"Flash Out!" - 120mm OIF figure ( COMPLETE!!! )

It even looks like the soon to be raided residents had recently swept off the front porch!!

haha sorry for the tripple post I just keep finding all these little details

Hey guys, I'm glad that you like it. camo .... see, I told you I was working!?!? HAHAHAA!!!

I definately could not have come this far with out the input from you guys, so again, thank you.

I'm not sure yet whether or not I'm going to add in the water. I had though about putting a bucket/ pail in, but I don't feel like scratching anymore on this one. I had thought that the shells were a little large, but I'm not about to change them out now. Plus, they're about the size of the figure's thumb, which is about the right size. As far as the blasts on the door goes, you hardly ever got thr door open with one shell. That's just the truth. Doesn't matter though, they ALWAYS knew you were coming ... might as well just pump a few shells into it just to get it open as quickly as possible! The front porch .... they don't have much, but what they do have they will give you in a heart-beat .... to include a nice "welcome", no matter how ratty a shack it may be.

If a may ... for a moment of "gay-ness" ....

I hate those bastards that we fight ... that kill our young men and women, our brothers, our sisters ... our good friends. They say that it's their religious beliefs, but I call BS. I've read the Koran, I've prayed my Christian prayers while knelt next to a Muslim "brother" ... and I came back with my head. These idiots are no different than any other power-hungry SOB throughout the rest of history. So to that, I say F*CK'EM ... that's what they make cross-hairs for....  

... BUT, with that said ....

I have nothing but the utmost respect for the people of Iraq. They are some of the most genieune people that I have had the pleasure to meet. Sure, some are currupt, but you have to look at the over-all picture instead. Even though I will be going back for my third trip soon, I can honestly say that one day ... one day I hope to go back on my own .... on vacation.

This piece has brought a lot of ... well, we'll just call it "closier" for me. It was a joy, though sometimes hard, to build this piece. Thanks again for helping me getting it put together. Whether it wins awards at competitions or not ... I'm proud of it.

 dude i'll make this short in regards to what you said about those #$%#$% over there. i see it like this....we in the west are taught and preached to love one another and show tolerance towards other cultures. they say either you are muslim or you must be destroyed...hmmmmm..... . i dont want to start a religious debate here so i'll stop right here...just wanted to use that word tolerance....says it all in regards to "us and them"! (in my opinion.

anyway, i didnt get to see any of that during my army days of desert storm (yeah im showing my age now). so, my hats off to you brother...your expierences far "out weigh" mine. i have a buddy though that was part of the invasion, part of the spearhead tip that went all the way to baghdad...he sent me a million "interesting" pics. in fact sfc smith (posthumously awarded the medal of honor at baghdad airport) was in his unit.

anyway, yeah i see you were working. lol. it came out great and i dont think you need to add the water to it at all. the shells are fine and that door...wow...i wasnt sure how those "curly things" would look but it definately looks like they belong. your a master of your craft sir. i hope one day when i grow up i can be like you... again, as far as "our" input...you did it. an idea is only as good as the person who thought of it...and only as brilliant as the person who makes it!! and with that, using mine as an example, like you, whether anyone likes it or not, whether its mediocre or not...i (u) made it and it doesnt have to win an award in order to win first prize in my book!

modelchasm wrote:

This piece has brought a lot of ... well, we'll just call it "closier" for me. It was a joy, though sometimes hard, to build this piece. Thanks again for helping me getting it put together. Whether it wins awards at competitions or not ... I'm proud of it.

Thats really all that matters- well done. Excelent job.

Thanks gentlemen .... I'm glad that it has pasted the "camo-psst" test! (sounds wrong, doesn't it!?!?!)

Well, I got up bright and early this morning just so I could get this one all wrapped up, but .... it's almost 9am, and I'm still sittin' around drinkin' my coffee and scratchin' my arse ....

No worries though ... I'm off to it right meow ....

Stay tuned for the final update w/ pics ....

O U T S T A N D I N G ! !

All that tiny little "real-life" detail (like the shotgun shells and the shotgun damage) you added is simply amazing.

Makes me want to convert mine as well!

"Tanks" Avus .... I'm glad that you like it.

Well, gentlemen .... I'm about to close this one out. As we speak, I'm getting the "shoot" ready to take the final pictures. Then, once I get them loaded up, I will post them for ya.

... psst, I was walking back through the pages and remembered back on page 3 we were talking about the door. You had wanted to see a pic of a door in Iraq vs C4 ... I had forgotten about it until now .... SO .... here ya go!!!

Not sure which way is up anymore, but toward the top you can make out the silver door handle. Oh yeah, and I have NO idea who took this picture .... uh, who did the blasting, and uh, where I got this picture .... HAHAHAH ... ok, it was me. (twist ... my ... arm ....)

Anyway, thought you'd enjoy that. It actually wasn't straight C4, but rather C4 teamed with a water bladder. That's why there's so much damage. The "water charge" as it's called, creates a huge hole due to the water pressure, but it's actually LESS lethal as it doesn't cause all the shrapnel that using just C4 does. Only bad thing is ... you almost ALWAYS find the door on the other side of the house!! We used to play "who can find the door first" after the house was cleared .... Not to mention ... this is a GREAT way to say "good morning" on those WEEEEE - hour-of-the-morning raids!! Too much fun ....

Sorry for the rant ... anyway guys, I should have this one summed up in a matter of a couple of hours. Stand by ......

HAHAHA ....

... Cocka-doodle ....

....BOOOM!!!!!!!!!!

That's crazy!! Thanks for the picture! Did you manage to find this one first too??

That's real cool with the water bladder, makes sense after you say it but never would have thought about it. Interesting form of a shape charge- very cool stuff!! haha glad you snapped the pic

modelchasm wrote:

HAHAHA .... ... Cocka-doodle .... ....BOOOM!!!!!!!!!!

psstoff995 wrote:

That's crazy!! Thanks for the picture! Did you manage to find this one first too??

Actually, this one is from my personal stash.

Since returning from my last deployment to Iraq, I haven't been able to shake the need to model things from my memory.

You won't either, Brother Vet...

I do the same thing... It's quite theraputic for me... I never did much "modern" stuff until after '91 and getting back from DS... Now, all my modern stuff is from my career and m' own head...

Hans von Hammer wrote:

You won't either, Brother Vet... I do the same thing... It's quite theraputic for me... I never did much "modern" stuff until after '91 and getting back from DS... Now, all my modern stuff is from my career and m' own head...

Thanks Hans ... It's good to know that modeling from memory helps someone else as well. I've got a few other modern kits lined up but I really haven't put much thought into them yet.

Now the question is ... what the hell do I do with all my WWII kits!?!?! eBay might be getting a nice little push of kits here pretty soon .... HAHA!!

Psst .... Actaully, I don't remember who found the door. I didn't take the picture until everything was over ... about 15 minutes later. All I really remember it letting the switch flip on the detonator and watching the spark run the det-cord. (Like I said before .... 0.5s of fun!) Then, before I took the picture, I just remember hearing some the guys laughing and a bunch of HOLY SH!Ts ... walked around the corner and there she was ... on the other side of the house.

**** UPDATE ***

And here she is .... 120mm, 2007 OIF figure "Flash Out!" ... completed.

Here's a run down from top to bottom for those that don't feel like reading the ba-zillion pages of crap btwn myself, psstoff, and camo ... WOW, we talk to much!?!

The figure is from Verlinden, kit #2008, 2003 OIF 101st Airborne, 120mm figure. Hacked and chopped up, he received a head from Airborne Miniatures Models, along with various pieces from the same, to include the plaster base. Numerous details including the shotgun shells, the door, the radio antenna, the NVG mount in the helmet, among others, were scratch-built. The figure itself was heavily modified to produce a current, modern Soldier from OIF 2007. (The only other thing to add is that the dang engraver guy has taken more than 3 days to make a little stinkin' brass name plate for it ... hence the pink post-it to show the correct size and placement.)

Enjoy!!!!

I also want to take the time to thank (A-GAIN...) all those that have pitched in for this one ... especially psstoff95, who's never-ending, but never backed up by his own builds, advice and quick eye always pulled me out from a crunch ... and camo junkie, who's blatant words of wisdom and crazy idea bouncing kept me up to crazy hours on multiple nights just so I could keep up with him. Thanks guys for a job well done.

This one was a blast! But now ... there's no time to grieve. She's off to the shelf were she'll get some "show-me" time before it's off to the show in April.

Now it's time for some "midnight" raiding .... Awww, gig-ity, gig-ity!!!

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention our sponsors, who with out them, none of this would have been possible ....

Thanks FSM for hosting a great site ...

Thank to PhotoBucket for hosting my crappy pictures ...

.... to Locktite CA glue who holds it all together ...

.... and to Powerade. Oh, how we do look forward to the release of mistic mountain blueberry...

modelchasm wrote:

and camo junkie, who's blatant words of wisdom and crazy idea bouncing kept me up to crazy hours on multiple nights just so I could keep up with him. Thanks guys for a job well done.

CRAZY??? Crazy??? man...that's got to be the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me...sing me that song again while i cry myself to sleep! LOL...n/p...but ya already know my thoughts on this project...and within those posts i think i said it best!!!

hahaha

To a job very very well done! Looks great, you got a little bit of a metal sheen to the door, very nice.

The pink post-it note looks nice too

In all seriousness this is definitly a show stopper, thanks so much for the shout outs, I really appreciate it.

If you can wait a week I'll throw together some half diorama for you to spend the afternoon bouncing crazy ideas back and forth about... just don't tell me to make too many insane things from scratch! haha you show off

Definitly like the rubble on the wood base. Too cool!!!

psstoff995 wrote:

... got a little bit of a metal sheen to the door, very nice.

Yeah, before I misted the door with the sand color I did a little bit of highlighting with a steel color (MM acrylics .... actually, now that I think about it the WHOLE thing is done with acrylics. Huh!?! Never done that one before!?!) I wanted to weather it a little more, but I didn't want to go overboard with the rusting. Being a desert climate and all, I couldn't really remember just HOW MUCH something like that would rust and have rust stains running off it. So I kept it to a minimum.

BTW ... I'm not going to blast your dio ..... I'm just going to tell you to add scratched shotgun shells everywhere!

Thanks Taco, I'm glad that you liked it.

However, while I don't tend to speak for others, I think that most will agree with me that it's just our job. So, thank YOU for YOUR patriotism and support.

Thanks again for the compliments....

Now the question is ... what the hell do I do with all my WWII kits!?!?!

I still prefer WW2 modeling m'self... And I can do a lot from memory there as well, from re-enactments, lol... One "on the bench" WIP I'm doing is a recreation of the day I got my 1st Tank Destruction Badge for sprinting 40 meters across open ground and heaving a Teller Mine up onto a Yank M-5... 'Course, this took place in Nebraska in '94, not the hedgerows in '44...   

I've done funny stuff too, things from FTXs and such, like "finding" an old foxhole with my 1/4 ton one dark & stormy night in Ft Hood... I got stuff from 1976 to 2006 to choose from, lol..

HOLY CRAP!!!! Don't start with Hood stories ... we'll be here for DAYS!!! Only the Lord knows how many "holes" are out there on North Fort ALONE!!!!

I'm still drawn to WWII stuff but mostly USAAF ... that would be my grandfather's fault.

Before now, I'd been considering a "hedgerow" dio .... however, to my dismay, I saw a picture of exactly what I wanted to do in a Shep book. And I'm nto really one to do something that someone has already done .... dang Shep!

Before now, I'd been considering a "hedgerow" dio .... however, to my dismay, I saw a picture of exactly what I wanted to do in a Shep book.

That one's in 1/32 scale though, and about 35 years old...  He did it for Monogram's M-4 Sherman kit back when they included the diorama tips sheets in the kits featuring Shep's work..

That's what got me hooked on building dios, my first one back in '74 or so...  'Sides, pretty much every hedgerow was assaulted that way, so you'd be completely justified...   You could always show the tank on the other side of the breach, with the GIs engaging some some totally surprised Krauts...

i too spent 2 years out at hood 89-90 model. know texas and killeen WAY to comfortably!! was stationed there with my brother...

My first one as well.. B-3/3-2AD... Dunno how the Army ever sent me there... I was only about an hour and a half from my home town of Bastrop... I'd go home on weekends and many folks saw me every weekend, and didn't even know that I was in the Army, lol... As for Austin & 6th street, well.. Maggie May's was one of my hang-outs, but Joe's Generic Bar was my fav...  Actually jammed with Stevie Ray (this was back when nobody outside Texas knew who he was) there one night on an open jam, and Keith Furgesson as well (Bass player for The Fabulous Thunderbirds)..

Hans von Hammer wrote:

That one's in 1/32 scale though, and about 35 years old...  He did it for Monogram's M-4 Sherman kit back when they included the diorama tips sheets in the kits featuring Shep's work.. That's what got me hooked on building dios, my first one back in '74 or so...  'Sides, pretty much every hedgerow was assaulted that way, so you'd be completely justified...   You could always show the tank on the other side of the breach, with the GIs engaging some some totally surprised Krauts... Maggie May's ... Joe's Generic Bar ... Stevie Ray ... Keith Furgesson ...

That's true I guess. However, as a personal rule, I try to stay away from things that might get a response of, "oh, yeah, I've seen something like that before". Hence why I can never build anything OOTB and camo and psst started calling me Dahmer!?!

I had previously thought about something similar to your idea, but it was basically going to be a still scene from the episode of Band of Brothers, when then, LT Winters came upon the SS unit by himself as the others caught up. However, that makes for a pretty large piece with a lot of figures. So, I thought about scaling it back to just Winters and that kid he first plugged. I just wonder if it that small scene would convey  ... if people would get it. To me, that were the "art" of the title comes in.

Hans von Hammer wrote:

My first one as well.. B-3/3-2AD... Dunno how the Army ever sent me there... I was only about an hour and a half from my home town of Bastrop... I'd go home on weekends and many folks saw me every weekend, and didn't even know that I was in the Army, lol... As for Austin & 6th street, well.. Maggie May's was one of my hang-outs, but Joe's Generic Bar was my fav...  Actually jammed with Stevie Ray (this was back when nobody outside Texas knew who he was) there one night on an open jam, and Keith Furgesson as well (Bass player for The Fabulous Thunderbirds)..

C-1/26FA 2AD. pretty kewl hans! that's a story about stevie & keith!! i dont remember the name of the bar in austin...LOL...was pretty messed up...all i can say is thank god pt & formation wasnt until monday and this happened on friday...it took until monday to recover!!!