120mm Spec Ops Ranger

Allan,

That's a nice job .... Kudos for going for the ACU pattern. Your figure looks great.

If I may add a few comments for your next build ... given that I'm only looking at pictures it's sometimes hard to assess a model, but from what I CAN see The ends of the pants needed to be hollowed out before attaching the feet. This will help give the pants the proper scaled looked. There are also parts of the pattern that look more like the MultiCam rather than the ACU. (However, this happened on my last figure as well ....) I think its caused by painting the pattern for too long at one time.  I've found that if you just paint one small section per day and leave it at that, it comes out more consistent. The ACU colors are a little too green for my taste, but that's just my opinion. I'm just more of the mind-thought that the ACU pattern is more grey ... but then again, I have a pair that are pretty green .... strange, I know.

The figures face and weapon, as well as the overall presentation, are great.

Please take these comments as constructive ... As a modeler who almost strictly (well these days) builds int he modern era, I'm excited to see someone else jump on the train. You did an outstanding job on this one. Do you plan to do another in the future?

Thank you for the compliments!

Scott,

Thank you for your points. I always take all comments constructively.  Its the only way to improve.

Yes, the colors are weird.  I used my own Acupat sample to come up with the closest mix that I could.  I came up with a mix of Field Grays and whites for the grays.  Its an almost exact match with the actual fabric, but for some strange reason the real thing looks more gray while the paint mix, when applied onto the figure, looks more green.  I guess I shouldve taken scale effect into consideration and added in light gray into the mix as well. I also thought the pattern could do better.  What I did, actually, was paint on one color first (the lightest) and then the second, and then the third, and then back to the lightest for the overlapping pixels. Hopefully Ill get it better in my next projects.  Good point on the pant ends. 

Allan,

Your technique is pretty close to the one that I used on a recent figure. Works out pretty well, you just have to be patient with it.

As far as the colors go ... I wouldn't worry too much about it. When I mixed my colors, I threw out the green all together and just went with greys ... I thought it matched the actual fabrics as well. ACUs tend to look a little "greener" straight off the shelf, but fade to more of an overall grey color.

But, like I said before. Your figure looks great. The colors and pattern get the point across and do the figure justice. As Camo would tell you ... As long as you're please with it, that's all that matters ....

... and I think you should be.

Hey Allan, one thing I forgot to mention earlier was that I really liked the use od the woodland on the hydration pack. I know that you mentioned doing that to add some color, but it really helped break things up and draw your attention back to the figure.

And yes, camo is right .... UH-gain ... Colors aren't really important here .... Here, consider this ...

You figure, painted as is would look fantastic in a wooded dio/ area. All the colors would be spot-on. If placed in an urban environment, he'd look off though. This is not just a question of exactly WHAT the colors are in the pattern ... as camo mention (as well as other "fights" we've had on other threads ....) when talking about the "what-ever"-PAT patterns and however its effected by lighting, operating environments, fading, how the stars are aligned .... when it comes down to it, there really is no right or wrong way to paint the colors. Its really all a matter of opinion.

... So in short .... UH-again .... I hope that you're happy with your figure, Allan, cause its a good one.

Thank you again for the kind words!

I agree, the bottomline is that we should enjoy building, as I enjoyed building this one.  Ive always been into modern military subjects, but the new US Army/USMC equipment are especially intriguing.  Theyre just too cutting edge its almost impossible not to enjoy putting the figure together.

Again, many thanks!