101st in Iraq UPDATE

psstoff995 wrote:

There must be some kind of thing where paint doesn't stay exact as you scale things down, I think I've read the same thing in armor forums or in magazines where panzer colors that are exact matches in 1:1 scale look off on the 1/35 and stuff.

It's all about the distance.

The light green (we called it "Air Force Green" for whatever silly reason) does indeed look gray from a distance, under certain conditions - and that's what you're doing when you're looking at a figure. You're looking at it from a distance. The smaller the figure, the greater the distance (in scale) between your eyeball and the figure. Ergo, the smaller the figure, the more "distance distortion" there is in the colors and the finer details.

Same principle for painting a tank's roadwheels gray instead of black, or some vehicles tan or sand instead of the actual pink (actual British OIF Land Rovers are often pink). Sometimes a machinegun in 1/35 can be painted blue or something like "Dull Drab" to look more like worn gunmetal. Also you see this in aircraft wing thicknesses and things like that.

~jerry

psstoff995 wrote:

...I'm not even sure if this is accurate, but i added in a led foil strap, and a little copper wire sinch kinda clip, here a few pictures if you were interested, again, i dont know if that's actually how the pack is put together, but i figured a soldier wouldnt want that gas mask smaking up and down and swinging around, plus even if its not a standard strap, im pretty sure the spec ops guys add on all kinds of extra pockets and straps and things anyway...

Yup, Psstoff, that's exactly how it should be. Nice coffee stains too. Looks dead-on!

~jerry

Yes, I like that explanation A LOT: now I can sleep at night again, without nightmares of gray and green DCU colors haunting me! .

Thank you plymonkey.

m1garand wrote:

Anyway, as I said before, your figure is coming out nicely and hope that you'll build another one soon.

Thanks, but first let me complete this one.

psstoff995 wrote:

IMHO his gray looks more realistic than my light green does. There must be some kind of thing where paint doesn't stay exact as you scale things down ... Have fun finishing it, looks great!

Thanks to you, too.
I also read something about scaling colors but I didn't really get it. So what I usually do is look at the picture or real thing and pick the closest colors.

You know, m1garand, it's a mean thing to say to someone as picky as I am.
I might strip dowm the paint and correct the whole uniform since, besides what you pointed out, I noticed that the real sand base is "pinkish" while mine is yellow sand.

But then I made this picture and my picky mind was at ease: the color difference is not that bad:

But thanks for noticing that. I'll use the correct colors on my next figures.

Avus,

This figure is coming out rather nicely.  Did you say you painted the uniform's camo stripes with gray color?  DCU has sand color base with almost like greenish instead of gray. 

Thanks again plymonkey!

Rob Brown as for the colors I used Vallejo Acrylics the tones are:

• "Iraqui Sand" for the light sand base
• "Pale Stone" for the large gray stripes
• A mixture of "Iraqui Sand" and "Mahogany Brown" for the brown stripes

I'm glad you noticed I shaded the three colors individually. It wasn't as annoying as I thought and I got a good result. Once shaded I gave the whole uniform a drybrysh of "Iraqui Sand" mixed with white.

Thanks plymonkey!

I was kinda scared to ruin the figure with the painting of the uniform, but I'm pretty satisfied of how it turned out.

I noticed that "foot-thing" (quote from "The Rock" movie), too. It's only that I was too lazy to change the pose of the leg to have the whole foot touch the rock.

Ok, here's some progress I made this WE: completed the uniform.

plymonkey wrote:

What's your color reference on the body armor Avus?

My reference is a BDU from the 90's and an M65 Jacket from the same period I have in my wardrobe. There are some color differences between the two items. The BDU has some sort of green shade to it (like the vest I made on my figure) so the light color doesn't look like yellow but more like sage green. The M-65's yellow looks like German panzer yellow (WW2).

plymonkey wrote:

Are the new, T marked hand gaurds made of an alloy of some sort?

As far as I know they are made of plastic, thus I weathered it with grey and not metal. Maybe it doesn't look like that on the picture but I guarantee that's what I did.

Thanks for your observations, keep them coming.

m1garand wrote:

I should take some pictures of my interceptor vest and how it is set up.

Now that would be a great idea! Thanks.

psstoff995 wrote:

oh and sorry about the blurriness of the photos, the lighting was bad and it gave me a real shallow depth of field, if u need any more referance style photos, let me know the angles and ill try to get some better lighting.

Never mind. It's just to have a better idea of your great work.

Avus wrote:

I used the rubber hose (well actually it isn't a hose because it hasn't got a hole) that came with the figure. BTW I noticed it looks like a copper wire only because you said so, guess if you don't go around telling people no one will notice.

really? haha cause i thought my figure should have come with something like that, but it didnt come with any kind of vinal hose or anything. i also have a 1/16 scale spc. ops. guy from verlindin, he looks like he's holding a GPS thing, and he's yelling and pointing, he also did not come with a vinal hose for his camel back, so i had assumed it just didnt come with one. his M4 was haning around his neck, but they didnt include anything for that, so it looks like another lead foil/coper wire project for me oh and sorry about the blurriness of the photos, the lighting was bad and it gave me a real shallow depth of field, if u need any more referance style photos, let me know the angles and ill try to get some better lighting. good luck!

m1garand wrote:

Also, modern troopers now use Camel back hydration system on their back (and Interceptor vests are compatible with it) rather than carrying canteens.  I've seen our troops wearing two canteens and those were attached to back of the vest.

psstoff995 wrote:

he does have a camel back, so he probably wouldn't need the canteens unless he was ooon a reeeal longrang patrol or something, so if youd be ok with just leaving them off im sure that would work too

Thanks for the hint, guys. I was thinking to leave them out or to find some loops on the vest (most likely on the back) to attach the canteens.

psstoff995 wrote:

what did you make your water straw/tube thing out of? mine was just copper wire but yours looks to have turned out much nicer

I used the rubber hose (well actually it isn't a hose because it hasn't got a hole) that came with the figure. BTW I noticed it looks like a copper wire only because you said so, guess if you don't go around telling people no one will notice.

Avus wrote:

One thing: what are the canteens and smoke grenades attached to? I have this problem, too. I mean the figure doesn't wear an Alice belt (or similar) underneath the vest. The only place to attach things on this soldier are the loops on the vest. So were the heck am I supposed to attach all the equipment this figure comes with?

yeah i know what you mean, for the smoke grenades, i just kinda shoved them up under his right arm, and if you view it head on its harder to notice that they're just floating there. the back left canteen i used to cover up the end of the gas mask strap, because if i remember correctly i think it did something funny or something didnt quite match with the legs and the torso. but if you could drill out the little loops somehow you could probably slide the grenade handles through there, and he does have a camel back, so he probably wouldn't need the canteens unless he was ooon a reeeal longrang patrol or something, so if youd be ok with just leaving them off im sure that would work too. my problem was i didnt feel like parting with the pieces, because i really didnt have any other use for 1/16 scale greanades or anything, figured i might as well tuck them in there. what did you make your water straw/tube thing out of? mine was just copper wire but yours looks to have turned out much nicer

Thanks psstoff995. Yours looks good, too. Sadly the pictures are a little blurry.

The idea of strapping down the bag is not bad at all. I might consider doing it, too.

One thing: what are the canteens and smoke grenades attached to? I have this problem, too.
I mean the figure doesn't wear an Alice belt (or similar) underneath the vest. The only place to attach things on this soldier are the loops on the vest.
So were the heck am I supposed to attach all the equipment this figure comes with?

Psst,

Your figure looks really good.  Especially your paint job on aimpoint lense. 

wow that's really looking great so far, i did the same one not too long ago, and i'm not even sure if this is accurate, but i added in a led foil strap, and a little copper wire sinch kinda clip, here a few pictures if you were interested, again, i dont know if that's actually how the pack is put together, but i figured a soldier wouldnt want that gas mask smaking up and down and swinging around, plus even if its not a standard strap, im pretty sure the spec ops guys add on all kinds of extra pockets and straps and things anyway, so this might just be my invention. but sorry, i got side tracked, i really like how your kevlar vest turned out, im jealous haha

LPT319 wrote:

Its not like it will detract from the finished product. A good albi would be their Supply SGT sux.

ROTFL!

I'll add this to the tag on the base!