Second Project - Cross of Iron/Sergeant Steiner

Still coming to grips with this blog - it appears to have a mind of it's own sometimes :)

After completing my first project (see below), I began work on my second and third. On completion of the second project I again posted the results to http://www.actionmanhq.co.uk/. To keep things simple, I have posted my original explanation of the project below, followed by some photos. Enjoy!

"Since finishing my first VAM custom project (see ‘Return of The Jackal’ thread elsewhere on this forum), I’ve been busy on my second and third projects. I decided to work on two projects simultaneously, basically to save time as some of the designs/components were essentially the same. I decided to create a second ‘Cinema Series’ item, as well as my first ‘Military Series’ project. The ‘Military Series’ project is 90% complete and I will post photographs on completion.

For my second ‘Cinema Series’ project, I decided to kit-bash/customise a Sergeant Rolf Steiner VAM figure from the 1976 movie, ‘Cross Of Iron’ (directed by Sam Peckinpah). As with my first project, I also wanted to design and construct the retail packaging to compliment the figure. ‘Cross Of Iron’ is one of my favourite war movies. For those who haven’t seen it, it is available on DVD (just make sure you track down the newer widescreen version).

Sergeant Steiner seems to be a popular choice for 1/6 scale kit-bashing. If you search Google Image, you’ll likely come across at least a few examples. As some of you will know, DML (Dragon) released an official Sergeant Steiner figure some years ago. However, my intention was to recreate a VAM version of Sergeant Steiner and not to rely on ‘Steiner-specific’ items already manufactured by Dragon or other companies.

I didn’t scratch-build on the same scale as my Jackal project, however there was quite a bit of customising involved with regard to Steiner’s M43 field tunic. I had an old DML German uniform in my spares collection and I decided to customise it to match that of Steiner’s. The modifications to the tunic were as follows:

Scratch-built a ‘Das Krimschild’ badge and attached it to the left arm of the tunic.
Scratch-built a ‘Panzervernichtungsabzeichen’ badge and attached it to the right arm of the tunic.
Painted the buttons silver to match Steiner’s tunic.
Bought and attached a number of additional awards/medals, to match Steiner’s tunic (including an Iron Cross). I obtained these from a number of 1/6 scale sites on the web.
Painted a white line around the collar of the tunic.
Replaced the tunic shoulder boards with the correct Infantry ones (also custom-made) and modified them to display the correct rank.

The remaining weapons and accessories are of Dragon and/or BBI manufacture. For information on how I constructed the retail packaging, please refer to my ‘Return of The Jackal’ thread. As with my first project, the retail packaging and box-art was hand-made to give it a 1970’s feel, etc.

I wanted to include a number of ‘added extras’ in the retail packaging. In addition to a ‘Cross Of Iron’ movie poster and a VAM Collector Star booklet, I designed and enclosed an application form, allowing the ‘purchaser’ to join the fictitious ‘Palitoy Action Man Collector’s Club’. I’m pretty happy with how the application form came out. I’m tempted to send a completed one to the address and see what happens!"