Rebooting the Weird WWII in 1/35 scale - Rocketeer added (08/20)

[white knight]

I've been tempted to get back into Weird War II for a while, but didn't feel like revisiting my extensive 28mm project from 15 years ago. So of course the logical way forward was to start over in another scale and I had on occasion bought some 1/35 figures here and there that would make a good starting place.

As one is wont to do, I started (yet another) new blog to document the evolution of this project: Weird World War II: Larger than life!
https://weirdworldwar2.blogspot.com/

Aside from modelling posts, I will also add occasional background information on aspects of the setting that will be cobbled together from various pop culture references I want to include in the project.

I finished the first model, with some more underway:

-------------------------------
INTELLIGENCE FILE
Code name: Red Widow
Birth name: Yelena Romanoff
Nationality: Soviet Union
Affiliation: Winter Guard, Red Room Academy
Known special skills: marksman, unarmed combat, superhuman strength, fast healing, superior agility and athletics, fluent in 13 languages, ballet, infiltration, assassination
Current whereabouts: unknown
-------------------------------



The Red Widow is one of Soviet Russia's elite operatives and a prime member of the (in)famous Winter Guard, Russia's own supersoldier team. A skilled spy and assassin, she has been endowed with strength, endurance, agility and healing beyond that of a regular human. Little is know about her past, as she was one of many orphans who were sent to the Red Room Academy at a young age and one of the few to come out of that hellish training place. Her mastery of at least a dozen language besides her Russian mother tongue, makes her a master of infiltration and she has conducted more than one clandestine mission resulting in the theft of secret files or the assassination of key politicians or military personnel.





The model is a stock model from the small range of 1/35 Dust-Models kits, with no conversions. She is pinned and glued to a 35mmx2mm clear acrylic base, so she can look in place with any terrain. This was my first finished model in this scale in over 25 years and I tried to use some different painting techniques than the more standard wargaming ones I usually use on 28/30mm and 60/65mm scale. While I did not manage to break free completely from those habits, I am relatively satisfied. 





-------------------------------
MODEL INFORMATION
Scale: 1/35
Brand: Dust-Models
Figure reference: D85005 - Koshka Rudinova
Material: Resin
Conversions: /
-------------------------------

[white knight]

Soviet Russia - Winter Guard - Lady Death of the Red Army
 -------------------------------
INTELLIGENCE FILE

Code name: Lady Death
Birth name: Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko
Nationality: Soviet Union
Affiliation: Winter Guard, Red Army
Known special skills: exceptional marksman, sniper
Current whereabouts: Eastern Front
-------------------------------



Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko, (Russian: Людми́ла Миха́йловна Павличе́нко) was a Soviet sniper in the Red Army at the start of World War II, who was credited with 309 confirmed kills, making her the most successful female sniper in recorded history.

Pavlichenko was nicknamed "Lady Death" for her incredible ability with the sniper rifle. She served in the Red Army during the siege of Odessa and the siege of Sevastopol, during the early stages of the fighting on the Eastern Front.



After she was injured in battle by a mortar shell, she was evacuated to Moscow, where it was decided she was too valuable to the war effort be crippled and was administered an experimental drug to ensure a full recovery. Thanks to this, Pavlichenko made a full recovery and, being somewhat of a national hero, was assigned to the Winter Guard, where she continues her fight to this day.







The model is another resin, stock model without conversions. She comes with two options for her right hand, a gasmask, as pictured, and a chain attached to a cross, which seemed altogether too fiddly to bother with. Even with going with the easier build, there is still plenty of detail to work with. The figure is a wonderful little sculpt, with intricate detail and for me, somewhat above my paygrade paintingwise. Still, I like how she came out in the end, so that's all that matters. 32mm clear acrylic base to work on any table.


Lady Death and the Red Widow


Not always seeing eye to eye...

-------------------------------
MODEL INFORMATION
Scale: 1/35
Brand: Mauser Earth (Smartmax Miniatures/Blackbird Miniatures)
Figure reference: Chapochka
Material: Resin
Conversions: /
-------------------------------

[has.been]

Very nice.
Wrong scale & 'period' for me, but still... Nice!

[white knight]

The last couple years I've been experimenting with larger scales (up to 60-65mm) for skirmish type projects. The mini foot print actually isn't much bigger and they look great.

[Predatorpt]

Looking good. I had the same years ago but never went ahead with it. I still have a Dust Gunther model kit in 1/35 scale if you want it 

[white knight]

Occult Germany - Wiederbelebung Truppen - Zombies

Yes, I know they look Russian, but hear me out...

-------------------------------
INTELLIGENCE FILE
Code name: Wiederbelebung Truppen
Troop type: Reanimated corpses, Zombies
Nationality: Occult Germany
Affiliation: Thule Society, Doctor Mengele
Characteristics: Indifferent to pain, relentless, merciless, mindless
Vulnerabilities: Decapitation, severe head trauma, fire (not immediately), bodies of water (sinking)
Deployment zone: Western Front, Eastern Front, North Afrika
-------------------------------



Hitler had always been obsessed with the quest for immortality and the Thule Society fed that obsession, exploring different avenues towards attaining that goal. One such experiment resulted in the reanimation of fallen soldiers. As a quest for immortality, it was an abject failure. The subjects were mindless, shambling corpses and the process of decay was slowed, but not halted. While not working out as intended, the Thule Society saw an opportunity here and oversaw the creation of more of these Wiederbelebung Truppen, or Nazi zombies as they were dubbed by the Allies.
Initially, the program only used enemy soldier's corpses, mostly Russians. The zombies are a disquieting enough sight without further shocking the German troops with the desecration of their fallen friends. However, as the war raged on and the Wehrmacht got accustomed to the sight of zombies over time, such delicate considerations were abandoned...





A former Red Army nurse, now another gruesome tool in the German warmachine.





A couple (former) Russian zombies to kick off the zombie horde. The models are a couple of resin 1/35 figures produced by WAR (Weird Armies Reign). There was no need to convert them as they were already perfect as is. I used 32mm clear acrylic bases on them again, to match the others. The veins in the neck, legs and bald head were a last minute addition and I should have toned them down a bit perhaps.


The Red Widow trying to fend off some former comrades, now mindless enemies


A couple of zombies advancing through the twilight hour, passing by an abandoned civilian vehicle.

Still early days, but I took the opportunity to take this groupshot of the project's advancement to keep me motivated:

[Weird WWII]

Excellent stuff!!!

Always keep it WEIRD!!
Brian

[Seuchenhexer]

Those really look awesome.

[white knight]

Thanks, painting these has been a nice change of pace from my usual fare.

[Blackwolf]

These look great WK,and larger scales can be a lot of fun (I’m heavily into Sf3d)

[white knight]

These look great WK,and larger scales can be a lot of fun (I’m heavily into Sf3d)

I will be including some 1/35 Sf3d models into this project as well, as they fit the look. 

[Blackwolf]

Excellent 

[white knight]

Occult Germany - Übersoldat - Doomtrooper

https://weirdworldwar2.blogspot.com/2021/06/occult-germany-ubersoldat-doomtrooper.html

------------------------------
INTELLIGENCE FILE
Code name: Übersoldat
Troop type: jacked up supersoldier
Nationality: Occult Germany
Affiliation: Thule Society
Characteristics: Indifferent to pain, relentless, merciless, superstrength
Vulnerabilities: heavy artillery
Deployment zone: Western Front, Eastern Front, North Afrika
-------------------------------



The result of one of Germany's many superhero programs, the juiced up, jacked up Übersoldat, or Doomtrooper as he is sometimes referred to, is a powerhouse indeed. This hulk of a man can charge through a brick well, bring down enemy light walkers and tear enemy soldiers limb from limb if need be. Standing several heads taller than any ordinary man, the sickly colour of their skintone, combined with the total lack of speech and proneness to berserk type rage, make one wonder how much humanity remains behind the blue lenses of their gasmaks, that seem like a parody of the blue-eyed ideal propagated by some circles within the German high command.







The German superhero program encountered some successes and a whole lot more failures. This may partly be due enlisting the help of not only mad geniuses but, in some case, plain madmen and monsters. The Übersoldat is the work of one such madman, the scientist Karl Ruprecht Kroenen, member of the infamous Thule Society.



The Red Widow is trying to hold off an Übersoldat. The bullets from her pistol hardly seem to penetrate its skin.



The base of the model is a conversion of a cheap plastic Hulk figure made by Monogram International, shown below, with the head replaced with a 28mm gasmask head (molemask from Ramshackle Games) that I've had for years, a Tamiya 1/35 helmet and some greenstuff to bulk up the head and blend it into the body. All in all, pretty effective for a cheap toy.



-------------------------------
MODEL INFORMATION
Scale: 1/35
Brand: Marvel / Monogram International
Figure reference: Hulk
Material: Plastic
Conversions: headswap (Tamiya helmet + Ramshackle Games molemask head + greenstuff)
-------------------------------

[white knight]

To provide some background to the minis, I've taken to updating the blog with small intelligence reports focusing on a single aspect of the world they are moving in, in between updates with actual new figures.

https://weirdworldwar2.blogspot.com/search/label/Intelligence%20Reports

One such example:

Soviet Russia - Intelligence Report - Red Room Academy
-------------------------------
INTELLIGENCE REPORT

Identification: Red Room Academy
Nationality: Soviet Russia
Location: Belarus, exact location unknown
Nature of the site: superspy training facility
Number of personnel: unknown
Known affiliations: Red Widow
-------------------------------



The Red Room Academy is a Soviet-Russian training facility posing as a boarding school, presumably located in the Maryina Horka Forest in Belarus. It is home to the Red Room Program, aimed at training and conditioning child assassins and superspies, while medically enhancing their natural skills to superhuman levels.



All of the pupils are orphans, with the majority of them being girls. Each morning they are indoctrinated and brainwashed through films they are forced to watch and learn by heart. The films serve a double purpose, as they show the behaviour one should display to not raise any suspicions, as well as brainwash the children through subliminal messages embedded in the movies. They are trained in hand-to-hand combat from a young age, as well as in the use of a variety of close range and ranged weapons.



Fatal "accidents" are not uncommon during that training period and only a fraction of those who enter the Red Room Academy will come out, as deadly weapons for Mother Russia to aim towards its enemies. One such graduate is the infamous Red Widow.



-------------------------------
Inspiration source: Marvel Cinematic Universe (Agent Carter/Black Widow)

[white knight]

Partisans / Vatican Operatives - Don Camillo, résistance fighter

https://weirdworldwar2.blogspot.com/2021/07/partisans-vatican-operatives-don.html

-------------------------------
INTELLIGENCE FILE
Code name: Don Camillo
Birth name: Camillo Tarocci
Nationality: Italian
Affiliation: Resistance, Vatican
Known special skills: marksman, brawler, talks with Christ a lot
Current whereabouts: Northern Italy
-------------------------------



Don Camillo is the hotheaded priest of Brescello, a small town in the Po valley in northern Italy. A big man, tall and strong with hard fists, he enjoys a reputation as somewhat of a brawler. Seemingly at odds with communist partisan fighter Giuseppe Bottazzi, better known as Peppone, the two men share a mutual respect and friendship, despite their public feud. As such, Camillo braved German patrols in order to reach Peppone and his fellow Communists in the mountains and administer Mass to them under field conditions. Through the crucifix in the town church he hears the voice of Christ, which often has to gently reprimand the priest for his impatience. Being an excellent marksman himself, Don Camillo doesn't shy back from picking up his rifle and assist the partisan movement against the fascists.



With the emergence of unholy creatures on AXIS side, especially Germany, he has fully joined the fight as a hardy resistance fighter and sometimes operative of the Vatican. As such, he has been called upon to assist the Crimson Nun on more than one occasion.



The model is based on the 1/35 MiniArt French priest, with the addition of a pair of arms from a Tamiya wehrmacht set for a more militant look. The MiniArt model seems deliberately modelled after Don Camillo as played by Fernandel and I did my best to bring out the likeness in the sculpt. The head is resin, with the body being plastic. Paintingwise, this one seems to have reverted the most to my "old" painting style, which I was trying to avoid with these. I'll have to be more vigilant when continuing with the next models. Still, the face is decent.


Halting the advance of some zombies. None shall pass!


Switched to greyscale to compare to the classic movie representation (played by Fernandel)







-------------------------------
MODEL INFORMATION
Scale: 1/35
Brand: MiniArt (head and body) - Tamiya (arms and rifle)
Figure reference: French civilians 30s-40s - 38037
Material: Plastic + Resin
Conversions: arms
-------------------------------
Inspiration: Don Camillo movies