Operation "Schatzgräber"

Those conspiracy theory Nazi welders can't bolt for sh*t 🙂 (Other explanation: I realized much too late that there are two sizes on the sprues...)

glossy varnish + decals

Interior (I actually plan to make a cut-away when complete... Let's see how that will work out) - EDIT: not cutaway at the end, so this is final shot of the interior...

matt varnish

Some filters and over the board striking grime...

Someone is happy (or has an evil laugh)

"Vril IV" Mag-lev train (Alexandra-Land 1945) - I obviously go a little bit bonkers here and I aldo son't know how to put all the stuff later (I need a bigger base)

"Vril IV" Mag-lev train (Alexandra-Land 1945) - I obviously go a little bit bonkers here and I aldo son't know how to put all the stuff later (I need a bigger base)

BMW Flügelrad

Interior of BV-222 - almost invisible after construction

Interior of BV-222 - almost invisible after construction

"We need a bigger plane"

I used masks for all the windows 🙂

Dress rehearsal - you notice where I'm going

Engines (replaced)

Oops, what did my Dremel do? New meaning to cutaway model

Paintjob (mainly fictitious)

One engine is opened for maintenance

Full picture (except for only half a plane)

Fuel tank (3D printed, model thingiverse.com/thing:379793)

Decals on decal sheet

Painted, V-Stoff was not taken (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stoffs)

metal walkway also 3D printed (model thingiverse.com/thing:725893)

Lasercut "wood shed" from Noch (its's HO = 1/87, but in winter everything shrinks, right?)

The application of the photo-etched radar drove me crazy...

...but in hindsight it was worthwhile to replace the kit's plastic parts.

Loot = payload for the BV-222 (now that it is cut open), 3D printed (model thingiverse.com/thing:1668456)

Painted

Plane is ready, waits for base

Looks maybe too Sci-Fi-y...

...but I thought the cannon makes an interesting addition...

...to the diorama (here with a 1/72 soldier for size comparison)

You can never have enough tube and handrails.

"Abstand" - but how much? Somebody forgot to add something...

Wasserfall 2017

Wasserfall 1946

An abomination! A crime against nature itself! Polar bears recruited by the Luftwaffe and the one on the left does not wear his suspenders! Immediately call his superior!

"There are pod people. And they are to replace us! They are coming from, eh, Stahlbad?! What the hell is Stahlbad?"

I had to relegate the Haunebu to its own (improvised) base...

...as I had (as always) misjudged how much space there actually was on the original base...

...smoothed and textured surface with "Natural Texture for Earth" from AK Interactive

Sea, beach, foam ?!

...the service areas and tunnels etc. masked...

...earth ("Dark Earth" from Vallejo") and stones (different Noch products...

Enough for the (long German) weekend, more next weekend

some photo FX fun

some photo FX fun

some photo FX fun

One of rare color photos recently discovered on the mysterious "Schatzgräber" base on Alexandra-Land 🙂

complete overview - uncorrected

Comments

3 4 March 2017, 15:25

gorby
That looks excellent Martin. I do like a Luft '46 'what if'. With that mouth, it reminds me of something and I can't think what...

4 March 2017, 15:50

Holger Kranich
Cool Martin, thats a project to my taste! Absolute lovely! The only thing that didnt shrinked in winter was the MG 42 in the hand of the Landser! 🙂 But hey, who cares? Me not!😄

20 April 2017, 15:12

Derek Huggett
@gorbygould - from way-out left field, is it possibly an alien from 'The Simpsons'? Excellent work anyway Martin 👍 🙂

14 May 2017, 12:26

Michael Hickey
What a really fun looking diorama.👍

26 May 2017, 12:16

Łukasz Gliński
Very cool, B&W pics are v.realistic

26 May 2017, 12:20

Gary Brantley
Cool! Wait, polar bears in uniform?!?! 🙂

26 May 2017, 14:59

Martin R.
Thanks!
@Gary: If I go down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole, why not have flying saucers AND polar bears in uniform? They might still eat some soldiers but unloading that BV-222 is MUCH faster.

26 May 2017, 15:53

Markus Kutsch The Plastic Bench
Thats very creative.Very cool,and the Polarbear idea is very great 🙂

26 May 2017, 19:09

Gary Brantley
Lol! Martin, you have a point my friend. 👍 🙂

26 May 2017, 20:21

Glenn
You cut up a BV-222 what the hell! 🙁

27 May 2017, 08:03

Martin R.
@Glenn: not enough space otherwise 🙁

27 May 2017, 10:09

Jay Dubya
Lovin' your work here Herr Moose ... very "Iron Sky" !!!

28 May 2017, 04:17

Martin R.
Thanks J W, that's kind of what I was going for... But remember: even "Iron Sky" did not any frigging polar bears in uniform 🙂 (I added a recently discovered spec sheet, too)

28 May 2017, 11:33

Martin R.
To wrap things up, here is a little bit of lore about what you see: moosedesign.de/Count..sure%20Seeker%22.pdf (a little bit = 81 pages 🙂 )

Also still WIP...

Soon on Amazon - where nobody will buy it anyway 😉

30 July 2017, 08:18

Jay Dubya
Just saw this post and I'm looking forward to reading about how the polar bears were drafted into the national socialists! Cheers

30 July 2017, 10:22

Martin R.
Actually that is covered and let's say that they did not join voluntarily...

30 July 2017, 10:50

playtime 222
Didn't know about this before - there was a real Schatzgraber (treasurehunter) in the arctic supporting U-boat ops vs Russia convoys. Thanks for that.

30 July 2017, 12:13

Glenn
Er.... Just let's say they were looking for technology NOT of this world! But you didn't here it from me..... 😮 In fact it's still going on today down in Antarctica and the middle east. Oh i have to go now, There's some guys pulling up outside in a black car wearing black suits! 🙂

31 July 2017, 02:48

playtime 222
Iron Sky is a documentary 😄

31 July 2017, 19:06

Martin R.
There is sequel to "Iron Sky" to be released in Q1/2018 😉

1 August 2017, 08:26

Choppa Nutta
Too cool 🙂

1 August 2017, 08:32

playtime 222
Yep, the lizard race at the centre of the hollow earth one. Seen all the trailers 😄

1 August 2017, 10:00

Choppa Nutta
btw, does "Operation "Schatzgräber"" mean Operation Shit Grabber ? 😄

1 August 2017, 10:23

Glenn
Ha Ha!!! I thought the same thing! That's funny chopped nuts. Oh here's a little survival tip for ya... NEVER eat yellow snow! 😮

1 August 2017, 12:58

Choppa Nutta
haha yes indeed, very salty !! 😄
here's another "survival" tip for ya, always have some bog roll with you where ever you go because you never know when you might need a stealth dump😉 😄 😄 😄

Anyhooooo,
Nice work Martin, I love all this speculative history stuff and you've come up with a great theme here,
I can tell you've been writing stories again ! 🙂

1 August 2017, 13:04

playtime 222
Haha - nah unfortunately it's 'Treasure Hunter'

1 August 2017, 13:04

Glenn
Where do polar bears um.... you know "GO" ? I mean if there's no woods!!! 🙂

1 August 2017, 13:08

Choppa Nutta
more importantly there are no rabbits to wipe with afterwards 😄 😄 😄

haha treasure hunter !!
couldn't make that up, golden brown texture like sun !
sorry if I've ruined that song for anyone lol 🙂

1 August 2017, 13:52

Martin R.
The polar sea is wide and hopefully everything will be diluted whatever the polar bears might ... eh .. discharge.

Sometime I have more fun coming up with a (ridiculous) background story than building the models themselves...

1 August 2017, 14:21

playtime 222
So, in fact this outpost was a bid to exterminate all the polar bears cos Hitler got narked from always drinking weak polar bear piss?

1 August 2017, 18:54

Derek Huggett
Cut a circle in the ice...when the polar bear comes along to see what is happening, you kick him in the 'ice- hole'! 👍 (Choppa - does the sh*t stick to your fur too? 🙂 ).

1 August 2017, 20:47

Choppa Nutta
haha, that my friend is entirely dependent on how well oiled I am 😄

1 August 2017, 22:01

Martin R.
Btw: I have just seen that the to-be-released Trumpeter kit of the (basically fictional) German aircraft carrier Peter Strasser also will have a Haunebu on-board [img1] 🙂 This is more mainstream than I thought 😉