So ..... here's the "secret" project that I've been working on. My original intent was to get this finished so that I could ship it off before I went to the field this next week. It's being built for a friend of mine as a gift ... I'm not worried that he'll see it here as he's not a modeler, nor does he know it's coming.
I started out with this one .... pretty much being the only thing that I've build OOB since I was a kid. Due to my normal "style", all the parts that I'm using have been cast from the original kit. (I hord my originals for the day of days when the world is ending and you can no longer get anything ... HAHA!! My wife LOVES it BTW!!!)
The kit is from Airborne Miniatures kit #058, US Special Forces, 1/16 scale. I met the owner/ sculptor not too long ago, and WOW .... what a great guy. These kits are hard to come by, but a LITTLE (literally) easier when you have an inside.
Here I started out with an idea that just came to me. I figured I needed a simple base to mount the figure to. I had seen wooden column type based on ebay for 20-25 bones, but I didn't want to spend that. I thought about a section of 4x4 that I have in the garage, but I don't feel like breaking out the saws. I just happened to be in my LHS the other day picking up some RTV and resin, when I saw these small paper mache boxes. I bought one just b/c of the idea. I basically took the top of the box and put the box on top of the lid. Then I used a small threaded rod and some hardware to hold it together. But, before I screwed it together I used a healthy amount of wood glue inside the box so that when turned upside down and screwed together it would run down and seal the box and top together. And ... here's what I've got. (prior to staining/ painting .... not sure how welll that's going to work out yet ....)
Here's what I've gotten for the figure thus far. My original thought was that I wanted to try and accomplish this with a total build time of about 24hrs. I don't think that I'm too far off that schedule ... This is what I've gotten done from 0hr - about hour 4. (And it's actually sitting in the booth with the 1st prime coat drying.)
I took part of the tops of the boots off to get a better/ relaxed fit btwn the boots and pants.
I had a hard time trying to get the pin and hole lined up just right btwn the torso and legs, so I drilled a bigger hole. Then when I got ready to glue it, I just used some of the resin shaving and CA glue to make a paste that sealed up the rest of the hole around the pin.
... added the arms...
The cast I had for the hand didn't some out all that great ... minus the ends of two finger and a thumb, so I've got some putty work to do. Here's the pin to be used for the thumb.
... and added equipment, and starting on the M4.
The head from this one is actually the head that I used on my OIF fig. The original kit had a mustache on it ... I might add it back, but my buddy does weat a 'stache, do I don't know yet. This is what I've got thus far. I probably won't continue this one until after I get back, but whatever.
I actually just wanted to show psst that it doesn't take FOREVER to build a 120mm figure! HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!! (j/k buddy!!!)
Enjoy! And as always, comments welcome.