WOW!!! Fantastic work, great job and just... WOW!!!

Pam

Thanks, Pam. Glad you like the way this one turned out.

Wow, that looks absolutely fantastic. The uniforms are particulary stunning. I haven't been active on the forums in awhile (not since before the change) but did you by any chance have a build log for the snipers like you've had with some previous figures?

Thanks,

David

Sorry, Dave .... no big, long build log for this one. I did most of the build while out of town and didn't get to take many pictures of it in-progress. However, I do have a couple. Would be glad to post them up if you'd like to see them.

That would be great. I'm mainly just wondering how you did the camo as it looks fantastic. Correct me if I'm wrong but is it the ACU digital that they are wearing? Also, how did you achieve the look on the spotters scope?

Thanks,

David

Hey Dave ....

As for paint the ACU/ digital pattern uniforms ... Google "How to paint ARPAT". There a GREAT article by a friend of mine, Mario, over on the Armorama/ Historia forums. I use the same method, just not as detailed as he did it. His is WAY better than mine, but I only had about 4 days to paint both figures too. The secret to painting this pattern is 2-fold ... 1) you HAVE to take your time with it ... but 2) You have to be careflu and precise when mixing paint, so that you get the same colors all the way around. If you follow the 1st rule and do it right, you should only be doing 1-2 body parts at a time (1 leg, or 2 arms). More than that and you start to go crazy and then you start to rush things.

For the spotter's scope. I'm assuming you're asking about the lens. I cut a disc from a sheet of clear-green actetate. I heated it JUST a bit and then formed a lens by shaping it on the blunt/ rounded end of a writing pen. Then I cut and shaped it to fit the scope. When it fit, I used a dot or two of CA glue to secure it, and then sealed it up with Future. Nothin' to it!

Very impressive! You really nailed it on matching the feel of that photo, great job manipulating the poses of the figures to match what you needed, and the building has great texture. I doubt that sniper team would have ever guessed they would be immoralized in styrene.

I've tried like crazy to find out who those guys are, but no dice. I've exhausted all my Army contacts.

If anyone knows or has information that might help, please shoot me a PM. I've love to show these guys the model ... if anything just to see what they think.

Thanks for the comments, CG. Glad you liked it.

It looks great. Came out to look like the picture.

WOW!

Great posing and the figures look great! I love the painting, I'm going to have to check out the link on doing the camo and the paint overall is nice and subtle.

Did you use acrylics or oils?

Jet - Thanks for the comments.

Gamera - Thanks as well for your comments. I almost strictly paint w/ acrylics. However, I do any and all drybrushing using enamels ... acrylics just dry up too quickly to do the trick. I've also been dabbling in using some oils for shadowing and weathering but I haven't made the jump to incorporating it into my reagular painting regimen.

Thanks again guys for checking this one out.

Scott, the photographer is Cpl. Bertha Flores and the photo was taken near Dur Baba, Afghanistan according to the source work on the Wiki page. Not sure if that'd help or not but I'm sure as any good photojournalist would, Flores probably had their names down if she was keeping good notes. They're with the Jalalabad Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) at the time- back in '06. Again, all according to Wiki so take it with a grain of salt. The image was pulled from a DOD site and it's no longer featured there.

Here's another cool shot she took, same time frame/area/PRT guys I believe.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marksman_in_Afghanistan.jpg

Congrats on your 1st place win buddy! You earned it, as I told you over there- you really did get the photo down. Glad someone else noted you got the feel of it as well. Good luck finding these two if you continue to look. Feel free to pass along the pictures I have of mine- haha they weren't just immortalized in one set of resin, but in 1/35 styrene as well.

i agree congrats...ya beat me by one vote...hahaha...but that's all that matters.  i like the whole thing scott except one minor little detail for realism...they are in front of an open window!!! easy to be spotted from another building or whatever and easily taken out by any means. they are looking in front of them spotting their target and not paying attention to what could be going on to the side of them out the window. however, that doesnt in anyway take away from a fantastic build and piece.

I definately agree w/ you .... from a tactical stand point, that's the first thing I noticed when I first saw the picture ....

... looking back on it ... I wouldn't be suprised if this was a staged photo. But ... then again .... you have to realize too the amount of security and overwatch that goes into emplacing a sniper team. But, you do have a very valid point.

Thanks again guys for all the congrats and comments. And thanks to you Chris for that additional information. I'll have to see if I can track down that photographer if she's still in.

Awesome work.  It would be my third military career if I ever could.    I got one NEC and MOS while in the Navy.  Two buddies from boot-camp went off to be SEALs.  I can tell you that long distance would be my next preference since I'm now 5% stainless steel from the Navy's fun and three gun battles outside the service for other problems.  Snipping would be the least stressful position.  

However, I would love to see more off-field buddy scenes or others parts of lives.  I first got into rifles with a black powder 50 cal long barrel as a kid.  Making my own powders was from school and chemistry.  I used to carry a Ruger Red Hawk 7" as my side arm but now have a CZ 9mm.  I have a AR-15 with custom barrel (20:1) and scope I'm retrieving from APD right now.  I plan to build a portable rail gun for 5+ mile shots as a project.  

I would love to see a figure of sharp shooters from previous eras.  

Simply fantastic....

Thanks for the comments guys ... I'm finally back home now, so I'm finally going to be able to dust this one off, finish off the final details, and take it to a show here in a couple of weeks.

Thanks again for checking it out.

Very nice job. Wish I could paint figures.

Bill

WOW! That is a fantastic build and a great tribute to the warriors in the picture!!!

Very nice work...

hey scott...nice of you to show ur face (not that i can talk) we need to catch up!

I don't know much about dio's or figures, but that looks excellent!