Wow, again I love your figures, the groundwork, foliage, sandbags- the whole thing!

And with that many First Legion figures you must have quite a bit of money invested!

Excelent work here. The figurers came out great and the ground work is first rate.

Robert

Thanks guys and I'm glad you enjoyed this one.

I haven't had a chance to add the extra details I want to put into it. Been up to my eyes in weathering several models all day and it hasn't been a particularly happy exercise, due to me being too heavy-handed, okay....cack-handed, to be more accurate....with the pigments and the paintbrushes. 

Oh well, tomorrow's another day.

Hello Harry!

Once again you're being really harsh on yourself! The groundwork is very nice here and the vegetation is just top notch. Them boys are maybe a bit too clean for sitting in the mud for days, but it sure would be a pity to cover such exqusite detail with mud... Thanks for sharing and have a nice day

Paweł

 That is a great looking scene. The base is very well done. I have to ask, do First Leigion Figures come painted?

Griffin25

 That is a great looking scene. The base is very well done. I have to ask, do First Leigion Figures come painted?

 

I have a fair number of dioramas/vignettes that I built to showcase First Legion figures. Although they do offer a few 1/35 and 1/30 scale unpainted resin and white metal kits, the vast majority of First Legion figures are in metal and are pre-painted. The master sculpts are done in Russia and the production figures are painted in China. In several cases, the quality of paintwork equals that which is available from the St Petersburg Studio's. Of course, that level of quality, approaching the level of "fine art", is reflected in the prices, which range from around US$60/foot figure to around US$175/mounted figure........see the link below;

http://www.firstlegionltd.com/

All my other dioramas/vignettes at present feature 54mm or 75mm kit figures from a range of manufacturers, typically Pegaso, Draconia, Masterclass, Alexandros, etc., that I mainly source from El Greco or Historex Agents in the UK -- and have been assembled and painted by myself. However, I've now gone full-bore into 1/35 scale plastic and resin figures that will hopefully complement the AFV's I intend building.

Here's a couple of photo's of some 54mm metel figures I've done, followed by a snap of some 75mm examples. I also have one x 90mm figure vignette that I did a while ago, but I'll post it in a separate thread. 

I'll continue this discussion once I've loaded up the photo's I took this morning to Photobucket.

Cheers

Pawel

Hello Harry!

Once again you're being really harsh on yourself! 

Paweł

 

Hi Pawel,

Yesterday was the first time I've ever used pigment powders on models. As you can see, I made a right pig's ear of those jeeps, but should be able to rescue them later today.

My workbench is actually overflowing with projects right now, figures, jeeps, tanks and another diorama WIP. The jeeps are taking ages and are holding me up from getting on with the basecoated Easy-Eight and Cromwell kits that are waiting in the wings. So it's a bit frustrating.

I'm probably trying to do too much at once, but it's how I always work when I'm doing white metal figures -- i.e. I usually have around six figures on the bench at any time and when I get one section done on a figure I'll go on to the next one while the paint is drying. As I've previously mentioned, plastic scale modelling is a new direction for me, and this "production line process" doesn't seem to be working too well with vehicle model kits, so maybe I need to rethink my approach and just limit myself to doing one plastic kit at a time.  

Not only are your models great, but so is your workshop!  The view looks wonderful as well!

-Chris

ridleusmc

Not only are your models great, but so is your workshop!  The view looks wonderful as well!

-Chris

 

Hi Chris -- thanks....

We have a 2-level condo on top of a 5-floor building. Our upper floor opened out onto the roof -- so we built a conservatory and small patio area up there. The conservatory works great as my hobby room, and I do indeed have some nice views ahead and to the right. The view to the left looks straight out to the next block in our housing complex -- but we got tinted/reflective glass installed, so I can look out, but the neighbors can't see in.... The only drawback is the couple of months during the winter when it's just too cold to do very much up there, and the couple of summer months when it's more like a sauna than a conservatory. 

I've reached the point where doing much more on these two M151 Mutts will be counter-productive. Over-weathered or not, that's them finished apart from one of the drivers, which I'll add tomorrow. Now comes the fun part -- deciding where everything will be located on the diorama, and whether the M48 will be facing forward or backward. The only hard and fast decision I've made so far is that the Huey will be raised around 1-¹/₂ inches by locating the stand onto a small rise in the groundwork. The Mutt's can then be depicted on a dirt road at the side of the rise. I reckon that'll work for me.

Cheers

Wow, now that's a nice studio and the new diorama looks very cool.

Hello Harry!

I hope you don't mind, but those jeeps aren't quite correct for Vietnam - Those are M151A2 's, where for Vietnam you want to have M151A1 's. The diffference isn't very big - what's most noticeable are those big turn indicators on the fenders in recessed wells. In A1s the fenders were flat and the turn indicators were small bullet-shaped lamps. There are also some more minor differences - you can read more about it here:

http://www.vietnam.net.pl/M151moden.htm

Good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel

Hello Harry!

I hope you don't mind, but those jeeps aren't quite correct for Vietnam - Those are M151A2 's, where for Vietnam you want to have M151A1 's. The diffference isn't very big - what's most noticeable are those big turn indicators on the fenders in recessed wells. In A1s the fenders were flat and the turn indicators were small bullet-shaped lamps. There are also some more minor differences - you can read more about it here:

http://www.vietnam.net.pl/M151moden.htm

Good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

 

Hi Pawel,

Oops -- I see exactly what you mean concerning the fenders being flat on the M151A1, whereas they're recessed for the turn indicator lamps on my two models. Hmm, not too sure what I can do about it at this stage to be honest.

Absolutely everything I build or paint has to be bought on-line and then imported. And that's not just the models themselves; it includes such basic stuff as polystyrene cement, hobby paints, and even fine grit sandpaper, etc. I can't import aerosols, so I once got the wife to take me around a few car body shops downtown in an attempt to find  auto primer in spray cans -- and they looked at me as if I had two heads. "Primer? What's that?" 

An awful lot of Stateside or UK vendors won't ship to China, so I have to rely on friends to source hobby materials and then send it out to me, almost like "Red Cross Parcels". Only last week, I took delivery of a 10lb package of celluclay a mate of mine in the States sent. The dried paper mache cost around US$50 -- the postage cost US$90..!!

Local superglue works - sometimes - and I can't find gel-type superglue for love nor money. Local two-part epoxy works - sometimes. As for the "fun" I have down at the local Customs Office when they - sometimes - decide to have a snoop around my hobby imports....I'll PM you my latest experience with "officialdom run riot" if you like....several of my mates got a good laugh out of it.

I suppose I could build new fenders from plastic sheet but where do I find that locally? The closest hobby shops I know of are in Hong Kong which is 2000 miles south of where I am and I haven't seen plastic sheets featured in any of their websites. Seoul over in S. Korea is closer and probably has some great hobby shops, but I'd need a visitors visa to get through immigration at Incheon airport.

Sorry for the rant, but you see where I'm coming from?

Please don't get me wrong, I highly appreciate you taking the time to pass on good info I was unaware of, but there are times when I do just have to compromise on accuracy and simply accept that it is what it is....

Cheers

Hello Harry!

I understand you well - before 1989 Poland was a Soviet bloc country and the supply was lousy, too, and we had no internet back then, neither - so I kinda know how it feels like. Then again, it teaches you to improvise.

I just wanted to let you know about the problem before it was too late, and the decision on what to do is entirely up to you.

As for some pointers I could give you - you can substitute old credit cards and stuff like that (phone SIM cards, loyalty programme cards and so on) for styrene sheet. Those have to be glued with super glue. Styrene is used to pack foodstuff - ice cream for example come in nice flat sided boxes made of styrene (at least some of them - look for the letters PS in a triangle). One-time use dishes are also made of styrene. Lacquer thinner can be used for styrene glue and CA glue accelerator, too.

I heard that for gap filling you can use baking soda to fill a gap ant then pour CA on top of that. That thing with the primer is funny - hard to believe they don't use it, but then again...

Your story would be nice to hear, so if you like to share it, you're most welcome.

Good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

Hey -- thanks for those tips Pawel -- very highly appreciated. I might well try some of your suggestions in future, but right now I'm busy sticking my fingers together and getting paint everywhere trying to put a 1/35 scale tank together.

Yeah, there are times when the frustrations of living in a "different" culture can be somewhat....err, challenging....for want of another way of putting it.  

I was just "venting" after my latest adventures down at the local Customs office.

Your diaorama is astounding.  It's realistic in every way.  I am in love with your workshop and display area.  Will you adopt me?  LOL!

Toshi

Toshi

Your diaorama is astounding.  It's realistic in every way.  I am in love with your workshop and display area.  Will you adopt me?  LOL!

Toshi

 

Don't be fooled -- I didn't paint the figures in this particular diorama. These are pre-painted examples from First Legion. I did put the diorama together though....

Cheers

Nice work. I've been rereading a book called the Battle for Saigon TET 1968 by Keith William Nolan. Good story about the battles in and around Saigon.

Hi Harry, your diorama is really good. The groundwork and foliage along with the sand bag emplacements are excellent, but I do have to echo Pawels concern regarding the cleanliness of the figures. The details are good but they should have more mud, dirt or clay on their uniforms, especially the lower extremities. But all in all a nice job.

Nice work! And I agree with you about the movie - Ermey did kick things up a notch or two!