wounded soldiers

how could i modify the arms and legs so the seem splayed out. there will be guys floating in the water and lieing in the sand.

for the boots and head, do i simply use a sanding sponge to adjust the angle at which it attaches?

The easiest way is to cut at the joints (or boot-tops), then drill matching holes in each end of the cut, and then position the arm, leg, or head in the new pose.. Then just fill the gaps with putty and sand...  You can also straighten a leg by removing a wedge-shape from the back of the joint (like the back of the knee) and then use heat to straighten it... Then just fill and sand..   To twist bodies, cut them at the waist and just below the shoulder-blades, and also, if you have one, a full-length mirro helps... Just pose yourself in front of it, then pay attention to how you own joints look..

Just make sure that you don't try to bend or straighten without cutting.. If you try to "cheat", you'll get bends everywhere except at the joints..

As for spares, I can't help ya with that, but what I do is just buy a figure set whenever I see some in the hobby shop... Eventually, you'll have quite a collection... The more figures in the set, the better.. Just watch the boots and jackets so you don't get a uniform-mix that's too extreme... 

Since I chop up 90% of my figures, I don't buy the 16.00-20.00 Dragon sets that feature only three or four figures, but sets like the old Tamiya ones, ICM, etc... I've got dozens and dozens of them, but it's from years and years of buying them, like the German Artillery crew, US Infantry, etc...

If you can, buy a copy of Shep Paine's "How to Build Dioramas".. In it, he covers modifying figures quite extensively...

Hi! Here is some interesting video diorama with wounded soldiers - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IUpksMKyqw&feature=related. Modeler is using models of Zvezda, painted with acrylic paints and polyfoam to make effect of winter and snow. I think, it's look great.  

that's cool i kinda want it

thank you so much. your a saint. as well i have a few other questions.

i have next to no spares. im pretty novice with infantry and have no spare arms or legs.

how could i modify the arms and legs so the seem splayed out. there will be guys floating in the water and lieing in the sand.

for the boots and head, do i simply use a sanding sponge to adjust the angle at which it attaches?

one last thing. does anyone know what to do to make water flowing down the beach. in the movie saving private ryan (great movie) the blood mixes with water, becomes thinner, and flows down the beach in the dunes into the ocean. any ideas how to do that?

pictures will be posted upon completion

Wounded and dead soldiers are fairly easy to make...

Standing ones can be on their backs, with modifications made to the feet and heads...  The boots need to be pointed out slightly, with the toes pointing a bit "south"... Then throw the head back, and make sure that if it's in a helmet, that the front of the helmet is thrown over the eyes a bit...

For casualties on their faces, it's a little like this:

Gehfallen für dur Vaterland...

I just moved some arms that I had in the spares bin and then I used heat to "re-aim" the boots into a more relisitc pose...  Make sure that you press the figures into the groundwork, so they look dead, not knocked over..

A little bit about blood... For dead troops, make sure that you go easy on it..  Dead men don't bleed... A little blood will ooze frm the kill-shot, and that's about it... It'll also be a shade of dark red, with a touch of brown mixed in... If the casualty bled out before dying, there would be some pooling, but don't splash bright red globs of paint all around.. One, it's not realistic, and Two, it would simply mark you as a tasteless beginner... Also, blood flows out in fine ribbons, not big ol' splotches..

Blood-soaked uniforms would just require a reddish-brown in the area of the wound, basically making the area a lot darker than the surrounding area...

Here, the wounded soldat gives a look at a leg-wound.. Some blood has soaked through the pressure-dressing, and some has soaked through the uniform..

The casualty in the fox-hole is dead, and has simply collapsed in the hole, rather that Hollywood's "flinging arms and throwing rifles" type of death... Soldiers that take a hit to the melon simply drop, no motor-control exists when hit with a kill-shot like that....  (The chevron on the right sleeve is not a rank insignia. It's the Old Fighters (Alte Kämpfer)  cheveron, meaning that the person wearing it was a member of the Nazi Party prior to 30 January 1933)...

Here's another angle for the first dead German I showed, finally put in place on the diorama, and also a better angle on the dead German in the foxhole...

The above dio is still a WIP, hence the unpainted stuff and "surrendering German" who's got his arms up for nobody.. (The three American paratroopers that go in there aren't finished, although they've spiked the gun already)

For the dio you're doing, most would be on their faces after being hit, since they were likely running forward when they were hit... That type's easiest, since you don't need to bother with faces, and don't need to worry about uniform fronts...

thanks, ill look into it

Verlinden had a set of British Paratropers (Red Devils) whre one figure was pulling a wounded buddy. I have a copy of it at home.

Mike T.

There are several How-To books on painting and modifying figures.  Look for Ray Lamb, Shep Paine, Bill Horan.

thanks man, but i need commonwealth troops, not yanks.

I happened to see these on eBay.   They would work perfectly.

i have this kit mostly painted. need further instructions to modify, im novice level

You could always modify figures from this kit.

http://www.scalehobbyist.com/catagories/Scale_Figures/DML00006212/product.php?s=0&t=5&u=0&pg=1&ppp=24&sb=stocknumber&so=a&e=0&era=6&ct=2&sc=35

1/35

What scale are you working in?