1:35 Gebirgsjaeger Division. Edelweiss WWII

Mountain troops and their emblem

The German mountain units grew out of the tradition of the Austrian and Bavarian alpine detachments, and from 1938 the first of the divisions bore a name taken from a mountain flower whose stylized form was worn on the cap and on the sleeve. The soldiers went through hard training in climbing, skiing and movement in snow, and their gear differed markedly from that of ordinary infantry: a short mountain jacket, trousers tucked into high boots, an ice axe, a rope and mountain boots with a hobnailed sole.

Where they could be met

The service of these units began in Norway and went on through the Balkans and Crete all the way to the Caucasus and to the mountain fighting on the Italian peninsula. It is precisely this variety of battlefields that makes the figures a rewarding subject, because they suit a winter scene in snow just as well as rocky southern terrain.

The rendition of the set

The set is injection-molded in plastic in 1:35 scale and offers figures in various poses, so a lively scene can be put together from them around a vehicle, or separate vignettes. Zvezda supplies the figures with separate arms and heads, which allows the stance and the turn of the body to be changed slightly.

Painting

The basis tends to be the field gray-green shade of the uniform, rounded out with brown leather for the straps and a lighter detail on the gear. Faces and hands come out with thin coats and fine glazes. The mountain flower emblem on the cap is painted with a very fine brush, or can be suggested with two strokes of a light color. Mountain boots take dusting with pigment well, because it was footwear that carried the marks of the terrain most of all. If you set the figures in snow, darken the lower part of the trousers with a damp patch; a small touch like that gives away an experienced hand faster than anything else.