"Battle for Mogadishu" ***COMPLETE*** 24oct09

ME not finished!!! You're one to talk there, Camo!!! HAHAHAHAH!!!!!

I'm hoping that this one doesn't take too much longer. I'm not getting tired of it, I'm just not seeing the work at the end of the week .... so to speak.

Anyway, thanks again for following.....

camo junkie wrote:

i can say i'll be done b4 september!!!

Hmm .... someone is trying to drag me into a challenge ....

Alright, .... SOOooooo, its about time for me to put my keystrokes where my mouth is as I've been promising an *** UPDATE *** now for quite some time.

(Thanks Jeff for poking me in the side...)

Not too much to talk about as far as the bird itself goes. I've been adding a little weathering to the interior prior to the pilots going in, but that's about it. I'm still having a hard time getting over my "fear" of flying things, as I've been modeling mostly figure for awhile now. Not to mention that I picked something w/ a black paint job, and weathering that has been a HUGE learning lesson. However, I've mostly been sticking w/ getting the figures done. But, I've figured out that working the 4x D-boys has really slowed the whole progress down since all I really need to get done at the moment are the 2x pilots. Since I REALLY need those to close everything up and complete the bird itself. The D-boy riders can be added all the way up to the very end.

Here's some progress shots starting off w/ the D-boy figures. (2x shots of ea. fig)...

Here's some shots of the pilots' faces during the flesh painting process. I'm hoping to get the uniforms finished this afternoon/ evening ....

Base coats...

Dark wash ...

Blending ...

Highlighting/ finishing ...

Obviously, not all above pics are of the same face. One of the faces seems to have a bad spot in the upper lip, but I'm planning on covering that w/ one of the mics. I'm also going to be adding chin straps to the helmets for the next update.

Here's the only shot I have of the cockpit for now. Seat are repainted tan, and I've added a small strap (masking tape) that will go around the fire extinguisher after some small decals are added.

Any and all crits welcome ....

Awesome!  What M-4 is that (is it resin?)?  I like how the pilots look, and am definitely liking the look of the interior.  Also, the soldier with the rolled up sleeves looks pretty nice too! Once the decals go on the fire extinguisher, that thing's going to look real!

Take care,

Austin

Thanks guys. I'm pretty pleased w/ the pilots thus far. The base coat is on the uniforms, but I'm about to take off to workout. So, more work will have to come later.

The M4 w/ 203 is from AFV's M151 Remote Weapons (CROW) kit. Its actually plastic. Pretty nice detail for plastic, huh!?! I think that the kits comes w/ 2x different rifles.

Anyway, I'm hoping to get the pilots finished and strapped in w/ masking tape seatbelts, touch up some paint spots, close up the AC, mask off, spray w/ Future, decal, and respray w/ dull coat all by the end of the week. All so I can turn my attention back to the building and the base. Hopefully! ... polishing this one off in the next week 1/2 to 2x weeks.

I want to take not only this one but my HMMWV build as well to a show in late September. But, I've got to get cranking if I'm going to take both.

It keeps going on splendidly!

I love how you diversified the figures in their pose and their gear.
I'm looking forward to see them painted!

As previously stated ... the d-boys are a mixture of figure kits to include Dragon and Verlinden. The heads/ faces are custom.

All M4 variants have been pulled from different kits here and there. The best kit/ set IMO for the M4 has to be the M4 series produced by BLAST Models.

Stated previously, but I'll throw it out there again ....

The heads used for te D-boys are not MY custom work. I wish it was ... but I can't take credit.

camo junkie wrote:

we know, avus & ark helped ya out...its ok.

Who, me?

I'm not saying a word ... ...

(but thanks again ....)

Working on trying to get the pilots finished up today as the stain and poly coats dry on the SEAL figure's base. Although "finished up" I'm finding is slightly tricky. I'm finding that on the OH-58D pilots, the figures I'm using for the MH-6, don't really have the tactical vests molded on the torso. Rather, they have molded seatbelts. So, instead of filing all that off, I painted the vest on, kind-of hiding, the seatbelts. When the figs go into the A/C I'm planning on adding in belts made from masking tape. I think that these will help hide the lack of detail on the torso, and will look a little more real than the molded on belts.

I'll try to post some pics once I get closer to that phase ... hopfully this afternoon. I'm ready to close the puppy up ... again!

... HAHAHA!!! .... sorry .... I'm still learning I guess.

Camo and Model ... Best Friends FOR-E-VER!

psstoff995 wrote:

hahaha you guys should get matching rings or something

... now that's a little too much.

modelchasm wrote:

psstoff995 wrote: hahaha you guys should get matching rings or something ... now that's a little too much.

yeah no kidding chris...i mean rings??? c'mon...ya know they those 1/2 heart necklace charms...geez!!  

camo junkie wrote:

modelchasm wrote:  psstoff995 wrote: hahaha you guys should get matching rings or something ... now that's a little too much. yeah no kidding chris...i mean rings??? c'mon...ya know they those 1/2 heart necklace charms...geez!!

HAHA ... BFF! Tee-he ...

Eh-hum! O-K dammit .... time for an ***UPDATE***

Here are the pilots in progress ... starting w/ some of the shading....

Here's where I paint the tactical vest on over the molded seatbelts. I think once I get the masking tape belts on, this will look much better. I've also added a little more shading and depth to the uniforms.

The finshed heads ...

... attached to the finished bodies ...

Not too much else to do before getting the fusealge halves closed up again. However, as I was writing this update, I thought that the pilots' uniforms just looked a little dark, then I realized that I still need to DB the highlights. Yeah ... BIG miss on that one.

After the DBing, I'll dull coat them and that should be it. Then, its on to strapping them into the seats....