Since it seems as if there was some interest generated under the thread "Is there any interest?" concerning photographs of mannequins being used in miitaria displays, I have sent off a series of digital pictures showing full bodied mannequins being used to set off military uniforms to Volkbert. Once he has so graciously posted the pics here, I will be most pleased to list further commentary on the details in using and displaying them. Bill
I can hardly wait to see them. (%@#$@&#%^#&@#^#^%#&^) The sound of rubbing my hands together in anticipation
Here are Bill's mannequis. Great stuff Bill! I hope that one day I have an infantry collection from this quality.
Say Bill that is a nice collection, you must have spent a few $$$ to get all of that!! Where did you find the picture of the He-111 in the background of the first picture?
First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Volkbert for his willingness to assist me by posting these photgraphs for me. Volkbert, thank you. As some of you might remember from my initial posting of some older pictures, these mannequins are new. They are museum quality, 100% fiberglass with molded hair, real eyelashes, and painted eyes. There are a variety of styles to choose from, and depending on which web sight one chooses to visit, the price range can start at $350 and up. Yes, I have even seen some of these go for as high as $800. But, the good news is, you don't have to spend a bundle shopping for mannequins, and too, fight with everyone else on ebay, etc. attempting to purchase a mannequin at auction which sometimes ends up being no better than another person's cast offs. These are brand new, in the box, easy to assemble, and are a great heigth. Now, as stated before for my European cousins, I am terrible at converting from English to the Metric system, so, you'll have to forgive me for not getting the figures for you, but these mannequins that I selected stand about 6 feet tall, size 15 neck, 30 inch waist, and a size 10 shoe. This works well for just about everything I elected to use in my displays, EXCEPT for a couple of areas. 1.) Helmets - Steel pots will be a problem for most displays as they just don't seem to want to fit. That is, unless one is willing to chop off the molded hair, which, after investing in your mannequins, why would you want to butcher them? My suggestion is this. Instead of doing as stated above, or force fitting a steel pot on to their heads, find a steel shell and use it minus the liner. It works, looks good, and you can usually find one for very little money on web sites, militaria shows, etc. Soft caps work wonderfully as you can see from the pictures, and occaisionally as with my fallschirmjager helmet, a complete helmet will fit provided it is a larger size. Just check out my "Battle Of Britain" bomber crewman. Yes, I know, a winter issue flight helmet with a summer issue flight suite, but it was done. 2.) Pants - Pants are tough. My initial intent was to display two of my tropical tunics against one continental Luftwaffe tunic, but the tropical trousers just didn't do, so I had to reconfigure my idea, and in the end, I retained my older "Dutch" mannequin for the purposes of doing something tropical. About the only thing one can do here is to find a pair of trousers that are long enough from the beginning. 3.) Shoes or Boots - Same thing applies here. You can either cut off the feet ( which I might have to do for one tropical display I intend on doing, and you'll see here in a few months, I hope ), or locate larger sized boots. This is not difficult by networking, and through trades, etc. it will usually work out. So, I think one can see that by using full bodied mannequins, it can really set off a display. And the web site that I bought these from this past April was very reasonable. The cost on these is ( was ) $208.50, and I paid around $25 each for shipping out of Los Angeles. That's cheap for a brand new, in the box mannequin! For the economy line series, which I have shown here, there is but three poses, and you can see all three here. The panzer crewman, and the two "BoB" airmen. Oh, for my American fellow forum members, this outfit has warehouses in L.A., Chicago, and Miami so shipping is very centralized for the most part. For my European allies, I think one would have to check with the company to see if they would ship to Europe, although I have heard there is a very good source in Holland for mannequins which might be cheaper for you fellows over there if you are so interested. My intentions now will be to build a display of a German fallschirmjager on the eastern front, a gunner of a heavey machine gun squad, and one tropical for a member of the DAK. Which reminds me, does anyone happen to know where I could locate a pair of Luftwaffe tropical shorts in good condition? Anyway, so, there it is, hopefully some useful information concerning using mannequins in your displays of your collection. If any one is interested in the address of the company I located these mannequins through, drop me a pm, and I'd be glad to give you the information that I have. No, not a sales rep, just wanting to assist. TA 152 - The print is one designed by the German artist Heinz Krebs, and is entitled "Out For Trouble" depicting General Adolf Gallands "Abbeyville Boys" of JG 27 riding cover for KG "Legion Condor" on a bombing raid over England during the "BoB". ( Notice the original "Legion Condor" cuff title underneath the print? ) Any questions, let me know, and thanks for allowing me to have become a part of your forum. Be good to each other. Bill
Bill--all I can say is: BEAUTIFUL, Beautiful, beautiful BEAUTIFUL, Beautiful, beautiful BEAUTIFUL, Beautiful, beautiful! Oh and if you guys notice the little framed photo just under the tropical tunic on the left--this photo is autographed by Adolf Galland--rather--this is a copy from my collection that I wanted Bill to have as he enjoys Luftwaffe things but--I just wantd to point out that the signature is Adolf Ferdinand Gallands signature on the photo and the man in the center of the pic is General Milch.
In the last photo, you can see the start to my fallschirmjager-Russian front display. Carl also was very kind and assisted me in locating a ribbon bar for the Oberstleutnant in my BoB display. Thank you Carl. Bill
Quite welcome and glad to help when I can. Oh and small package is on its way to you as of today. I couldn't get out yesterday due to street-flooding and power outage caused be a glorious thunderstorm.
Carl - There is the same sort of "small package" headed your way as well. Hopefully it will contain a few things you can use, a couple you can't afford to lose, something that came in two's, and an item of news! By the way, how's your new Condor Legion pattern wound badge look in your collection? Bill
Hi Bill and thank you very much and also--the funding for the Galland book went out just yesterday. I didn't get it out before then as it rained and flooded the day before so I just stayed at home all day. Heh heh--nice rhyme throuought your paragraph That Condor Legion pattern BWB is a great addition to my collection. Hopefully sometime in the future I can get the Silver companion to it as well as all three 1957 WBs and possibly all three ww1 Navy WBs. I think after that--I might collect WB stickpins. Oh and i'm currently trying to work on a deal that might net me a few VERY interesting fotos. I'll let you know if I succeed or not.
Hello Bill, Thanks for these pics! Excellent from what I can see. It will take the best part of my life to try and even come close to this! I wonder if you know where a lot of the stuff you have comes from? I mean, do you know who wore the uniforms, or who wore the decorations? I am more of a documents/pics collector and like to research the people "behind" (actually "on") these docs and pics, so I get an idea of who the person was that this belonged too. Of course this is impossible (almost) when you buy from fairs etc. PS: How well educated are you on Luftwaffe porcelain? I see a piece hanging on your wall?
Stevin - First of all, my apologies for not getting back to you earlier than this on your question concerning the Luftwaffe porcelain. This is a soup bowl removed from a Luftwaffe officer's mess in Belgium. It is dated 1940. It was given to me as a gift by a friend of mine who obtained it in Belgium at an antiquities store that he visited while on a trip there in 1972. No, I am not much of a qualified anything when it comes to porcelain. I just thought it looked good on the wall next to my BoB boys. Which brings me to my next comment. Carl, Erich, and the others who have emailed me directly - I have secured the funds required to obtain two additional mannequins of the same style and pose as the panzer crewman and the Oberstleutnant pictured above. The order went in this morning. These two then will be the basis of which I am building my Eastern Front fallschirmjaeger mg gunner, and my DAK Luft. fellow. Stay tuned for upcoming details. Bill
Thats great--I can hardly wait to see them both in use. Also--I got the package thia AM--I sent a PM with details and my thanks but--I also ad my thank yous here as well.
