It may be easier to get a poncho spread out under his butt. At least appearing that way.

Pawel,

That is going to be a lot of fun! I agree that soldier probably wouldn't be sitting in the mud when he had a crate available. There is even what appears to be a folded tarp in front of him that he could be sitting on. I suggest that you think of him sitting in the sand on a beach or on a river bank instead. You're right that the rifle appears to be too long. You can maybe minimize that appearance by toning down the difference in color between the rifle and its surroundings so that it blends in a little with everything else. It might not stand out as much that way. You could also add something to the diorama that would partially cover the rifle to make it harder to discern the scale, maybe a towel, or a flak vest. I hope you'll do a WIP. I'd enjoy watching this develop.

Barrett

You know , .... some time's when the world is against you , and your tired and slightly depressed about your "lot in life " .... you just dont give a rat's *** where you sit !

Looking forward to seeing this. Figures don't get enough love. 

I kind of think like LT, just in off a patrol, maybe ran into an ambush, tired, dirty, muddy,  need some food.  Crates make a good backrest, everything at hand without having to bend over to grab anything. Maybe do a lightly bloody field bandage on one upper arm, would add a little to the storyline. 2-3 days worth of beard stubble as well.

Gentlemen - thanks a lot for your comments!

GMorrison - that sounds like a sensitive advice!

BarretDuke - I'll definitely do a WIP when it comes to tackling this. But first I have to make some decisions to feel I've got it right. I think I'll put a Playboy magazine or a map on the rifle stock, that should do it. I still can't get over it - he's got a crate and a tarp and still he's sitting directly on the ground.

littletimmy - you're probably right, maybe he'd sit like that if he didn't plan on getting back up. I don't really want it to get this pessimistic!

Griffin25 - you're right. Like I wrote, I hope I can share my building with you.

goldhammer - that sounds right, but the reason I started pondering the issue at all was a short article that I read long time ago. I have found it again:

http://grunt-redux.atspace.eu/mike2_us171.htm

Great read, and if it's true (and I believe it is), there's no way I can leave the base as it now is.

Thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

I always put that one down to Verlinden-itus, where a composition would be created, without recourse to references (or even basic physics) and then every "empty" bit of space used up with random "stuff."  Said stuff being placed for visual effect, without regard to its use or importance.

VLS was bad about Mermite cans.  Those were used for delivering hot (ok, lukewarm) chow to units in the field.  They belonged to the supoort units delivering the cahow, not the recieving units, of which there were more hungry units than cans to feed them.

So, aviation units tended to have the cans, because they flew them to troops.

Weapons and magazines were not left out on the dirt (or mud) artistically to fill up void spaces.  Empty ammo cans had millions of uses, and were not discarded until they were bent beyond recognition, or rusted through.

Takes about 30 seconds to get your poncho out and use it as a ground sheet.

The "sprawl" of the figure is quite good, really right up to the VLS standards for figures.  The setting, however . . .
Makes it a pretty expensive kit to saw most of the resin away just to get the figure.  Who would look very much at home against a parapet of sandbags, or leaning on an ammo bunker next to a mortar or MG pit or the like.

Now, I was 13 in 1973, but was surrounded by folks who had been Over There, had Come Back, or were leaving to go.  Something that had been true near my entire life, moving every 26 months.  By 1978, I was being trained by prople only 5 years removed from their SEA adventures.

This business of unattended weapons strewn all over the landscape is a conspiracy started by the folks who sell scale sprues of them.

I've seens MP 43's stuck through the grab bars on tanks, M16's lined up along the gunwales of PBR's.

My own particular peeve is artillery ammunition tossed helter skelter in the dirt. I think the Tamiya 88 started that one.

But the casting looks amazing. And the whole story revolves around that big battery powered transistor radio. You need to find a way to make it prominent. Maybe make the frame with chrome metal foil. I think a Playboy would make the viewers eye, umm, wander.

Now that is a cool figure kit! Looking forward to the end product!

Capn - Verlinden-itus, that's what it is! Nice to know about that can, but I think I'll leave it in place here. I'm more likely to saw the legs out to retain the rest of the base. I've got more than enough legs to substitute something good instead if the need arises.

GMorrison - luckily we don't have this much of a mess here. Lots of stuff but I wouldn't say overloaded. I think you're right about the radio.

BlackSheepTwoOneFour - Sure is!

Glenn - mail! Yeah, I've been thinlking about it after reading how important this was to a soldier far away from home. How would the envelopes look like? And does Danger Forward have something to do with the Big Red One?

Thanks a lot for your comments and have a nice day

Paweł

Glenn - mail! Yeah, I've been thinlking about it after reading how important this was to a soldier far away from home. How would the envelopes look like? And does Danger Forward have something to do with the Big Red One?

The envelopes would look like any other mail but usually a little more beat up by the time you got them. Danger Foward was a glossy magazine put out by the BRO monthly. Here's a mail call during a stand down.

mail call hootch by Glenn Hanson, on Flickr

Uh Oh !

 There's No Way I would set my Butt on the bare ground over there . Even if I had to sit on my folded poncho I had sumpin tween me and the bugs .The ones over there were Mean !

Hello!

Gentlemen - thanks again for your comments, they motivated me to get movin' on this one.

Glenn - thanks a lot for the clarification, and also big thanks for your photos from Nam - they are a great reference source. They are also good photos meant as a form of art, I like them a lot.

TB - Awright, you convinced me!

I've got together my man up pills, I've tightened my jigsaw and in less than half an hour I have made THE CUT:

As you see I didn't lose any meaningful detail yet. All was done wet to avoid the dust from getting airborne. Now I'll do the horizontal cut, glue the plug back into the hole and try to repose the legs to show the man sitting on another, third box.

Thanks for lookin' and have  a nice day

Paweł

Pawel, Really nice job on the cut! Careful with the legs. That resin likes to break in ways you don't want. Now that the soldier is out of the way, I noticed that the wood grain of the crates is way too exagerated. Those would have to be some really old crates for the grain to be raised that much. You may want to consider filling or sanding the grain down to something more realistic. Barrett

Barrett - thanks a lot! For repositioning the figure I don't usually bend them, but rather I do the repositioning by cutting. Of course in resin it's harder to do than in case of styrene.

That woodgrain is this way for painting. I'll try to tone it down a little.

Have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel, Thank you for your kind reply. I figured you had experience with resin and figured you'd be cutting it. I have had resin pieces break in unusual ways while I was cutting through them. That was my concern for you. May I suggest that you make your cut in the front of the knee so you control where the seam will be rather than from the back of the knee. You may already have made that decision. My apologies if I'm telling you things you already planned for.

Pawel - Thanks for the link on that article.  Fun read.  Totally amazed the wife and now my new lady with the "papa-san squat", squatting flat footed.  The couldn't believe I could get down that far without falling over backward.  Amazingly at age 65 can still do it, and stand up without touching the ground.

A little leftover from my time at Udorn, Thailand.

Barrett - I don't mind the advice at all - even if I knew it there's always a chance somebody else reading this thread could use it.

goldhammer - I'm glad you like it, I thought people would, that's why I have shared it. Not only do we have a vet here who doesn't mind speaking about his war experience, he's got talent for that!

So after reading many times: positively no sitting directly on the ground! I had to make the cut. Glad I did it, too - it wasn't very hard.

Have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel ;

 Very good cut out . I knew you would do yourself proud .T.B.

Yeah, that's a great job there Pawel. I'd have pulled him out... in about seven pieces... 

Looking forward to seeing what you do with him now. 

Hello!

TB, Gamera - thanks a lot for your kind words! Like I said, I'm happy about my cut and it needed some courage before I started!

But of course it was not all.

I had to make another, horizontal cut to free the legs:

As you can see I also have a crate from Academy's 1:35 acessories set - nice and cheap set - for the GI to sit on. The legs are also cleaned up from the remaining resin.

And here's how I plan to use the chunk of resin that I cut off and the crate:

Now I have to do some posing for the man to sit comfortably. The base will aso have get filled some - I think I'll take milliput for that. Thanks for looking and have a nice day

Paweł

Hello everybody!

I've got an update here - I've just filled the hole in the base using black Milliput. I have also bent the legs of the figure. Third thing I did was to reshape the crate a little - I've added some woodgrain on its sides. Here's how it looks right now:

I hope to be able to paint the base soon! Thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Great job with the modification. That looks more realistic. 

Pawel, Really great work! Once you prime it, it will be really hard to see those alterations. I'm looking forward to watching you develop this. Barrett

Pawel, you have some serious skills.

I probably would have used a sandbag for being simpler to mould in.

VLS left you with another (minor) hiccup.

VN is a wet place, humid and dank.  Human feet are not well suited to such a place encased in shoes.  So, people concerned about their foot health would doff boots and socks to let toes and feet air out.  This is often seen in period photos.  Now, guys in firebases did this a little less--but, they had a hootch or quarters to go to and be dry within, rather than being out in the air.

Oh, the verlinden-itis still bugs me.

If you are enough in the rear with the gear to be around mermite cans or water coolers, you are not eating from (cold--there's no heat source nearby) c-ration cans.  If you are eating fruit salad or canned peaches, you would have dug out all the stuff in your pack to get to those prized possession, so the pack would not be so "plump."

The web (LBE) gear under/next to the BAR-length M16 is incredibly incomplete (and it looks like there is a holster for a 1911 in there--not at all common for leg infantry).  Oh, and since they couldn't figure what else to do, there's a random greande (greandes are very dangerous, you no not leave them about like apples) and a way-out-of-reach c-ration can.  Sigh.

I'm a member of a field gear group on facebook, and the farby on this is strong

So, it's a good thing you have the skills to carry this off.

Hello everybody!

Griffin25 - thanks a lot for your kind words! I hoped that it would!

Barrett - thanks a lot! I'm going to prime the parts soon, so let's see.

Capn - it's always good to read your posts! You gave me something to think about with your last one.

Making the dude bare-footed is tempting. There even is a set that would let one pull this off quite easily - I mean this one:

Lots of bare feet to cannibalize (this word sounds kinda bad in this case).

But I have already made places for his heels in the "dirt", and I don't know how I would show empty, unlaced jungle boots, so I think I'm going to pass on this one - but I'll keep it in mind for my future projects!

Very interesting point on that cold food - but at the same time a good save. So let's agree we're talking fruit salad and pound cake. That can far away could be bad-luck-apricots - how about that?

I also thought about cutting that far-away can and the grenade and putting a claymore bag over them. What would you say to that?

Another thought would be to have a little dog getting curious about the opened can - which would be dumb if that can contained fruit salad, but then again it could explain the can being fed to the doggy and then it would contain Ham and MoFos while the Dude had something warm to eat.

The cans could always come from some kind of a trade, and not from the pack.

That is a funny thing about that Colt, there's that '45 there. But the actual web gear is not really to be seen - maybe it's under the jacket? Only some ammo pouches and compass/dressing pouches and canteens.

I also wanted to ask you for help - can you give me some more detail on that large round can? When I look for a mermite it's mostly that square, OD can with a lid. That round one is hard to find, but I have found this photo:

So maybe I should paint my can really bright silver/stainless steel?

Thanks again for your input and have a nice day

Paweł

You have to take into consideration that after while, especially during monsoon season, dry would start to seem like a un-natural state.  You're wet almost all the timeand sometimes after getting back into your hooch, all you want to do is dry off and sometimes crash.  We usually had bunkers or some such that we might be able to get out of the rain but sometimes you had no choice and just stayed out in the water.  At least it was nice and warm.  Sometimes after the solid wall of water went by, the wall of bugs showed up and decided to land on you for a few minutes   such fun.  At least I was on a base.  

Anyway, the point is that sometimes you were so tired it didn't matter, what was going to happen, you get wet?  Too late.

Pawel

So maybe I should paint my can really bright silver/stainless steel?

Yeah, that's an ice cooler.  Much like this one:

only using 60s technology.
The nice peopple at Coleman (smae folk who make laterns and cookstoves) painted theirs green and red.
Found an old igloo:

And a Covey:

(wonder what an eBay search will turn up)

Tin cor cake, and for crackers was about 1/3 as tall as a "regular" c-rat can. 

So, maybe the out of reach can could be empty--there are those somewhat discarded Coke bottles to maybe suggest the beginnings of a midden (although I cannot imagine a Sergeant allowing a midden ).

The "disappering" LBE really bugs me.  Your LBE is your life.  Your ammo, water, first-aid, compass and the like are all on there.  You do not let is casually sink in the mud or water or the like.  Sure, you doff it at first excuse, but, you do not just pitch it away like an empty beer can.

In case you need to know way too much about US (and others) combat meals, over on youtube is a channel by Steve1989, who collects--and eats--historic old rations.