Toy Soldier Art

The Afrika Korps in Tan

One of the most colorful military units of the last hundred years is the famed Afrika Korps of World War II. The was an expedition by the German Army to bolster its Italian allies in North Afrika in 1941. The Italians were handled roughly by their British adversaries, who had superior tanks and equipment. General Field Marshall Irwin Rommel, a decorated World War I veteran and accomplished commander, was sent to even the score.

Rommel was an excellent officer, although students of military art often wonder if it was his brilliance or British bumbling that gave him success. Rommel enjoyed victory after victory. He became something of a bogey man. On the other hand, Rommel was known for fairness and gained the respect of a gentleman by the British. As for his own troops, the Germans frequently complained about "that bastard Rommel."

Castings Inc.'s mold 68103 "German Officer and Foot Soldiers" makes a German commander, a rifleman and grenadier. These are Afrika Korps soldiers. The figures were copies of a set made by Charbens, a British firm. These are toy figures in the truest sense, though they have a good degree of realism. Look at the Grenade thrower. His is one of the best animated poses I have seen of a soldier throwing a stick grenade.

The figure of a German officer is supposed to be Rommel. I doubt Rommel ever stood like that! As anachronisms go, our German officer is armed with a revolver! The usual issue for German officers was the Walthers P-38 Automatic Pistol or the P-08 Luger Automatic Pistol..

Using paint ,we can replicate one of the several types of tropical boots issued to the Afrika Korps. This style ranged from khaki to mustard tan canvas with brown leather soles, heel and toe. These were fastened using laces and buckles at the top and on the instep. Other types were laced all the way to the top, and came in colors ranging from olive green to brown to tan.

If one thing was consistent about Afrika Korps uniforms and personal equipment, it was its inconsistency.

The Afrika Korp had a narrow armband just above the left cuff. It read "Afrika Korps." The original issue was green, but was later replaced with a tan version.

The figure was painted with a light tan, then given a wash of a darker yellowish tan called honeycomb by FolkArt. Piping around the epaullettes and collar is white, which denote infantry. Note the goggles, which are iconic of the Afrika Korps and Rommel. This fellow is not Rommel, judging by collar and epaulletes. He is a junior officer

Note the 1st Class Iron Cross worn around the collar. You can tell the class by how it is worn. A 2nd class Iron cross is denoted by a ribbon on the button hole. The First Class and Knight's Iron Cross are worn visibly.

Our Rifleman is similarly attired, but differs in equipment. He also wears the tan uniform with "Honeycomb" wash, and has white piping denoting infantry. His boots are like a brown shoe with a canvas top. This was a laced type boot that had a tan or khaki canvas upper. His webbed gear is light green. Afrika Korps troops were among the first to replace most of their leather gear with cloth webbing. Colors ranged from a medium to light green all the way to mustard yellow and khaki tan. We used eucalyptus green for his webbing. The ammo pouches are black leather. Most Afrika Korp troops were issued leather ammo pouches.

The helmet was painted mustard tan, and given a national crest on the side.

Last of the original trio is the Grenade thrower. He was also painted in the tan uniforms with the Honeycomb wash. Like the others, he has the tan piping of the Infantry. One big difference is his boots. These were canvas high-tops that laced alt the way up. They were initially issued in olive green, but were later issued in various shades ranging from light olive to khaki tan. As with the others, he has green webbed gear and black leather ammo pouches. His belt buckle is round.

We finished off our grenadier by painting the helmet a mustard color and adding the national crest.

Of course, three is not enough. It would be nice to have other molds making the Afrika Korps so as to give these fellows some company. Short of making my own molds, I had to find a way to come up with another German soldier.

The Fourth Afrika Korps man

When three is not enough!

If you look at the Afrika Korps long enough, you get an appreciation of its diversity of uniforms and equipment. The unit started out using a blend of European uniforms and a tropical uniform that looked like a military fashion statement. Common sense took hold, and soon everything from baggy pantaloons to shorts were issued.

Since Castings Inc is not likely to make any more Afrika Korps mold, the onus is on me to to my homework. And here is what happened.

Yes, folks, two Germans for the price of one. The one on the left is in the late war uniform, and the one on the right is pure Afrika Korps. All it took was filing the helmet of an American flamethrower man and doing a different paint job. For the Afrika Korps man, I used the Honeycomb paint trick. The main difference is that this fellow has black piping. Engineers / pioneers were the troops responsible for flamethrowers. They used black piping. His boots are like the short issued boot used with canvas leggings. German troops fashioend various kinds of leggings in the desert.

If you would like to learn more of how an American flamethrower man joined the Afrika Korps, click his link: flamethrower1

There are more castings of Afrika Korps men in the garage, In future installments I will paint them in other varieties of the uniform.