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New territory

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  • Member since
    June 2013
  • From: Jax, FL
New territory
Posted by Viejo on Saturday, October 12, 2013 4:20 PM

For me at least.  I never have tried figures due to the challenge of the paint job.

 

I'm going to attempt to put together some small displays of 1/35 WWII figures.

 

Not totally done, but here's the first one so far.....

 

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Massachusetts
Posted by ajlafleche on Sunday, October 13, 2013 8:49 AM

It may be the lighting or the camera settings, but you might want to check your colors. The pants look almost Kelly green and should be dark green bordering on brown. The jacket and spats should have a browner khaki shade. As I see it on my screen, it's almost rose. The helmet color looks right. I can't see the flesh tones. There appears to be a mold line along the back of the left arm.

As you move forward in figures, some thoughts. Prime your figure before painting. It looks likethepaint has not fully covered the jacket. Consider, too, a more figure specific paint line such as Vallejo. They have several starter packs with the base colors you'll need for specific nationalities. This may seem like a major investment, but the paints last for years. The norm on figures is to provide more dramatic highlights and shadows by painting them in and carefully layering the edges with thin paint (acrylic) or blending them (oils).

Remember, if the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

  • Member since
    June 2013
  • From: Jax, FL
Posted by Viejo on Sunday, October 13, 2013 11:14 AM
Part of that is the camera, in natural light, they don't look as out of color, but you are right on all counts.

Thanks for the tip on paint as well as the others. Good or bad, I accept all comments as I wish to learn more about figures.

  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: Formerly Bryan, now Arlington, Texas
Posted by CapnMac82 on Sunday, October 13, 2013 10:09 PM

Your "gun pit" is a good dimension, if a tad tight--adding 3/8 - 1/2" (12 to 18 scale inches) would help.

Also, sand bags are, to pick just one word, "floppy."   Picture a burlap pillow case 2/3-filled with sand.  So, a nice rigid flat shape they generally are not 9even though the Tamiya ones are not terrible for one or two layers).  Rule-of-thumb for sandbags is 2 wide for every three tall--so, a six-tall sandbag revetment (freestanding) ought to be four bags wide at the base.  

Anything more than about knee-high needs to have a "doorway."  This allows for carrying in more ammo, and shoveling empty brass out.  If you really want a "real" detail, drill a 3/8" hole about 1/2 to 3/4" deep at an angle somewhere in the pit.  (In wet locations, this should be 3/4 to 7/8 full of water).  Officially, this would be the grenade sump.

You also want to have at least one sandbag per tripod leg, too.  That M2HB weighs 85# all by its lonesome, and it kicks back a bit in recoil.  Sandbagging the tripod legs keeps the mount from moving around while firing.

So, what you probably need is some two-part (A+B) epoxy, or a hardening craft clay which you can roll into a bit of a 'snake' then flatten into sandbag shapes, which cant the be mushed together to form sandbags into the desired shapes.

The colors are the colors--hard part is often convincing the camera to see them.

The advice above was spot on, the shoes/boots are a leaterh brown; the leggings are a khaki (the three sets I have are from Unbleached Linen to Dark manila folder in hue).  The trousers are a brownish wool, the jacket will be either a khaki or a brownish color, depending upon season and unit.  The shirt under the jacket will be a light khaki, possibly with a tie, which could be a similar or darker color..

  • Member since
    June 2013
  • From: Jax, FL
Posted by Viejo on Monday, October 14, 2013 1:27 PM

Excellent information, Capn.  I was using the sandbags made by Taymia(?), and they don't conform to much other than a straight line.  I'll try the craft clay idea.  It'll be easier to make it as thick as it really needs to be.  Since I was buying the sandbags, using nearly two boxes just on this one display.  I'm glad I only put them together with rubber cement.

I'll pick up some of the Vallejo paints, and try to get closer to real with the colors.  Also, I did see the seam on the left arm.  Guess sanding sticks are on the list as well......

Much appreciated info, folks.  Thanks.

  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: Formerly Bryan, now Arlington, Texas
Posted by CapnMac82 on Monday, October 14, 2013 11:59 PM

Vallejo will make it easier to achieve results--which will be more a personal choice for how you want to palette them.

That's because it's really, really hard to "rivet-counter" US WWII uniform colors.  I've Shelby Stanton's excellent book, and several of the Osprey books and the like.  Not one of them can cite a definitive hue for anything.  Thousands of textile producers created material for the war effort.  The War Mobilization Act of 1940 (the one responsible for rubber tanks and wooden rifles) also set some not-quite-to-spec items as "Limited Standard" and were produced until the end of the war.

None of which was helped by the Army going though several uniform changes in that time.

For instance, in 1943, the Army changed the color of all its web gear.  It went from a mustard khaki (ranging from close to a certain kind of French-named mustard, to a spicy-brown Bavarian mustard color) to a more green color; if an olive brown in an olive-bar sort of uniform way.  Except that many of the plants already had huge quantities of the old khaki stock already made.  So, a large number of items received the "OD" edging on khaki bodywork.

This is probably the hardest thing to try to replicate in 1/35 (other than digicam).  This, because the edging is shy of being 1/2" wide--a mere 0.015" (0.39mm) wide--not the easiest thing to shade and counter-shade.

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Saturday, October 19, 2013 10:16 PM

According to US Army specifications, everything in this photo is "olive drab" At least as the dyes and paints used were called. The wool uniforms, the cotton web gear, and the steel pot & periscope optics are all in GI OD. But as you can see, the colors had quite a range within that shade.

and then look at the uniforms on these guys, still "olive drab" or "olive green"

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    June 2013
  • From: Jax, FL
Posted by Viejo on Saturday, October 19, 2013 11:41 PM
I will work on the uniform (and flesh tones). Funny. This started with the gun, then the figure. The sandbags were a "last thought". This time I will do my own sandbags, design the pit accordind to Mac, and then we'll see...

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