from a historical modeller’s point of view, and try to do detailed research before beginning projects, to ensure accuracy. We understand historical miniatures should have both accuracy and artistic appeal. This is just our personal choice, and every modeller should feel free to choose their own framework, but we genuinely feel research widens the possibilities and results in more satisfying models.

Each chapter is prefaced by some brief historical notes, to put each subject in context, and some basic explanation of Fallschirmjäger-specific uniform development and details. This is not meant to be more than an introductory guide, and we invite you to consult the bibliography at the back of this book for fuller details of such topics.

This book is the product of joint authorship; we have worked as a closely knit team, developing the initial idea, designing the individual projects, researching the subjects, and bringing them to fruition. The only differentiated tasks were figure conversion and scratchbuilding work, carried out by Daniel; and the all-important painting and final presentation job, the responsibility of Jaume, because these happen to be our particular areas of specialization. We did so believing that this combination of efforts would, hopefully, result in a more complete and better result: the book you have in your hands. Now it is up to you to judge if this is indeed so!

As a concluding note, we the authors would like to remark that our intention throughout this work is to encourageg the reader to pursue new challenges in the hobby. If we have managed to entice you to do a little more research when planning your next modelling project, or to try to paint that camouflage pattern you find so daunting, or to dare to undertake some conversion work, or to attempt for the first time a vignette or diorama – then we have fulfilled our objectives.