These are the first painted figures of my despair troops in Berlin 1945. I tried to represent various origins and ages. I hope you like it.
Regards.
Gallery
Berlin 1945.
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Hi , friends.
These are the first painted figures of my despair troops in Berlin 1945. I tried to represent various origins and ages. I hope you like it.
Regards.
These are the first painted figures of my despair troops in Berlin 1945. I tried to represent various origins and ages. I hope you like it.
Regards.
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Jaques
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21 Jun 2009, 22:02
Again some very original figures, and you did a fantastic paintjob on them! 
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Peter
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25 Mar 2008, 18:51
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Very nice figures, beautifully painted. I'm sure you are familiar with the Pegasus Germans in Berlin 1945 set - it would mesh very nicely with these. It is one of the finest sets in plastic out there in 1/72nd, in my opinion, with a disturbing figure of Hitler himself reviewing a couple of young boys being sent to their doom.
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Bill Slavin
Supporting Member (Bronze)- Posts: 1294
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24 Oct 2016, 14:55
Very well done !
In your very first pic the soldier in the front of the stone gate.
If he get hit by a grenade we get a new latitude.
In your very first pic the soldier in the front of the stone gate.
If he get hit by a grenade we get a new latitude.
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Wiking
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14 Sep 2015, 10:03
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Kostis Ornerakis
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JueHue
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25 Dec 2020, 13:01
Hi , friends.
Many thanks for the comments.
My despair troops in Berlin 1945 will have approximately 40 different poses. Some figures are from manufacturers in white metal, Underfire and TQD. The others are made by my obsessive compulsive conversion disorder already known on the forum, which goes so far as to revive Pegasus' dead Volkssturm.
Regards.
Many thanks for the comments.
My despair troops in Berlin 1945 will have approximately 40 different poses. Some figures are from manufacturers in white metal, Underfire and TQD. The others are made by my obsessive compulsive conversion disorder already known on the forum, which goes so far as to revive Pegasus' dead Volkssturm.
Regards.
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Jaques
- Posts: 867
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21 Jun 2009, 22:02
Dear Jacques,
Your conversions, ideas, figure poses and painting are always a delight. I love seeing your work. However, there is ont thing itching me in this thread and so I decided to comment. I know that I am walking the line because we do not want to have politics, but here it is also about history.
My point is quite simple. There was no important uprising of German civilians against the Russian or also the other Allieds' invasion into Germany. And very happily so. The butchery for all participants was already tremendous and surpassing every reason.
Here my arguments:
Hitler's dream was that the "german people" will uprise and change the tide of war, the famous "Werwolf". Much propaganda went into that - lots of still existing film footings showing armed civilians lined up and listening to Propaganda minister Goebbels proclaiming the "Total war". It is important to keep in mind that this footage is for propaganda (modern word for it is "fake news"). Hitler had high quality experts who served this propaganda, example Leni Riefenstal, and Hitler and Goebbels spent a lot of their time improving their cynical propaganda methods.
What was the reality? Here I will speak a lot of what I know of from my family. I am French of German origin.
Most civilians knew at the latest after the Normandy landing that the war was lost. At that time mass bombarding of German towns and the fact that no family existed without a loss of a family member made that clear to the home front. It is very impressive that the government control on society was still so strong that a major war effort could be upheld until at least end of '44.
In '45 people in the East simply fled the Soviet front in panic. Everybody was afraid for two reasons - propaganda told them to be afraid and people at that time knew of the atrocities of German soldiers in Sovient Union and rightly were afraid of the reprisal. The civilians fled much like the French did in '40.
In the West civilians often pressed the remaining soldiers to surrender or hide because people largely preferred to be invaded by Western Allies than by Soviets. Soldiers at all fronts threw away their arms and uniforms to melt into civil life.
Of course, some civilian resistance existed sporadically, often performed by fanatized Hilter Jugend (youth). It is a sad truth that young people are always the easiest prey to indoctrination. But - there was never any German partisan movement, like it existed in France, Yugoslavia and last but not least Soviet Union.
So, I like the figures for what they are in craft, but I persist they convey a wrong picture of what happened in Berlin. Just imagine women and elderly gentlemen already much suffering from bombing facing an army which points at any building sticking out a carbine or MP 42 something like 5 T34 and 5 ZIS guns and tearing the house to rubble.
Long story - I hope you do not punch me for this. I feel strongly about it because most of my ancestors took part in all this.
Humble greetings
Michael
Your conversions, ideas, figure poses and painting are always a delight. I love seeing your work. However, there is ont thing itching me in this thread and so I decided to comment. I know that I am walking the line because we do not want to have politics, but here it is also about history.
My point is quite simple. There was no important uprising of German civilians against the Russian or also the other Allieds' invasion into Germany. And very happily so. The butchery for all participants was already tremendous and surpassing every reason.
Here my arguments:
Hitler's dream was that the "german people" will uprise and change the tide of war, the famous "Werwolf". Much propaganda went into that - lots of still existing film footings showing armed civilians lined up and listening to Propaganda minister Goebbels proclaiming the "Total war". It is important to keep in mind that this footage is for propaganda (modern word for it is "fake news"). Hitler had high quality experts who served this propaganda, example Leni Riefenstal, and Hitler and Goebbels spent a lot of their time improving their cynical propaganda methods.
What was the reality? Here I will speak a lot of what I know of from my family. I am French of German origin.
Most civilians knew at the latest after the Normandy landing that the war was lost. At that time mass bombarding of German towns and the fact that no family existed without a loss of a family member made that clear to the home front. It is very impressive that the government control on society was still so strong that a major war effort could be upheld until at least end of '44.
In '45 people in the East simply fled the Soviet front in panic. Everybody was afraid for two reasons - propaganda told them to be afraid and people at that time knew of the atrocities of German soldiers in Sovient Union and rightly were afraid of the reprisal. The civilians fled much like the French did in '40.
In the West civilians often pressed the remaining soldiers to surrender or hide because people largely preferred to be invaded by Western Allies than by Soviets. Soldiers at all fronts threw away their arms and uniforms to melt into civil life.
Of course, some civilian resistance existed sporadically, often performed by fanatized Hilter Jugend (youth). It is a sad truth that young people are always the easiest prey to indoctrination. But - there was never any German partisan movement, like it existed in France, Yugoslavia and last but not least Soviet Union.
So, I like the figures for what they are in craft, but I persist they convey a wrong picture of what happened in Berlin. Just imagine women and elderly gentlemen already much suffering from bombing facing an army which points at any building sticking out a carbine or MP 42 something like 5 T34 and 5 ZIS guns and tearing the house to rubble.
Long story - I hope you do not punch me for this. I feel strongly about it because most of my ancestors took part in all this.
Humble greetings
Michael
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Michael Robert
- Supporting Member (Bronze)
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14 Oct 2009, 19:22
Hi , Michael.
Many thanks for your comment. Since I was a child I like the miniatures. I started with Arfix and today I continue to collect and build my own figures. I liked your explanation and I imagine that the European past with its wars is controversial and should still provoke many feelings about it.
As well as several topics portray "The Conquerors of the Americas” and the colonial European army, I as a South American and since my country was a colony of Portuguese, French and Dutch partly understand what you say, but I believe that here in the forum we do not have political intentions of history, we make our figures only for representations that often mix reality and fiction, always for the fun of our hobby.
Regards.
Many thanks for your comment. Since I was a child I like the miniatures. I started with Arfix and today I continue to collect and build my own figures. I liked your explanation and I imagine that the European past with its wars is controversial and should still provoke many feelings about it.
As well as several topics portray "The Conquerors of the Americas” and the colonial European army, I as a South American and since my country was a colony of Portuguese, French and Dutch partly understand what you say, but I believe that here in the forum we do not have political intentions of history, we make our figures only for representations that often mix reality and fiction, always for the fun of our hobby.
Regards.
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Jaques
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21 Jun 2009, 22:02
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Michael, I think what you are saying is true in its self, but what Jacques is representing is the Volkssturm, which he quite rightly calls ´despair troops´. During the final weeks of the struggle, especially in the area of Berlin, civilians, organised by the local networks of the NSDAP were pressed into military service. It was no uprising, most of them were no volunteers, but many of them in fact victims of the N**i regime too, in the sense that they longed for peace, but were forced to fight an unequal battle. They received no uniforms, only wore arm bands, had hardly any training and were armed with cheaply produced Panzerfausts and obsolete firearms. As all regular young men were pressed into service already, the Volkssturm units consisted mainly of older men and young boys. Their military value was quite useless, but they existed.
Of course they were used for propaganda reasons too, but there existence, and therefore these figures, are realistic for the situation in the last weeks of the war. The only thing is that I never heard or saw any women involved in the Volkssturm.
Of course they were used for propaganda reasons too, but there existence, and therefore these figures, are realistic for the situation in the last weeks of the war. The only thing is that I never heard or saw any women involved in the Volkssturm.
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huib
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12 Dec 2015, 15:57
Dear Jacques, dear Huib,
thank you for your answers. Let me point out that we are all much the same - I paint and collect tiny soldiers as well. It is about fun and hobby. Most important, I do not judge anybody - at least this is absolutely not my intention.
My comments are more those of a button-counter. Were these civilians ready to face the Allies real? Although there exists these pictures - Huib shows them well - of what I heard the history which is not filmed was not so. At least the 2nd picture I know quite well. It stems from one big rally staged by Goebbels, the grand master himself. Did these guys really fight like that?
That's all.
And I hope to see many many other figure creations from Jacques and great tank contributions from huib.
Long live our hobby
Michael
thank you for your answers. Let me point out that we are all much the same - I paint and collect tiny soldiers as well. It is about fun and hobby. Most important, I do not judge anybody - at least this is absolutely not my intention.
My comments are more those of a button-counter. Were these civilians ready to face the Allies real? Although there exists these pictures - Huib shows them well - of what I heard the history which is not filmed was not so. At least the 2nd picture I know quite well. It stems from one big rally staged by Goebbels, the grand master himself. Did these guys really fight like that?
That's all.
And I hope to see many many other figure creations from Jacques and great tank contributions from huib.
Long live our hobby
Michael
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Michael Robert
- Supporting Member (Bronze)
- Posts: 825
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14 Oct 2009, 19:22
Dear Michael,
I completely understand your point. I don't think it's a political question. In my opinion your questions are pure historical. Huib already pointed out that Jacques' figures are not Werwolf but Volkssturm, which they renders nicely. I especially like his firefighters. And yes, Volkssturm was used up to the latest hours of the WWII as a third-line infantry mainly for sentry duty in rear areas, but also in real front-line fight. Check history of besieged Breslau (now Wrocław in Poland) or other battles in Silesia for example. The Volkssturm was a party based structure, so I don't think its members had to be too much pressed into service. Concerning female involvement there is a well-known propaganda movie which shows a women firing a Panzerfaust. Based on pictures from Volkssturm parades these "despair troops" were nearly all-male. Hitler thought about a women battalion in February 1945 but this was never materialised. Women were called only for auxiliary service in Volkssturm on 12 February 1945. But despite this a possibility of some armed women with Volkssturm armband isn't excluded.
Regards
Tomas
I completely understand your point. I don't think it's a political question. In my opinion your questions are pure historical. Huib already pointed out that Jacques' figures are not Werwolf but Volkssturm, which they renders nicely. I especially like his firefighters. And yes, Volkssturm was used up to the latest hours of the WWII as a third-line infantry mainly for sentry duty in rear areas, but also in real front-line fight. Check history of besieged Breslau (now Wrocław in Poland) or other battles in Silesia for example. The Volkssturm was a party based structure, so I don't think its members had to be too much pressed into service. Concerning female involvement there is a well-known propaganda movie which shows a women firing a Panzerfaust. Based on pictures from Volkssturm parades these "despair troops" were nearly all-male. Hitler thought about a women battalion in February 1945 but this was never materialised. Women were called only for auxiliary service in Volkssturm on 12 February 1945. But despite this a possibility of some armed women with Volkssturm armband isn't excluded.
Regards
Tomas
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TomasJakl
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12 Feb 2012, 21:01
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