Armored German. Nein. (warning swastika)

[davi]

http://www.sleepisevil.com/~davi/nazix2.jpg
- Painter 7
- Wash brush, dirty marker
- 3 hours or more, i can't really tell since i stoped so much
- Description:
This piece no doubt needs a description... I play medal of honor: allied assault's expansion, Spearhead, 4 hours of of everyday, maybe more depending how unartsy i am. So i see alot of ww2 envoriments, settings, and characters. I've taken a strong fondness of the german's uniforms, i've been saving references since i started playing AA, so it's bond to effect my art. I've done a few sketchs in the future but this is my first finished painting, it's alittle loose, because i haven't been painting long enough to get that crazy detail, but it's probably as finished as i can do at this point.
I gave myself a concept to complete. I give myself these alot. Basicly I start with an interesting and crazy idea and work with it the best i can. I usually do it for creatures and monsters, it's a bit easier. This time i gave myself the task to combine armor to a german uniform/soilder, and this is what i came up with. I started with using a heef styled uniform and merged some afrika korps, then added some armor after looking at my 2000+ image folder for armor designs/concepts, after being strongly influenced by wes and james zhang and some breathe of fire concepts i jumped into it. Half way through I got Frost to help me with some of the metal painting, since it was a new zone for me. I finished it up and walla`!

If anyone else wants to do one of these I'd think it would be great!

A few people have already said my piece looks a bit like a speeder storm tropper, basicly from the helm i'm guessing, I could always go back and make it look more romanesque. That was the plan in the first place.

[StephenC]

its kinda like a nazi captain america...i think its the shield...


hmm i think that leg goin into perspective looks off...as if its going off into a far vanishing point but the rest of the figure is not..or it might just be a little short..im trying to imagine what he would look like if he were to stand up striaght, the rest of him would stay the same size but his leg would have to increase in perspective a lot..

its a good exercise.

[kingofcups]

Firstly, my apologies for brutal honesty, plz don't hold it against me! I'm new here and I want people to like me :) I'm gonna talk about concept rather than art style.
I'm having a hard time understanding the purpose of this piece, it seems a real mish mash of thoughts. The positioning of the flag is comical, but the subject matter cerainly is not. I presume the allies are ment to shoot at the swastika!! The armour and uniform don't blend well. The armour is clearly medieval, uniform WWII, without really an attempt to bridge the gap. The stomach plate seems unusual. Body armour typically protects the chest as well. The side plates on the legs seem ill concieved. German uniforms were also typically grey, although not always - Grey might help to distinguish it more. He should probably have a holster for that gun. The shield looks like it has a french flag on it. And finally, the swastika is backwards. (you should be able to trace two correct letter S's through it, not two backwards S's.)

Extrapolating your idea about the helmet - Romanizing the armour might work really well - Give it that imperial flavour that the Nazi's were desperate to have. Ever see "Triumph of the Will"?

[davi]

StephenC: I based the sheild off a german medal, not sure what it means but i liked it. I see what you mean about the leg, i'll no doubt go back and fix that, bothers me tons now.

Well, it wasn't really suppose to be a practical design, and the point was to blind german garments with armor. The reason why i put the swastika there was because everyone complained that there was no swastika and i didn't honestly know where i wanted to put it, i think i'll change it since everyone believes it's comical.

I stayed FAR from trying to merge the style. it wasn't my purpose. I'm considering changing the helmet to have a more bold gladiator feeling so people know i was trying to shy away from realism.

I've never seen Triumph of the Will, i'll check it out.
Thanks for the comments.

[edit]: http://www.1944militaria.com/decals.jpg

[kingofcups]

maybe an armband would solve the problem of where to put the insignia. I see what you're trying to do with the shield, I'm just too ignorant to recognize what it was!!

[davi]

hah yeah i did the armband, i didn't put it in the regular place cause of where teh shoulder pad was. Added a holster too. Hope i fixed the leg too. Thanks for the comments.

http://www.sleepisevil.com/~davi/nazix3.jpg

does anyone know what that insignia means? the one on the sheild.

[Nekokaiju]

I believe the shield insignia is based on a helmet decal, that makes reference to the national flag. The colours are black/ white/ red. Looks a little too blue in the image. I understand the light is hitting it but appears almost like it's French.

I agree w/ the swastika placement as an armband.

The background colour bothers me a bit, seems a little too much contrast, or maybe I just don't like pink.
I really like the palette of Hans Liska. You might want to check out his images if you haven't already. He was a German military artist during WWII. I have a book of his war sketches. Amazing stuff. I'll post some scans in the reference area if your interested.

The Germans had many different coloured uniforms during WWII, green, grey, black, brown, camo etc. So that works.


As for Triumph of the Will, an amazing piece by Leni Riefenstahl. The visuals of a Nazi rally are stunning and terrifying at the same time. Your concept captures that combination.

[cucaracha]

I like that gladiator helmet!

Maybe he should have a gun on the back, e.g. an Stg44 or the typical MP40.

I agree with Nekokaiju, the top color wasn't blue but black.

[davi]

oh ok, i guess i thought it was a dark blue, that will clear things up greatly! Another gun eh?

Does anyone know a site with german ww2 guns, i know of the luger, and the kar98.. that's about it.

[Payback]

I found one site.. not many weapons or angles but still a nice pic of a Mp40

http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-weapons/enemy_ww2.htm

[davi]

awesome, i've been looking forever for a gewehgranate picture!

rifle that fires nades.
thanks a bunch!

[edit davi]
Http://www.sleepisevil.com/~davi/nazix4x.jpg

this is my final update, all the little tweeking is getting annoying(no offense to you guys). Time to move on. thx for the crits! :)