Special Forces Figure ***COMPLETE - 13MAY09***

psstoff995 wrote:

I might have to race you to the finish line on that sniper dio. Mine’ll be 1/35, but don’t worry, I crawl a slow race. model-

Yeah .... I'm planning (and just on paper for now) to go 120mm. I like that scale for the detail ... like I had to tell you that. Right now, I'm thinking there's going to be a "little bit" of scratch building in there ... not to mention hacking up and reconfiguring the figures to look like the picture ...

Anyway ... this is a conversation for another thread....

Thanks DP. There's not to getting back into modeling. The biggest thing that you've got to get over is your fear of trying something new. You've got a ton of references here so that shouldn't be a problem. And there's always people here to lend a hand.

Good luck with your build.

It is really nice of you to build this for your SF buddy.  He is lucky to have a friend like you! 

I am about to begin a new kit M24 Chaffee that my father-in-law drove when he was in the Army and it will be his birthday gift.  I haven't built a model for 20+ years... so it will be an interesting one for sure!  Thanks again for sharing with us...

HAHA .... That's why I usually have a side project going at the same time .... change gears a little.

I'll be switching over the to Dio Forum for the next go round ... however, I did pick up a 1/35 SEAL at the last show I went to. I might do a little something with that. But I'm a little out of ideas for figures at the moment. BUT, I am on the lookout for the figures that I might use to build a scene from psst's picture he's posted a couple times ... the one with the sniper and spotter sitting inside a room scoping a target. I think it'll make for a nice build.

But for now ... I like just looking at this one ... for now.

there you go...his name tape could say groubenfeld!!! not sure about it but i know i can look at a great ww2 model or fig or dio and still see it for what it is...not sure if the ww2 guys can do the same. NOT implying anything...just really not sure is all!!! haha...here i go starting more $%#$%$^ on your thread!!

as far as my motivation...the most i did today was add a plant next to my palm tree to kinda give it more vegitation. (more like a weed from the backyard but...lol). i looked at that humvee 6 times today and said i should paint that...it's gonna take more than thoughts buddy!!!!

camo junkie wrote:

that's because he's not GERMAN!!!!

I could argue that he's of German descent!?!

I thought I just posted some motivation!?! What, do you need me to re-start "Midnight Raid" and finish it before you!?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! j/k.

Your stuff is looking awesome, just keep working on it ... then, one day, you'll clean up your brushes and poof ... you'll be done.

As far as FSM goes .... I still have faith that I .... we can still convert others to the "modern era". HAHA!!!

Here's to hoping ...

modelchasm wrote:

Thanks brother. I'm glad that you like it. I have to admit that I'm pleasantly suprised by how it turned out. I'm working on the write-up for FSM tonight. Haven't heard anything back from submitting my OIF figure, but I'd like to submit this one anyway.

that's because he's not GERMAN!!!! i mean how often do u see modern stuff in fsm??? maybe an occasional pic in the gallery but hardly EVER on the cover or as a write up story!!!

but it turned out great and you should be happy. as well as your friend! good luck on the write up and oh yeah...how bout some help with mine...starting with some motivation!!!

Thanks brother. I'm glad that you like it. I have to admit that I'm pleasantly suprised by how it turned out.

I'm working on the write-up for FSM tonight. Haven't heard anything back from submitting my OIF figure, but I'd like to submit this one anyway.

bravisimo sir!!! i try not to use this as its used too much but in the end i think its well deserved!!! .

the lighter shade on the weapon was exactly the right touch and the light background really brings out the colors of the entire fig picture wise!!! your buddy would be a fool not to like this model...really!!! again...congrats....congrats...congrats...!!

Well, here it is .... Not quite the 24hr challenge I had was shooting for, but I think it came out better for it.

Well, without further delay....

... I couldn't help adding a "calico jack" patch to the back of the helmet ...

Hope you guys enjoyed this one as much as I did. Kinda hard to think that its not going on MY shelf...

Thanks again for all your help and opinions ...

So while I think that everything I was thinking of before were/ are great ideas ... I think that I'm going to have to revert back to what I know ... simplicity works. And, 9 times out of 10 it looks better too.

I am in the mists of completing this one .... DAMN DECALS!!!! HAHAHA! ... but really that's what I'm working on. The base is complete, the M4 is complete, the figure is complete. I don't even think that I'm going to add on a name plate. (Mostly b/c I have no idea what I would call it.) I probably, however, will add on a plate to the backside to be a place to add a "thank you". Really just to be seen by my buddy .... or does that really sound weird? Sound it be on the front? I was thinking of putting it on the backside to minimize distraction. Maybe he'll use it as a paperweight! HA! Looks good AND its useful!!!

Will post pics in a bit ...

dont think it would look retarded. i still think then if your going to do it with styrene that maybe like i said, cut out the black spade larger than the fig and place it behind the fig 90degrees to the base then paint/put your patch on that. however, i think if i understand u correctly u want to put all of them on the base so...never mind. i think u have a good idea so get r' done. should be fine bud.

Looking at the base in hand, I don't think that I would be able to get the SF patch/ tab/ ABN tab on the side. I think its just too short. However, I was thinking that if I went with just simple print outs, I'd attach them to sheet styrene first and then off set them to the base by maybe a 1/16". Just enough to make it 3D'ish, but not enough to distract. With the logo, I thought about offsetting the ram skull from the spade and then the spade to the base. That would look pretty cool. I guess I could do the same thing with the 10th SFG flash too .... offsetting the crest from the flash and then the flash to the base..... Hmmm.

Do you guys think that if I got this stuff printed out on matte photo paper that it would look retarded?

Don't get me wrong ... I like building WW2 kits every now and then, but since coming back from my first tour ... well, we've been through that. WW2 is GREAT era to pull models from, but I consider myself to be a modern builder now.

Anyway, here's something I came up with on P-shop. The first image shows two sides of the base; one with the 10th Group flash, the other with the Team's logo. Next image is the same base just turned 90 degrees clock-wise to show the 3rd side covered with the Special Forces/ Airborne patches. The base is already painted black, so keep that in mind. I'd like to get actual patches, but I know I can't get the logo made in a patch ... at least not very easily. I may have to check on that. I think there's one of those monogram places in the mall .... Hmmm. Anyway, I'm going to make a desert ground-work on the top for the fig to stand on. Let me know what you guys think.

Sorry DP ... no shows for this one. Its going to an SF friend I served with during my last tour. Can't say I haven't thought about it ...

However, I do plan on submitting this one to FSM before it ships.

My experience with shows is that they (the judges) don't usually go for the more modern stuff. Just look at the modeling industry ... everything is still WWII German stuff.

That's one reason that I love Airborne Miniatures stuff. Maciek knows how to sculpt and he loves doing modern US stuff. Can't wait for his new stuff to come out.

Anyway. Thanks for the compliments there DP ... and welcome to the forums.

camo junkie wrote:

i might have made the gun a lighter shade of sand/tan just to keep it from being lost in the harness/webbing but that's just me. im NOT saying its bad or u have to change it. it looks good as is...its just how i would've done it. nice job as always bud!!

... Yeah, I kinda agree. I was looking at that earlier, but I thought I'd come back to it after finishing the yard. Looking at the pictures, I think that I'm going to add in a couple of stripes of the lighter tan. I think that will help make the weapon pop against the vest. Right now, it blends in a little to much for me.

As far as how I got there ... I first paint the rifle really dark grey to give it the factory base color. The trick I foud was to keep in mind that the tan color usually comes from a spray can. I first gave the pieces I wanted painted a wash of tan. I used a wash that was probably 50/50. That way the rifle wasn't covered on the first touch of the brush. After that, I went back over the places where I wanted the stripes ... ran a hairdryer over that .... then wash, rinse, repeat until I got the stripes where I wanted them. I also kept in mind that a lot of the under-lining detail probably would have stayed black, so don't make your wash so thin that it WANTS to flow into the recesses. You want it to stay where you brush, but at the same time you don't want it to cover the black on the first go 'round. The magazines will stay black. And I left the tube of the expandable buttstock black as if it were painted all the way collapsed. Its pretty easy, you just have to go for it. So what if you mess it up. Paint it black again and start over. I think from black to camo, it only took me 5 minutes to finish it .... seriously ... Acrylics and a hairdryer ... that's where its at. And yet another reason I love acrylics.

As far as the base goes, I'm adding plaster to the bottom to weight it down. That will give me some time to consider what I want to do with the rest of it.  

Hope that helps.

never mind about that lighter comment bud. upon further review its perfect. with the helmet already a light shade i think it would distract rather than attract! so again...great job!!

now what about the base....LOL. see 2 can play that game!!

I'm retarded ... so I just fixed the straps by cutting the two straps at the point where they meet the nape pad, then just reglued them after pulling them tight.

Yea. Now I'm going to take a "break" and do yard work before the misses gets home ... (yeah, yeah ... it was supposed to be done this morning .... WHAT-e-ver! My figure looks AWE-suuum! j/k)

...so excited about air-soft, he had to say it twice! HAHA!!! Welcome to the conversation there tiger.

So, I see I'm going to have to seperate/ distract you two with some ***UPDATE*** pictures...

The figure is complete ... well, minus the decals .... DAMN! The wrist came out a little crappy ... not as good as the face, but hey, I don't really care at this point in time. And dispite the earlier discussion about how to carry the helmet, I decided to go with the figure holding it by the straps. I put it in all kinds of positions and nothing looked all that conviencing. Right now, besides working on the base, I'm trying to figure out a way to straighten out the helmet straps to give the helmet "weight". Enjoy the pics, and let me know if I over-looked something.

...

I also just remembered that I never responded to the request to add in a 120mm HMMWV front-end .... uh ... no.

modelchasm wrote:

... gotta love airsoft geeks and ALL that extra cash they got ... least he could have done was roll around in the dirt a bit .... geesss!!!

We aren't geeks...... we just get carried away.......alot