U-Boat Captain

As always, the following text is from UAMHQ...

"It's been quite a while since I've 'bashed a VAM figure, so I thought I'd try my hand at another. Following on from some other great U-Boat Captain 'bashes on the forum, I was keen to have a go at one myself.

I recently acquired the original uncut version of 'Das Boot' on DVD (clocking in at a massive 4 hours and 42 minutes) which provided the inspiration. I was always a great fan of Otto Sander's portrayal of Kapitanleutnant Thomsen and thought the character would make a good 'bash.

The 1/6 scale reefer jacket was originally issued with the Harrison Ford K-19 Widowmaker figure. I modified it, adding fabric chest insignia, extra gold buttons, cuff stripes, etc. The captain's cap started life as a Dragon Luftwaffe cap which I modified by adding gold braid and a homemade Kriegsmarine badge as well as repositioning the smaller eagle badge. The cap was then weathered to make it look slightly more 'salt-worn'.

I chose to equip the figure with a Luftwaffe 640(b) pistol, rather than a Luger, etc. Whilst researching the 'bash, I discovered that quite a few airmen from the Luftwaffe actually transferred across to the Kriegsmarine during the course of the war, with many volunteering to serve on U-Boats. Interestingly, the 640(b) is essentially a carbon-copy of the Browning Hi-Power which was manufactured in Belgium (and used extensively by the Allies). When the Germans came to town, they took over the factory and started producing the 640's for the Luftwaffe. So that explains how my figure ended up with one!

The bottle of French wine started life as a 1/6 scale bottle of Japanese sake, which I reduced in height and finished off with a vintage label. The navigation chart and 'Die Kriegsmarine' magazine were scratch-built using images found on the net.

16 images to follow. Hope you enjoy!"

Photos to follow...