Custom Piece Miniature – German Panzer Side Cap / Schiffchen (Black with Pink Soutache) – 3D Print for LEGO minifigure

The item is a German Panzer M34 / M40 Side Cap (Schiffchen) accessory, designed for minifigures.

German Panzer Side Cap / Schiffchen (Black with Pink Soutache) This is a custom molded and printed headgear accessory in Black. It replicates the iconic “Schiffchen” (Little Ship) folding forage cap used by the German military. The front features detailed printing of the silver Wehrmacht Eagle (Reichsadler) at the top and the National Cockade (roundel) at the bottom. Crucially, the cockade is surrounded by an inverted “V” shaped stripe known as a Soutache, which is colored Pink (Rosa).

Background: This specific cap is designed for a WWII German Tank Commander or Panzer Crewman. In the German Army (Wehrmacht), Black uniforms were issued specifically to tank crews to hide grease and oil stains from the machinery. The colored chevron (Soutache) indicated the branch of service (Waffenfarbe); the Pink color shown here was the specific color assigned to the Panzer (Tank) Troops. The side cap was preferred inside the cramped confines of a tank because it had no visor to get in the way of periscopes or hatches. In a LEGO diorama, this is the essential headgear for a soldier manning a Tiger or Panther tank.