DAK UNIFORMS (AFRIKA KORPS) FIGURES SET

Afrikakorps uniforms in six shades

The Deutsches Afrikakorps landed in Tripoli in February 1941 and its story ended with the capitulation in Tunis in the spring of 1943. The troops were issued the tropical uniform in an olive green tone, except that the sun, the sweat and the ever-present sand drew the color out of it into ocher and faded yellow positions within a few weeks. That is why greens stand next to browns in this line-up: if you are painting a whole squad, no two men should have their tunic worn in the same way.

The six cover a dark olive green, a pale yellow-green, a shadow tone of field gray, a dark brown, an Italian camouflage green and an ocher brown. The dark olive works as the base of freshly issued kit, the pale yellow-green draws out the folds and the edges, and the shadow tone falls into the recesses around the collar and the sleeves. The Italian camouflage green belongs to the allies from the Ariete and Folgore divisions, who stood at Rommel's side in the desert, and it suits canvas accessories and blankets as well.

You work in thin coats and thin with water. It pays to go from a flat base through the shadow in the folds all the way to a dry brush on the raised parts, where the fabric would chafe most. Inside you will find paints only; plastic or resin soldiers are obtained separately.

For a scene around a desert armored vehicle a simple rule holds: a figure must never merge with the finish of the machine. The vehicle tends to be uniformly yellow, whereas fabric reflects the light differently, and with an identical tone the soldier would optically disappear. For that reason put the lightest tone on only at the tops of the folds and back the surface with a noticeably darker base than the plates behind the figure carry. The tropical helmet, the canvas bags and the straps will take tones of their own, so that the kit separates from the tunic.