1:35 German Waffen SS jerry cans (12 pcs)

Jerrycans with the markings of the Waffen SS units

The supply of the Waffen SS armored formations had its own records and its own marking of fuel vessels, so the pieces making their way to these units carried different lettering from those out of the ordinary army depots. For a builder this is a rewarding detail. A single look at the lettering places a scene with one particular kind of unit, with no need to explain anything further.

The set gives twelve vessels of the twenty-liter format with three handles side by side and with reinforcing pressing on the sides. The size matches 1:35 scale.

Where to place them on a model

On the rear of half-tracks, on the fenders of armored cars, in the brackets on a turret or simply stacked in a crate on the bed. There were never enough vessels and their placement was a matter for the crew, so irregularity is an advantage here. It breaks up the austere geometry of a vehicle and helps a scene look lived in.

For setting it into one particular scene it is useful to know that the density of vessels on a vehicle grew with the length of the advance. In the starting position a machine carried a few; after a couple of days out of reach of supply there tended to be as many on the fenders and the rear as could be lashed on. It is a simple way to give a scene a place in time without a single piece of lettering.

When painting it proves itself to leave some pieces rubbed down to the metal and some freshly coated. Vessels were commonly lent, lost and replaced with new ones, so a uniform patina would instead take credibility from a scene. Lettering is as a rule done with a thin brush or a decal from another source; it is not in the package.