Welcome To My Hans Ebner Figure Page.

This page is about how I have made my German Hans Ebner figure, this one came about after I wanted a replacement for my DML Albert figure I had but traded off. So after thinking about this for a while, and then realising that the figure is hard to get hold off. I finally found one of the DiD Hans figures courtesy of Forgotten Soldier.

As the uniform is a reversible set I used the white side of it, as I want the figure to look like a German soldier operating on the Russian front. I am very impressed with the way that the uniform has been made, as a choice of figures can be made from the one boxed set.

Below left, is the Hans headsculpt, which I have repainted with Model Colour Matt Medium to remove the gloss appearance of the headsculpt. Which has unfortunately made the eyes really stand out and look toy like. I am hoping a wipe over the head with a pastel chalk wash will remove that.

The picture above right of the boots, shows them after I have given them a coat of Dullcote to lose the shine from the material. One major annoying thing I have found out about this figure so far is, that with these boots the figure is constantly falling forward. I think this is due to the lack of support from the boots around the ankle, due to the felt part that has been used. To get around this I have used the same tape I have used for my other figures, to tape up the ankles and to bulk them out a bit. As result I have had no more problems with the figure falling over.

Rifle Sling Assembly

This part of the boxed figure did surprise me, as I expected the sling to be already part of the rifle. So after a little bit of thought, I have assembled it as follows. Picture left above (A), I have taken the sling apart so that it is one long strip of material, and then threaded it through the sling loop at the front of the rifle. Then back through the sling adjuster and then threaded it through the stock as above (B). This is where I found this became interesting, as you have to 'lock' the strap in place on the stud (C), and also thread the sling end under the lug (D). All I can say is take your time doing this, as the material for the sling can easily be broken. I am also thinking that the sling may be too long as it is, and I may shorten it slightly, because with the adjuster fully against the stock there is still too much slack.

Pictures of the actual rifle and sling are here - Sling

Boots And Gaiters

Although I have not used the boots and gaiters that came with this figure, I think it might help others if I point out how I have used the gaiters on my other Kurt Dorr figure. Because the boots are like these one's, I found that they would not allow me to tighten up enough the gaiters. So I replaced them with a pair of DML Dietrich Koppe boots, as they have laces and they can be tightened up better at the top.

But, if I was to use these boots, where I have indicated in the picture right (A), I would make a small 'V' shaped cut to allow me to close the top of the boot up further. Note: Make sure that you don't cut too far down, in case it shows from under the gaiter. Once, it was on the figure, I would then tie some strong thread to pull the top tight onto the figure's leg. With my Kurt Dorr figure I then put the gaiter around the boot top and sewed the ends together, this way I got the tightness of the gaiter around the boot top.

Once I was happy that I had the gaiter in the right place and tight enough, I then fastened the buckles and the straps and trimmed the ends to make them look neat. The purpose of sewing the ends of the gaiter together, is that the thread takes the strain from the tightening, not the buckle straps as they are not strong enough to hold it in place and they could break.

Hood

With this figure I could not decide which head covering to use, as I also wanted the parka hood over the helmet. So I finally made up my mind to use the white hood over the head, but then came a problem.

As the hood fits ok, but the helmet won't because of the pad that fits inside it with the chin straps. So to get the figure as I want it, I test fitted the helmet without the padding inside, and I think it fits well with what I wanted. So now I have to take the straps off the padding, and fix them inside the helmet shell somehow.

Below are some pictures as I want the figure to be posed with the MG42 weapon, and as usual with me I have loaded him up with as much kit as possible. The machine gun is the one I had sitting around from my Kurt Dorr figure along with the pouch and the ammunition can.

Another thing I have changed is the gloves, as I just didn't like the large white gloves I had on the figure. So I swapped them out for the Kurt one's. These came in very useful actually, as it allowed me to pose the hand wrapped around the gun and grip the ammunition can properly.

One thing I never realised until now is, just how dirty the white uniforms got in service as shown in the pictures above.

This will be a challenge to me with trying to replicate this, and I have to also add some kind of whitewash to the black straps and belt equipment.

I did some experimenting today with the MG42 that I want this figure to carry, as I was looking for something to add the whitewash to the weapon. I was thinking of paint, but I was worried that it would end up too thick on it, so I tried my Tamiya Snow powder on it. The result of it is below.

I was going to use some type of paint to get this effect, but I am glad that I used these powders first. Because, I was trying to get the effect of a camouflaged gun with a winter whitewash. But not the heavy look that paint can give it, as I was thinking that in real life if it is too heavy it could gum up the works. Note: One thing that I have just thought about after doing this, is that I have not added any Gunmetal effects to the gun. As with all my model weapons, I give them a drybrush of Gunmetal paint to emphasise the edges and wear points first. But, thinking about the whitewash camouflage, it would cover that up anyway, so this will teach me to get carried away.

This is the belt kit I have decided to use with the figure, and I have given it a basic wipe over with the Snow powder and I am quite impressed with the results. It will have to be touched up again once it is all on the figure, as it comes off when I touch it. Below right is the cloth pouches for this figure, and I have found that they take the powder very well, especially along the seams.

These pictures are of the pastel wash that I gave the standard head as it comes from out of the box, the picture below left is with the pastel chalk mixed with some water, and just brushed over the head. Making sure that I get it into all the creases of the face and especially the eyes. The second picture is of the partially dried chalk being wiped off gently with a damp tissue, this is to remove most of the chalk from the highlights of the head. Note: Try not to rub too hard on the face as this can create a shine on the original paint. This can take some time depending on how hard you are rubbing on the head, how damp the tissue is and how much of the chalk remains in the creases.

Once that was dry, I gave the head a very light, very thinned down wash of Model Colour 908 Carmine Red, to give the face a slight pink tint. This was also applied to the eyes, to darken off the bright white colour of the eyes. The third picture below right, shows the finished head once it has dried and a light drybrush of a cream coloured chalk applied over the highlights of the face. I also made sure that the chalk was rubbed into the eyes to remove the toy like appearance as seen from the pictures above. All the head needs now, is a drop of clear gloss varnish on the pupils of the eyes to make them shiny.

What I use to get the pastel chalk dust is a foam sanding pad, all I do as in the picture below left is rub the pastel chalk onto the pad and then add some water to it. This then gives me the 'mix' I need to do the pastel wash on the head. To do the drybrush to lighten the highlights, all I do is again rub the pastel onto the pad, pick it up dry with a brush and lightly rub it onto the face. Note: I have found out by trial and error, that sometimes the lighter pastel chalk can add too much of a highlight. And it is not until I photograph the headsculpt do I realise it, so now I do the drybrush, take a picture and see what the effect is like and add or remove as necessary.

This is my finished figure as the gunner would have looked like on the Russian front, I made the armbands out of paper which I painted blue and weathered. I then cut two small slots at each end for the buttons to go through. The white uniform was dirtied up with the Tamiya powders along the seams, knees, elbows, pockets and the jacket bottom.

Finally, I did a touch up with the Snow powder to the straps, as some of it came off when I was assembling the figure.

Figure Repair

This section is about how I have had to repair my Hans Ebner figure.

And I am annoyed at the loose joints on DiD figures. Because of a result of them, the weight of the nude figure and the metal ammo clips in the pouch, this figure constantly shelf dived on me. And after trying numerous times to try to solve this problem, with taping up the ankle joints, the knee joints became weaker because of the weight. Which caused the figure to sag downwards, putting even more pressure on the ankle joints.

So this picture is the end result of trying to get the legs in the right position, one broken off foot. So to say that I am upset about this is an understatement. So now I have one useless DiD figure with a broken off foot, a wrecked figure and I have just done about 2 days of work trying to repair this. All because of the weight of the nude figure, metal helmet, MP44 ammo clips in the pouch and the MG42 ammo belt, which caused too much weight to be placed on the already weak joints.

I have included a picture above right of the broken parts, and the piece of plastic that is used to hold the two parts together. Note: I have not modified this figure in any way, apart from using the Duct Tape, to try to re-enforce the joints.

The figure has now been repaired, as I changed the head with a spare Corbin Black figure I have, and I found that the ankle and knee joints needed no taping up at all. And the figure stands exactly as I have posed him with no problem, so the weak joints must have been a fault with that one Ebner body I hope.