1/35 Heads with baseball caps neede

One by my Buddy Rick Edans

Lookin' over that figure from the size it's blown up to, I think I gotta add a different right hand.. Looks like he's wearin' arctic mittens in that scale...  (That's why I hate photographing these guys that close up, lol...)

I was kicking around an idea this morning while in the "reading room" (read: Latrine") about the "pointing and yelling" DS..  An idea about two Drills doggin' one trainee is forming quickly...  Man, I wish there was a kit of a cattle truck in 1/35th...

camo junkie wrote:

well, you definately know what your doing there hans. he looks like a d.s.! even has that d.s. attitude! only thing better would have been him pointing and yelling bent over a guy doing pushups!

Thanks, CJ... I DO have a trainee figure (in the front leaning rest) in mind to go along with the Drill... Since I've done this much, may as well go on and make a little Fort Lost in the Woods vignette... As for the yelling/pointing Drill Sergeant, well, got that guy covered too... The TC figure from the above Tamiya figure kit should do nicely, lol... That'd be Drill Sergeant Carmichael, methinks..  I got the perfect head for that effin' hillbilly...

Oh, I WISH I still had my Cycle Book from BCT!!!  That thing disappeared long ago somewhere between ex-wife #1 and #2...

well, you definately know what your doing there hans. he looks like a d.s.! even has that d.s. attitude! only thing better would have been him pointing and yelling bent over a guy doing pushups!

and hey...look at that #2000!

Goin' a little slower than I had planned.. Been up to my hind-end in workin' on these group builds I'm in... Ok, here's what I got done on "DS Leemaster"..

I finished his hat with a dremel and a cutting bit, then laid on the basic uniform color, flesh, and boots.

 I'll get to the shading and hilighting later...Now I'm no figure-painter by any means, but I'll keep on this guy... My main purpose here was to show how to build a hat...

Yeah, all the heads are flat, except for the guy in the CVC helmet... He's absolutely useless as is, the helmet is shaped all wrong.. Most of Tamiya's figures are flat-heads, I've only seen maybe a handful that weren't... Their German figures usually come with at least one figure that can be modeled with either a helmet or M43 cap as well.. BTW, those caps can be sanded down to baseball caps...

Ya, PO.. I'd have cut the top off the head for those types..

He's in the Tamiya US Command Set, as well as the M577 kit...

Anyway, to stay on-topic, a baseball cap's a breeze compared to the Campaign Hat with this technique, lol...

Ok, as promised, here's some "in-progress" shots..

First, the basic figure, SOB, with no modifications (That may change if I decide to use it on something, a BCT dio or vignette).  A little blurry, but there's nothing to really look at anyway :

I cut a circular piece of styrene and sanded it to aproximate shape & size using my calibrated and bore-sighted Mk I Eyeball.  Be careful here because the styrene will disappear quickly at this thickness.  I then glued it to the figure's head. :

After the glue had set, I finished sanding the shape and added a slightly over-sized blob of Bondo Red Glazing Putty.  I pushed and pulled it around with the flat of my knife, scraping the excess from the brim from time to time until it looked about right, pushing it down so's not to get too high, and making sure it stayed centered over the figure's head and the diameter remained just a tiny bit bigger than the head's.

This will set up overnight and be allowed to harden through & though.  Then I'll add a skosh more putty to cover those little holes and such, sand, and then carve the four indentations into the crown. At that point, the figure will be ready for paint and when completed, I'll add the Infantry Blue hat cord and leather neck-band.

...but my stories are rare ones and not always all that commical! ...

Heh... I duno... Bet somebody laughed about it...

Hans von Hammer wrote:

I spent 6 weeks lookin' out fer a guy named "Charlie" that wanted to kill all of us..   As for the project... Heh, we "volunteered"... It was the First Shirt & Senior Drill's idea to do it and they formed us in the 4th Platoon up the day before and asked "Anyone here know how to handle a truck with a load?  I raised m' hand like a dolt (I was the 4th squad leader at the time) and Top then said, "Outstanding, young man! Take your squad and handle that truck.... load of rock in the back of the Duece in the parking lot..."

it took a minute for the synapsis to fire on that one hans...LOL...was wondering "charlie who"....!! i know the feeling with the "volunteering"...did it once...and never did it again. but my stories are rare ones and not always all that commical!

i imagine they were real "jerks" (to keep it clean) since they had to teach everyone what they went through in nam and such.

As for the project... Heh, we "volunteered"... It was the First Shirt & Senior Drill's idea to do it and they formed us in the 4th Platoon up the day before and asked "Anyone here know how to handle a truck with a load?  I raised m' hand like a dolt (I was the 4th squad leader at the time) and Top then said, "Outstanding, young man! Take your squad and handle that truck.... load of rock in the back of the Duece in the parking lot..." 

i did my best to forget mine hans!!! although im sure i could remember their names if i made the effort...but they arent worth the space in my brain to do so!!

One thing you never forget are the names of your Drill Sergeants, CJ... DS Leemaster (along with DS Lamb and DS Carmichael) was one helluva Soldier and NCO, and I hated that hillbilly SoB with every fiber of my being... (I stepped on his boots not once, but twice the first day of BCT and life was never the same for me for the next 6 weeks and four days, lol... ) I was his "PVT Winger", he my "Sergeant Hulka"...

almost sounds personal hans!!

camo junkie wrote:

Hans von Hammer wrote: Thanks fer the props, Indy... My rep as a the forum skinflint remains secure, lol... I got on the "Hat Kick" many moons ago, wanting to have a variety of soft-caps available without actually BUYING anything.. I robbed many M-43 caps (no shortage of those) of their bills as well as making my own, lol... My first real "sculpting job" was done on the Tamiya "Crossed Arms" figure in the US Command Set... I needed a Drill Sergeant and that figure was perfect for both era and pose.  After struggling with that hat's crown, baseball caps were a breeze.. that i would like to see hans!!! that had to be a struggle making the d.s. hat from putty. ya got pics of it colonel??

Just so happens that I have another US Command Set (Bought another M577 kit about a year ago), so just for you, I'll try and reprise my effort from 20 years ago... I need a break from vehicles and aircraft anyway... So later today I'll get started on Drill Sergeant Leemaster, E-4-3, Fort Leaonard Wood, MO- July-1976

I think the Trumpeter mercs do, but they havent been released yet. I'll try and make some myself. Not desperate for them just yet, but need a couple for some figures i a plannng.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Hans von Hammer wrote:

A little rounded blob putty and a small piece of sheet styrene is a lot cheaper...

Hans von Hammer wrote:

Thanks fer the props, Indy... My rep as a the forum skinflint remains secure, lol... I got on the "Hat Kick" many moons ago, wanting to have a variety of soft-caps available without actually BUYING anything.. I robbed many M-43 caps (no shortage of those) of their bills as well as making my own, lol... My first real "sculpting job" was done on the Tamiya "Crossed Arms" figure in the US Command Set... I needed a Drill Sergeant and that figure was perfect for both era and pose.  After struggling with that hat's crown, baseball caps were a breeze..

that i would like to see hans!!! that had to be a struggle making the d.s. hat from putty. ya got pics of it colonel??