Berlin, 1945: The End

 This is my rendition of Jaguar's "Beginning of a New End" vignette, depicting the famous photograph of Red Army infantry raising the Red Flag over the Reichstag.

The staged photo, taken several days after the actual flag raising on April 30th, has been significantly altered by Soviet censorship artists. In the original photograph, the officer in the center wears two wristwatches, indicating looting. I added these wristwatches on the model using strips of foil and magic sculpt.
The medal on the base is a "Victory over Germany" badge that was widely issued at war's end. Because it is genuine (albeit relatively common), I didn't want to use any glues to keep it fixed; luckily I had a bit of Blue-Tack sitting around to keep it attached.

As usual, I used Acrylic paints to apply a basecoat, followed with the creation of shadows and hilights with custom-mixed oil paints. For these figures, I experimented with Vallejo acrylic paints, using them to create sharp hilights on corners or very exposed areas, such as the tip of the nose or the cheekbones. I'm content with the results, but I know I can do better.

The supplied resin flag was of very poor quality, as it was pitted with airbubbles and nearly a millimeter thick! I used thick alluminum foil to make a new one. The figure that stands in the foreground was also poorly cast and was replaced with a figure from Alanger's "Stalin's Cossacks" set. He sports a new face from Hornet and a 'Pilotka' sidecap from a DML kit.

 I used sheet styrene to extend the black base, as I felt it was too short. Now, it stands tall in the face of the defeated facists for propaganda lovers everywhere!

Before oil washes

Here's a before and after shot, which hopefully shows why I love oil paints so much. A few washes of browns and tans, an ta-da!

After oil washes

 

A version of the original 1945 photograph

Finally, here is a colorized version of the original photo. Note that there were about a dozen different photos taken of this specific incident, so the poses are a little different from the ones in this photo.

Thanks for lookin'!