MARPAT Vignette “Over The Edge” Finished (For Now- 5/1/09) Pics Page 5

And I thought Chocolate-chip DBDUs were hard... G'luck with that, pard..

Haha I know right? Thanks

GREAT JOB!!  Looks great so far; very nice!  What colors and type of paint are you using??

I'm dreading my 1/35 version...so I may hold off on that for a while....a LOOONG while; stick with WWII OD and Feldgrau. 

Thanks!

That's actually a hard question to answer, I'm using mostly craft acrylics to be honest

Apple Barrel Acrylics for the most part

The base coat is a random mix of Fleshtone, Toffee Brown, and Yellow

The darker colored base is Fleshtone, Toffee Brown, and  a color called Poetry Green by "Folk Art" (this is the same color as the darker splotches on the 3 Tone- the Dark Brown stripes on the 3 Tone are Testors enamel Light Brown)

The splotches are all stand alone Flesh, Toffee, Dark Brown

All the Coyote gear/boots is Toffee Brown

I'm going to give everything a clear coat once the base colors are finished and then weather/shade/highlight on top of that, clear coat to seal etc

I wish I could get all fancy and tell you the mixing amounts and everything, but I really just did a drop or two of this or that until it came out looking what I thought was right.

I think it would actually be easier on 1/35 because the need for making the colors look pixilated would no longer exist and I think getting a really old brush and just doing a very fine stipple pattern would turn out reasonable in 1/35

Even in 1/16, what I did is less accurate and more of just a hint of a patern. Knowing what it looks like in 1/1, from a distance I feel like this is a fair representation of the general idea.

But after this I'm definitly going to enjoy going back to my WWII figures

psstoff995 wrote:

(Sorry though, the King Tiger and the German Tankers aren't mine, I'm taking over my brother's space)

Speeking of which I finally talked him into joining this Forum, he couldn't think up a sn and I jokingly told him to just type "psstoff995's little brother"

And he did, he joined as psstoff995's lbro or something along those lines. I'll force him to take my camera and post some pictures

Not too much progress on this one so far, got another arm stuck on there and started getting into the second figure. My big rule with figure painting (b/c I mix most of my own colors to their final shade) is to do all similar colors around the same time so that they don't look too different. With two figures in various stages of completion and only one of 4 arms attached, this would be an exception from the norm.

The guy from the original post got his right arm now, the sleeve is finished and the 3 tone matches up pretty well- still need to work on the glove and the hand- getting the M4 in there will be interesting.



This is the base coat for the second guy, the Coyote Tan has yet to be highlighted or shaded like the stuff on the guy falling down the hill.



Here’s another view of the base coat and the rest of the other guys equipment, note the lack of left arms, I usually wait to get everything painted which only includes the arms if they don’t interfere with the torso or the web-gear.



Here’s the newest MARPAT, it came out a bit tanner than the other figures MARPAT, but I think it looks closer to the real deal, I’ll probably add a tan wash over the other figure’s legs and a dark brown one on his parka to get the fold details accentuated.



I switched up the thigh holster since it’s construction was a bit different than the other figure’s I figured I’d just make it green to keep it interesting (same with the canteen inside the cover- two are OD and the third is a light tan)

beautiful figs and dio base!  cant wait to see them done!

don't know much about modern military, but they do look the buisness.

 

                                                   cheers,

                                                           rob

Thank you!

I might just take them to school with me and work on them between classes and stuff, I'm hoping they'll be finished soon.

 

These are looking excellent. Can't wait to see more progress shots.

Steve

 

Thank you very much Steve! Your latest batch of figures (POW German guys) are definitly an inspiration.

I'm pretty pleased with how the camo's turning out.

I should be updating this... somewhat soon, I'm back at college and will have to return home to add the finishing touches... and arms and heads..

 

Fantastic paint job!! Can't wait to see the heads...looking forward to more shots!

Thanks :)

The heads are probably the hardest part for me so hopefully they'll be on par with everything else.

nice work on the figures and base just started doing 1/16th I think it more challeging then 1/35th.

thank you- I agree, my technique is really more of an impressionism kind of "art" than an exercise in accurate pattern or detail work when it comes to uniforms, and it looks a lot better and is usually a lot easier to pull off with less attention to the details... what I do like about 1/16 scale figures is that it's moved me away from trying to paint parts individually- all the gear and uniforms (aside from 3 of the arms and the heads) were painted all as one unit- that's something I'm hoping to take back to my 1/35 figures.

I think that if I can pull of 1/16 scale people, all my figures I stick on dio's next to 1/35 armor should look fine- although again, the faces are the hardest for me

1/35 because of their size and 1/16 because of how more obvious the shading and difference in tones needs to be

Excellent paint work on the figures....well done so far!

Thank you very much!

top notch , figures and base look outstanding.

 

what paints are you useing? vallejo? 

Thank! Actually, I'm using everything from Testors enamels to Model Master Acrylics, even mixing my own some times with craft paint- Apple Barrel craft acrylics are great, every color you can think of, cleans up real nice with water, no smell and CHEAP!

Which really helps out when one is a college student on a budget

I'm a little worried about the skin tone for the faces, I would love to do some "wet on wet" blending because I think it would look much more realistic... but I'm not too great with oils and... well, we'll see

Psst,

I'm definately impressed with your figures. They're really helping me along with my current project of an OIF figure in ACU. Like you, I can't wait to get back to the USAAF khakis after this one!

I'm also currently in the painting stages; working on the face. Since this is my first "big" figure, I'm working step by step through FSM's "Painting realistic military figures". TONS of great information. If you have a copy or can get one, I'm running through the basic steps on pg 36 and things are working out perfectly.

Will try to get up some picutures starting my own thread hopefully later today. Would love to hear your input on it....

Keep up the good work. Can't wait to see the finished product...

Thank you very much! Glad I could help you out. From what I've heard- those in ACU uniforms try very hard to keep all equipment ACU as well- if it can be made with ACU- it WILL be as any mixing with tan/woodland equipment will make the ACU stick out much more as it is much lighter. Although depending on the level of the troop within his/her unit and the type of unit (infantry vs spec ops)- they may or may not have multiple type of camo on.

And USAAF khakis would be great!

Awesome though! I might pick up a copy of that- I can't wait to check out your results.

I'm going to be working on some 1/35 scale 101st guys in ACU so I'm really looking forward to seeing your uniforms.

Check out Maki's write-up on painting the ACU ...

http://www.hfmodeling.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=1333

... It'll make you go, "DUH! Why didn't I think about that!?!"

Although it may be overkill for your future 1/35'ers.

Yeah! That's what I came across when I was doing these two- my patterns were in no way as angular as his- but I used his layering technique, really inovative idea, that's how I've always painted BDU Woodland and Desert, but for somereason I hadn't thought to translater that to the digital. His figure turned out way nicer than mine when it comes to "actual pattern" representation, mine might look ok from a distance but... well when I get home for spring break or something I'll get some close ups and you can almost see each brush stroke, it's kinda just the "general idea"

 

So really I'm hoping to really pull of the faces and hope that maybe it will divert a little attention away from the individual digital "dots" instead of the squares they should be

Per our PM dicussion .... I think your MARPAT looks great. I think that by trying to get it just like the real thing, you're going to be painting out of scale.

Keep it going. Can't wait 'til you get more posted. Are you having to wait until you go home again?

Thanks again, I agree, I think the overall pattern is the key part- and like WW2 said on your OIF forum- the digital is designed to blend at longer distances anyway so I think that's even better!

And yeah, unfortunitly I will have to wait until I go home again. Not to compare school to overseas- but I tend to build models while I'm down here and paint them when I get back- something about spray cans and enamel paint in the dorms wasn't working out in my mind

When I move off campus next year into an apartment, I'll probably be able to do the whole deal.

Your dorm's bathroom has an exhaust fan right!?! You could potentially have the largest paint booth out of anyone on the forum and not even know it!!!!!

hahaha yeah but I wouldn't trust this old dorm's exhaust system- 13 floors, no A/C and pinging radiators.. lol not sure how the suitmates would like that either haha

From what I've heard- those in ACU uniforms try very hard to keep all equipment ACU as well-

.

First off, your figures look great.  The cammies look really well done; digital patterns are meant to look blurry from a distance, it's part of the camo effect

As for your statement, it's really not true; Soldiers/Marines wear what they were issued or what they can purchase (and get away with). 

When I deployed to Iraq in 2003, I started in DCU's, but with Woodland IBA, and the Olive Drab ammo pouches, ruck, etc.  Our unit had the Tan "Fisher Price My First GPS", so that what hung off my IBA, as well as my Black M60 sling  I used for my rifle.

During my second tour, 2006-2007, I started off with ACU's, but we still hadn't been issued ACU IBA covers, and we now had DCU ammo pouches.  I finally got an ACU IBA cover about 4 months into the rotation, and bought some ACU pouches.

My GPS was now a civilian model green Garmin.

I worked with the Marines in Anbar Province then, and they generally looked about the way your figures do, BTW.

Just remember, in Iraq or Afghanistan, a light coat of dust quickly covers everything.

Thank you very much haha you made me laugh when you mentioned the "Fisher Price My First GPS" glad to hear you guys got an upgrade. What I was refering to were the Army SpecOps soldiers that wear ACU, as they have smaller unit sizes and a larger budget I was informed that if they do chose to wear ACU, everything else they have on is ACU as well as OD or Tan tends to stick out like a sore thumb on the lighter ACU pattern from a distance.

This was based off of a discussion I had with a SF soldier and he mentioned that if they were trying to use the ACU as camo as opposed to just a uniform, they would blend everything they had with it.

I understand that regular Army gets different things issued at different times and durring the "half way there" part can look like a hodgepodge of old and new equipment/camo etc.

Marines work a little differently as there is no MARPAT (woodland or desert) packs/pouches that are really widely dispersed on the market and Coyote Tan works well with both patterns so instead of making two types of digital camo pouches, they standardized the Coyote Tan for that purpouse... I think.

I worked with the Marines in Anbar Province then, and they generally looked about the way your figures do, BTW.

Thanks again, this is really the best kind of complement I can hope for. As for the dust, I really plan on doing this one right so after I finish construction and painting, I'm going to put down a clear coat, seal it off and use some pastel dust. Thanks for commenting

You are right, blending the various woodland/DCU/ACU components really makes the odd pieces stick out, and it made more than a few people nervous to have throat or groin protectors that stood out from everythign else. 

 If I ever get around to doing an OIF diorama, I will probably not have the figures dressed uniformly, only because that was my experience there.