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[SAS~Malone]

hi guys
i'm not having much luck so far, so thought i'd ask if anyone knows of any stock/mod ship which uses a German navy type sailor figure..?
or something similar enough that if i did a repaint it would pass for a German figure, even....
my plan is to put some 'crew' onto some of the available U-boats, to give them an additional level of 'life', so to speak...
if it goes well, i'll then extend this to include all the other subs in the game - there are already Japanese and US sailor figures, so that's okay, but i'd like to start with a U-boat or two, so would need a figure that'll pass as a Kriegsmarine sailor... 

[asheshouse]

Never seen any.   Some deck crew on the subs would be a good addition.
I've just finished reading "Conflict over the Bay" - Norman Franks, about the battles between Coastal Command and the U-Boats in the Bay of Biscay May to August 1943.
This was the period when U-boats started to sail in groups and would often fight it out on the surface rather than diving if attached by aircraft.

Great scope for a campaign. U-Boats , coastal command Liberators, Sunderlands, Wellington, etc  JU88 FW200 Condors, Beaufighters, Mosquitos.

[nyali]

in thoery you could just use mechanic style figures in overalls, most pictures taken during the war of u-boats on patrol show a distinct lack of uniform as such, woollen sweaters being very common, or wet weather gear

[SAS~Malone]

i've just completed the first one, for the VIICSwordfish and the results are pretty good so far.
i took a US navy texture from the existing carrier crew mod, and re-textured it to look like KM sailor/U boat crew
at this stage, i'll ask if anyone finds any good pictures of Kriegsmarine uniforms, more specifically the U-boat crews, who it seems wore a heavier, dark-blue overcoat style outfit.
i've found a few, but they're not very good quality, so i'd be keen to see what else might be floating about on the net

edit: as nyali just said, i've found some like that, but could always use a few good color pics  - links welcome

[Kopfdorfer]

Dear Max,

                If you are so inclined , would you also consider the possibility of men of the USN Construction Btns (Seabees) ?
                I know you are already busy , and fully expect you to go through your own list as a priority , but some Seabees would be extremely useful for those South Pacific Missions and campaigns.
                                                                                     
                                                             
                 I think the preeminent image here would be the light blue denim shirt (short sleeved.rolled up) or a white tee shirt , denim dungarees , and a white sailor hat. Power tools and/or weapons would be a bonus.

Max , in all honesty I expect nothing , but I thought the suggestion was worth consideration. Any addition is welcome.

Kopfdorfer

[SAS~Malone]

Max, if you're happy to do the painting of the figures, then i'd be happy to place them on the subs as needed.
entirely your call as to which figures to use - the ones i'm experimenting with are lifted from the carrier crew mod, so they're not the best, but neither are they the worst... the ones i'm using can definitely do with a bit more detail.
so far i've got 4 guys on top of the conning tower, not sure if you're saying they should rather be elsewhere? anyway, they look pretty good so far, one is looking through binoculars, and my next step is to get some gun crew into position - for this i'd be keen on a better model figure from what i have now, but obviously i'd like to keep them standardised, so i'll just keep fiddling with the placement while you paint
as always, no rush, no pressure, that's the way i like to do it...

[Kopfdorfer]

BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!!!

[max_thehitman]

Kopfdorfer....    ... I dont think there was Japanese Banzai soldiers inside U-Boats.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wait !
I was mistaken  Yes there was !

[SAS~Malone]

okay, a few pics on what it looks like atm, and to highlight issues that i need to resolve, but don't have a clue how, lol....

this first one shows some of the crew, which looks okay from any distance but right up this close (the kind of close you'd probably never really practically use while ingame, so maybe it's not a real big deal.) the weird problem here is that these crewmen's heads are always facing the camera, no matter how you pan the camera around - so you see the face from all angles, even from behind, which is slightly disturbing... (exorcist, anyone? )



this second pic is a little further away, and those little issues become less of a problem...
the only issue i'd like to improve here is the posture of the gunner. (more on that in the following pics...)


(these guys are really just placeholders atm, i might very well swap them out for figures which don't have 360* head movement at some point)


this pic illustrates the posture that most of the ingame human figures have...



this i edited to show the sort of posture that i would like to have, for at least one figure. this will give a more realistic look for a gunner, specifically, and of course, this could be repainted to suit any nation, etc...



this last pic shows a human figure we have ingame which is almost perfect for use in the gunner position, if it wasn't for the silly flat board/panel sitting in front of him (this panel, btw, is invisible from all angles except from behind the figure, as in the pic...
what i'd love here is to have this figure exactly as it is, just minus the panel..... 



if anyone thinks they could help me with the adjustments i need, please get in touch...
project ongoing....

[SAS~Malone]

sounds awesome, buddy!
i'll keep myself busy with some other projects meanwhile, no problem

[Mission_bug]

this last pic shows a human figure we have ingame which is almost perfect for use in the gunner position, if it wasn't for the silly flat board/panel sitting in front of him (this panel, btw, is invisible from all angles except from behind the figure, as in the pic...
what i'd love here is to have this figure exactly as it is, just minus the panel..... 


if anyone thinks they could help me with the adjustments i need, please get in touch...
project ongoing....

Interesting project you have there Eugene.


The figure with the engine panel should be easy enough to alter in a 3D programme, that panel I would think could be selected as a element and detached from the main model and deleted then the remaing figure saved as a new object.

Take care.

Wishing you all the very best, Pete.

[max_thehitman]

Malone.... I have a problem 

.... how am I going to paint these U-Boat crew uniforms ?