[Fake history] Army of the Republic of Puerto Rico

Hello!









Well that's all for now, the backdrop is still a work in progress since I haven't made it so the floor and wall don't separate. It was something fun to come up with, I did make another two guys which I hope to post soon though one is a bit more modern but based around the same alternative reality. I also plan on making some fake countries too because I'm the lord and god of this alternative world and no one can stop me except for creative block, destroyer of imagination.

Nice detour into alternative history.

Interesting alt history. I like the stucco backdrop. Very cool figure — looks almost German with all that stuff.

Stryker2011 wrote:Interesting alt history. I like the stucco backdrop. Very cool figure — looks almost German with all that stuff.

Yes, agree, that blue backdrop really brings some vibrant freshness to the picture.

And some cool ideas in there. British, French and German influences might make things complicated for that sovereign state, interesting. 
I had to think about the German military missions to China, many bored WW1 veterans went there as 'private contractors' to reform the Chinese Nationalist army that used German equipment.
Let's see what the meddling of the three powers on Puerto Rico will lead to.
Would also be cool to see some 'mixed troopers' in the future with equipment from all three nations.

Btw, did the US retreat from Hawaii too?

I did not read your backstory yet, but I do want to say, I think the figure is well done!
Keep up the great work!

GubernatorFan wrote:Nice detour into alternative history.

Thanks Gubernator, I like reading alt history stuff whenever possible, just for the fun of it since it's basically sci-fi but without aliens or crazy stuff, for the most part that is.

Stryker2011 wrote:Interesting alt history. I like the stucco backdrop. Very cool figure — looks almost German with all that stuff.

Thanks Stryker, it's mostly inspired by games like rise of nations and age of empires where you can create nations, great fun if you like rts games. The backdrop is all foamcore, pva and paint, maybe one of these days I'll make a mini guide on tips for working with foam core, dunno if it would be too useful.

Ovy wrote:

Stryker2011 wrote:Interesting alt history. I like the stucco backdrop. Very cool figure — looks almost German with all that stuff.

Yes, agree, that blue backdrop really brings some vibrant freshness to the picture.

And some cool ideas in there. British, French and German influences might make things complicated for that sovereign state, interesting. 
I had to think about the German military missions to China, many bored WW1 veterans went there as 'private contractors' to reform the Chinese Nationalist army that used German equipment.
Let's see what the meddling of the three powers on Puerto Rico will lead to.
Would also be cool to see some 'mixed troopers' in the future with equipment from all three nations.

Btw, did the US retreat from Hawaii too?

Thanks Ovy, I wanted to use some vibrant colors for this, originally was going to be grey but I went with a nice bright blue and a bit of dry brushing to make it look a bit washed out.

So far I've went with a german influence since there where a bit of it on some Latin American armies. I do hope to show some of the French and British influence on two distinct figures, an additional mixed influence figure I'm working on but I'm unsure as to what he could be, perhaps a special unit or presidential guard of some sort. I do know that I'll have to buy some more stuff or make it myself.

I have some drafts on how the influence of 3 different nations might play out as we get closer to WWII. Hawaii is independent however the US still keeps a small presence there though with little influence, meanwhile Alaska is still part of Russia though they are not too happy about it.

Pontiacivan wrote:I did not read your backstory yet, but I do want to say, I think the figure is well done!
Keep up the great work!

Thanks Ponticiavan, it's just a little fake history which I hope is enough to help folks with the current situation.

Your interpretation is plausible since the Germans trained a number of South American armies, most of whom adopted German style helmets and Mauser rifles.  The Chileans still look very German in their ceremonial dress uniforms.  

The Mauser rifle is spot on. While I steadfastly maintain that Lee-Enfield rifles were superior to German Mausers, their distribution seems to have been largely limited to the British Empire and a few Arab states, whereas Mausers were sold all over Europe, South America, and parts of Asia and Africa that did not parts of the British or French Empires. Mausers were also produced under license in many countries.  

As an alternate to the grey uniforms, I might have chosen either olive or mustard color Afrika Korps uniforms as made by Battlegear Toys, but that's just me.

https://battlegeartoys.com/collections/german-wwii-uniforms?page=2

Also, Patches of Pride will custom make badges and insignia for you if you like.

http://www.patchesofpride.com/  

I don't know if you've ever read any of the Tintin books by the Belgian author / artist Hergé, but he definitely modeled unifroms of imaginary armed forces like those of Borduria or San Theodoros on those of Germany.  In Le Sceptre D'Ottokar, Borduria is a fascist state and flies BF-109 figthers, etc, where in a later volume "L'Affaire Tournesol set in the Cold War, they have become a Stalinist state, but still wear very German, even Nazi style uniforms. By the time of the last book, Tintin et Les Picaros, South American state of San Theodoros has become a client state of Borduria and has adopted German style uniforms, including tropical variants.  If you are looking for inspiration, the last two of the books would provide some wonderful ideas which are perfectly in tune with your general concept.  

One minor change I would suggest in order to maintain realism is to move the figure's bayonet to his left side, rather than the right where it is now. Every army I know of wears it's bayonets on the left side rear for the simple reason that when fixing bayonets, the rifle is always held with the right hand and the bayonet drawn with the left. I was in the army for a lot of years and I've yet to see an example of the bayonet being worn on the right side. There may be an army which does follow this practice, but I've never seen one.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing where you take this.....

ThePhotogsBlog wrote:Your interpretation is plausible since the Germans trained a number of South American armies, most of whom adopted German style helmets and Mauser rifles.  The Chileans still look very German in their ceremonial dress uniforms.  

The Mauser rifle is spot on. While I steadfastly maintain that Lee-Enfield rifles were superior to German Mausers, their distribution seems to have been largely limited to the British Empire and a few Arab states, whereas Mausers were sold all over Europe, South America, and parts of Asia and Africa that did not parts of the British or French Empires. Mausers were also produced under license in many countries.  

As an alternate to the grey uniforms, I might have chosen either olive or mustard color Afrika Korps uniforms as made by Battlegear Toys, but that's just me.

https://battlegeartoys.com/collections/german-wwii-uniforms?page=2

Also, Patches of Pride will custom make badges and insignia for you if you like.

http://www.patchesofpride.com/  

I don't know if you've ever read any of the Tintin books by the Belgian author / artist Hergé, but he definitely modeled unifroms of imaginary armed forces like those of Borduria or San Theodoros on those of Germany.  In Le Sceptre D'Ottokar, Borduria is a fascist state and flies BF-109 figthers, etc, where in a later volume "L'Affaire Tournesol set in the Cold War, they have become a Stalinist state, but still wear very German, even Nazi style uniforms. By the time of the last book, Tintin et Les Picaros, South American state of San Theodoros has become a client state of Borduria and has adopted German style uniforms, including tropical variants.  If you are looking for inspiration, the last two of the books would provide some wonderful ideas which are perfectly in tune with your general concept.  

One minor change I would suggest in order to maintain realism is to move the figure's bayonet to his left side, rather than the right where it is now. Every army I know of wears it's bayonets on the left side rear for the simple reason that when fixing bayonets, the rifle is always held with the right hand and the bayonet drawn with the left.  I was in the army for a lot of years and I've yet to see an example of the bayonet being worn on the right side. There may be an army which does follow this practice, but I've never seen one.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing where you take this.....

Thanks Photosblog. As you said I looked at German influence in Latin America, while Chile is the most well known state to have that influence there was once also Bolivia whose chief of staff of the army was a WWI veteran named Hans Kundt. Other pieces of history that I used to sort of justify having Germans in PR was the 1897 German plan for the invasion of the US in which Imperial Germany had considered to set up naval bases in Puerto Rico but couldn't due to the US acquiring the island in 1898.

I had originally considered to use the afrika korps uniform but went with grey (mostly because I like grey more) but tan would have looked just as good if not better, I'll consider making one in the AK uniform just to see how he looks. The bayonet is an error on my part and not a choice, when I was putting him together I mixed my right with my left and didn't notice, I actually went back and changed it after going through the photos while organizing them. I'll consider getting some patches.

While I've not read Tin Tin I might do now, specially with the lockdown and stuff, I'll have to see if there's any physical copies as I don't like reading books off a computer or a tablet, call me old fashioned or whatever but nothing can replace the feeling of paper on the fingertips.

Theboo-bomb wrote:

ThePhotogsBlog wrote:Your interpretation is plausible since the Germans trained a number of South American armies, most of whom adopted German style helmets and Mauser rifles.  The Chileans still look very German in their ceremonial dress uniforms.  

The Mauser rifle is spot on. While I steadfastly maintain that Lee-Enfield rifles were superior to German Mausers, their distribution seems to have been largely limited to the British Empire and a few Arab states, whereas Mausers were sold all over Europe, South America, and parts of Asia and Africa that did not parts of the British or French Empires. Mausers were also produced under license in many countries.  

As an alternate to the grey uniforms, I might have chosen either olive or mustard color Afrika Korps uniforms as made by Battlegear Toys, but that's just me.

https://battlegeartoys.com/collections/german-wwii-uniforms?page=2

Also, Patches of Pride will custom make badges and insignia for you if you like.

http://www.patchesofpride.com/  

I don't know if you've ever read any of the Tintin books by the Belgian author / artist Hergé, but he definitely modeled unifroms of imaginary armed forces like those of Borduria or San Theodoros on those of Germany.  In Le Sceptre D'Ottokar, Borduria is a fascist state and flies BF-109 figthers, etc, where in a later volume "L'Affaire Tournesol set in the Cold War, they have become a Stalinist state, but still wear very German, even Nazi style uniforms. By the time of the last book, Tintin et Les Picaros, South American state of San Theodoros has become a client state of Borduria and has adopted German style uniforms, including tropical variants.  If you are looking for inspiration, the last two of the books would provide some wonderful ideas which are perfectly in tune with your general concept.  

One minor change I would suggest in order to maintain realism is to move the figure's bayonet to his left side, rather than the right where it is now. Every army I know of wears it's bayonets on the left side rear for the simple reason that when fixing bayonets, the rifle is always held with the right hand and the bayonet drawn with the left.  I was in the army for a lot of years and I've yet to see an example of the bayonet being worn on the right side. There may be an army which does follow this practice, but I've never seen one.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing where you take this.....

Thanks Photosblog. As you said I looked at German influence in Latin America, while Chile is the most well known state to have that influence there was once also Bolivia whose chief of staff of the army was a WWI veteran named Hans Kundt. Other pieces of history that I used to sort of justify having Germans in PR was the 1897 German plan for the invasion of the US in which Imperial Germany had considered to set up naval bases in Puerto Rico but couldn't due to the US acquiring the island in 1898.

I had originally considered to use the afrika korps uniform but went with grey (mostly because I like grey more) but tan would have looked just as good if not better, I'll consider making one in the AK uniform just to see how he looks. The bayonet is an error on my part and not a choice, when I was putting him together I mixed my right with my left and didn't notice, I actually went back and changed it after going through the photos while organizing them. I'll consider getting some patches.

While I've not read Tin Tin I might do now, specially with the lockdown and stuff, I'll have to see if there's any physical copies as I  don't like reading books off a computer or a tablet, call me old fashioned or whatever but nothing can replace the feeling of paper on the fingertips.

The Tintin books are comic books, so it's just to get a look at the aesthetic. In the original French, they are actually extremely funny in that the author, who grew up speaking a Brussels dialect called Marols, makes a lot of verbal gags by using it as the basis for invented foreign languages and names.

As for Colonel Sponz (Marols / Flemish for "Sponge"). When he later becomes an advisor to General Tapioca in San Theodoros, he uses the name "Esponja." General Tapioca is the arch rival of General Alcazar, and the two have been toppling one another with in San Theodoros for decades.

The following links could give you a good ideal of the aesthetic.

Colonel Sponz

https://www.google.com/search?q=colonel+sponsz&rlz=1C1CAFB_enCA717CA736&sxsrf=ALeKk02FwnfswCsBjK9Hved3957I0UD_vg:1587057450452&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=jFkT2WLWaWiVPM%253A%252C6sXCUusAqCJqtM%252C%252Fg%252F1218d7dx&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kRD0YVVZfEE38hfQrRbjcmiXbwJew&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjI2sncue3oAhWnlXIEHb_5CK0Q_B0wC3oECAwQAw#imgrc=l4tLWYqwId92vM

General Alcazar

https://www.google.com/search?q=general+alcazar&rlz=1C1CAFB_enCA717CA736&sxsrf=ALeKk00zv8kjbbG5H4Q98nBxFnI5gplS_A:1587058941202&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=DW8AC-4j38o9jM%253A%252C1n2cIWbk1Gr50M%252C%252Fg%252F1213h_76&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kQ_S6XRIh52oiRXstZUon0W3vMSGA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi21LWjv-3oAhULc98KHfOgD0MQ_B0wFHoECAsQAw#imgrc=DW8AC-4j38o9jM:


San Theodoros

https://www.google.com/search?q=san+theodoros&rlz=1C1CAFB_enCA717CA736&sxsrf=ALeKk02kEH3Ord1AhT6icvNFWcLTrTXsEw:1587059077297&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=kjehxDV70vjVcM%253A%252CrsluUe5PusqVHM%252C%252Fm%252F016q68&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kQzLvvLVVxnuvwo0RGcGXweSgnTXw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjRrKjkv-3oAhVNn-AKHVBtCRYQ_B0wDHoECA0QAw#imgrc=0UZ345VpIBkS1M

ThePhotogsBlog wrote:

Theboo-bomb wrote:

ThePhotogsBlog wrote:Your interpretation is plausible since the Germans trained a number of South American armies, most of whom adopted German style helmets and Mauser rifles.  The Chileans still look very German in their ceremonial dress uniforms.  

The Mauser rifle is spot on. While I steadfastly maintain that Lee-Enfield rifles were superior to German Mausers, their distribution seems to have been largely limited to the British Empire and a few Arab states, whereas Mausers were sold all over Europe, South America, and parts of Asia and Africa that did not parts of the British or French Empires. Mausers were also produced under license in many countries.  

As an alternate to the grey uniforms, I might have chosen either olive or mustard color Afrika Korps uniforms as made by Battlegear Toys, but that's just me.

https://battlegeartoys.com/collections/german-wwii-uniforms?page=2

Also, Patches of Pride will custom make badges and insignia for you if you like.

http://www.patchesofpride.com/  

I don't know if you've ever read any of the Tintin books by the Belgian author / artist Hergé, but he definitely modeled unifroms of imaginary armed forces like those of Borduria or San Theodoros on those of Germany.  In Le Sceptre D'Ottokar, Borduria is a fascist state and flies BF-109 figthers, etc, where in a later volume "L'Affaire Tournesol set in the Cold War, they have become a Stalinist state, but still wear very German, even Nazi style uniforms. By the time of the last book, Tintin et Les Picaros, South American state of San Theodoros has become a client state of Borduria and has adopted German style uniforms, including tropical variants.  If you are looking for inspiration, the last two of the books would provide some wonderful ideas which are perfectly in tune with your general concept.  

One minor change I would suggest in order to maintain realism is to move the figure's bayonet to his left side, rather than the right where it is now. Every army I know of wears it's bayonets on the left side rear for the simple reason that when fixing bayonets, the rifle is always held with the right hand and the bayonet drawn with the left.  I was in the army for a lot of years and I've yet to see an example of the bayonet being worn on the right side. There may be an army which does follow this practice, but I've never seen one.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing where you take this.....

Thanks Photosblog. As you said I looked at German influence in Latin America, while Chile is the most well known state to have that influence there was once also Bolivia whose chief of staff of the army was a WWI veteran named Hans Kundt. Other pieces of history that I used to sort of justify having Germans in PR was the 1897 German plan for the invasion of the US in which Imperial Germany had considered to set up naval bases in Puerto Rico but couldn't due to the US acquiring the island in 1898.

I had originally considered to use the afrika korps uniform but went with grey (mostly because I like grey more) but tan would have looked just as good if not better, I'll consider making one in the AK uniform just to see how he looks. The bayonet is an error on my part and not a choice, when I was putting him together I mixed my right with my left and didn't notice, I actually went back and changed it after going through the photos while organizing them. I'll consider getting some patches.

While I've not read Tin Tin I might do now, specially with the lockdown and stuff, I'll have to see if there's any physical copies as I  don't like reading books off a computer or a tablet, call me old fashioned or whatever but nothing can replace the feeling of paper on the fingertips.

The Tintin books are comic books, so it's just to get a look at the aesthetic. In the original French, they are actually extremely funny in that the author, who grew up speaking a Brussels dialect called Marols, makes a lot of verbal gags by using it as the basis for invented foreign languages and names.

As for Colonel Sponz (Marols / Flemish for "Sponge"). When he later becomes an advisor to General Tapioca in San Theodoros, he uses the name "Esponja."  General Tapioca is the arch rival of General Alcazar, and the two have been toppling one another with in San Theodoros for decades.

The following links could give you a good ideal of the aesthetic.

Colonel Sponz

https://www.google.com/search?q=colonel+sponsz&rlz=1C1CAFB_enCA717CA736&sxsrf=ALeKk02FwnfswCsBjK9Hved3957I0UD_vg:1587057450452&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=jFkT2WLWaWiVPM%253A%252C6sXCUusAqCJqtM%252C%252Fg%252F1218d7dx&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kRD0YVVZfEE38hfQrRbjcmiXbwJew&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjI2sncue3oAhWnlXIEHb_5CK0Q_B0wC3oECAwQAw#imgrc=l4tLWYqwId92vM

General Alcazar

https://www.google.com/search?q=general+alcazar&rlz=1C1CAFB_enCA717CA736&sxsrf=ALeKk00zv8kjbbG5H4Q98nBxFnI5gplS_A:1587058941202&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=DW8AC-4j38o9jM%253A%252C1n2cIWbk1Gr50M%252C%252Fg%252F1213h_76&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kQ_S6XRIh52oiRXstZUon0W3vMSGA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi21LWjv-3oAhULc98KHfOgD0MQ_B0wFHoECAsQAw#imgrc=DW8AC-4j38o9jM:


San Theodoros

https://www.google.com/search?q=san+theodoros&rlz=1C1CAFB_enCA717CA736&sxsrf=ALeKk02kEH3Ord1AhT6icvNFWcLTrTXsEw:1587059077297&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=kjehxDV70vjVcM%253A%252CrsluUe5PusqVHM%252C%252Fm%252F016q68&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kQzLvvLVVxnuvwo0RGcGXweSgnTXw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjRrKjkv-3oAhVNn-AKHVBtCRYQ_B0wDHoECA0QAw#imgrc=0UZ345VpIBkS1M

I suspected as much when I looked them up, still I'll continue making a few more searches and see what sort of inspiration I can draw from them. The links you posted offered a lot already, and I recognize an uniform of mine I could potentially use to make something.