That looks great Pawel! I love the shading on the uniform and all the accessories. Did you add the glass bottles? How are you going to make the cigarette? I made one out of a cat whisker I found on my floor. The thick end was just the right diameter and I only had to paint the lit end.  

Hello everybody!

Thanks a lot for your comments, I'm glad to read so many of them!

Capn - sorry, still can't see the bottles! Painting them to look translucent sure isn't easy, I'll have to practice more! About the boots - some books say early pattern boots didn't have the ankle straps. The figure doesn't seem to have them neither, so I didn't paint them. But I used to own a pair of jungle boots (probably some Chinese rip-off, but decent quality), so I'm quite familiar not only with the look, but also the feel of such boots!

Glenn - very interesting hint on the boots! We could probably say he's breaking in a new pair while resting and he's going to change over to his working pair for serious business later that day - that would also explain why the man isn't bare-footed like he could be, like written earlier in this thread. I think what we're missing when it comes to 1:35 scale accessories is a pair of "empty" jungle boots - if I had something like that I could pose them on the vignette here. Once I have hacket the boots off a 1:35 figure and drilled out the insides to pose the boots as "empty", but now I know that doesn't really show the looks of them correctly.

GMorrison - thank you very much!

Rob - you mean Graf as in Grafenwoehr, nicht wahr? In Vietnam you wouldn't necessarily carry the liner together with the poncho, would you?

And I'm movin' on, I have painted the beer can and used a decal for a beer label - it isn't historically correct here unless a buddy brought the Dude a can from Germany... Here's what the base looks like now - finished unless somebody sees something to be corrected:

I have also painted the torso together with the dog tags. Again here the magnification brings out every imperfection in the paint:

I'm going to put some mail in his right hand and a cigarette in his left hand, let's see how this turns out.

Thanks for looking and for your encouragement, have a nice day

Paweł

This link has a couple of shots of an olive green one. Yes, I know they are called woobies by current troops. I have a soon-to-be 28 year old son who has two tours in Afghanistan. He took my old woodland pattern one, but I still have a newer one.

https://www.terapeak.com/worth/poncho-liner-woobie-cho-woodland-camo-us-army-usmc-military-quilted-blanket-fc/290981560044/

Just seeing the words "Graf Jacket' makes me feel cold.

Could not find a good photo of an OD liner (now refered to as a "woobie" by all the hip kids).  Was also looking to "arm" our dear Pawel with info he could sort through to create his magic.  While trying to avoid the minutae of the collecting world.

Which is also why I did not bring up the gray-white scuffed look of leather boots.  Yes, it's prototypical, but, it's really hard to get right at 1/35 (a pain at 1/16, come to cases), and would confuse less-experienced viewers.

CapnMac82

 

Poncho liner:

It's distinctly semi-gloss IRL.

My first poncho liner was solid OD green, about the same color as my poncho. It wasn't until around 1986 or so when I bought a woodland pattern poncho liner. The OD green one went into a wet weather top to become a "Graf Jacket".

looking really good.

Ok, changed the Photo to "shared" hopefully it will be visible.

Photo i of a 1944 Coke Bottle, a 1953 bottle, and a 1968 bottle (occasionally, I'll collect things not traditionally "militaria" ).

Boots look good.
Many modelers will make the canvas side a bit greener, so they stand out.  The actual boots varied a lot.  Sometimes that green (nylon) canvas was quite green; other, less so.  There's a very subtle detail, that the reinforcing patch across the ankle is darker than the rest of the nylon.

Almost all of that vanishes after weathering in grime and dirt, though.

Hello!

Returner - we're modellers, we're all about detail! I'm always glad when I can help. No model is ever perfect, and no kit is neither. For me it's about what I want to model, and I won't let the kit stand in my way. If I could give you any advice, it would be to research, to try to get to know the real thing as good as you can, and then show it in your model. For me it's also a kind of a downside here - I can't seem to be able to build a model straight OOB. I have checked while building my Swedish S-Tank that I can refrain from major surgery, but have to add a bit here and there :-)

Capn - thanks a lot for the explanation, makes a lot of sense. I'm afraid your empty bottle reference didn't come through - I just see a grayed out "No entry" sign. That "no name" can sure looks funny! From your previous post I have understood that it's later than Vietnam, right?

I have one more photo for you - I have detailed the radio a little, painted the jungle boots and I have dry-fitted the legs to the base:

Thanks for lookin' and have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel

By the way - another picky question that I have come up with is this: The Dude is wearing a belt.

No, the rousers have a belt--it's a black color with a brass buckle.

(Marines wore/wear a khaki belt with a brass [now black oxide] open frame buckle.)

The jacket/blouse portion of the utilities was worn with its tails out, so the web gear, with the web belt goes on over all that.  If you unbuckle the belt, you can then doff the LBE as a whole.

In case you need an empty bottle reference

As to beer, it was one of those things.  Beer was stockpiled as a "morale issue" and meant only for those in the rear, and out of contact.  In addition, AAFES (Army-Air Force Exchange Service) operated(operates) Base & Post Exchanges (BX & PX) which are "supermarkets" of a sort, to support families of troops, and troops themselves.  So, a given unit could go use their own money to go buy namebrand beer (or booze) for a party--as long as they were not on duty, in contact, or the like.  Being intoxicated on duty or in combat remains a very serious charge. 

Viet Nam saw a number of those conventions "stretched" a bit.  The lack of an MSR due to the asymmetrical nature of the combat also affected that.

But, after long hard treks out in the field, even reduced alcohol (3.2proof) generic beer at luke-cold temperatures can satisfy nicely.

Wow. That is super impressive. Thanks for the info on the jewler's jigsaw. Didn't expect you to go into that level of detail with the explanation. I know I have one somewhere, I just never got a chance to use it. 

This kind of work is the stuff that I really hope to acheive someday. Instead of just buying a kit that already has mostly everything, just take an existing kit and see how you can modify or improve it to your own taste. 

Hello everybody!

Griffin - Thanks a lot! You're right, if you zoom it up this much, every little imperfection comes out right at you... When I look at the vignette with my own eyes it looks much better. I try to use it to my advantage and spot imperfections this way, but sometimes it's no use to repair something that only shows on the photo.

Glenn - thanks a lot for the tip, I already painted the one pack to show Kools, the other pack (on the crate) was already done to look something like Winstons. I'm sure they didn't choose that beer because of the can suitability for feeding ammo!

Capn - interesting info! I have to tell you I don't really understand how they supplied beer to the troops - I mean in my country they treat beer as alcoholic beverage and so they always wanted (in vain!) the soldiers to stay away from it, to keep sober. Maybe it also has something to do with alcohol levels in beer. I don't know how much alcohol this GI issue beer had, the beer we have here is just under 10% of alcohol. Beer with less than 4% of alcohol is considered alcohol-free here in Europe!

Returner - thanks a lot for your kind words, and I think you're right - I'm lucky to have very good people with me on this thread, with very valuable comments, that other modellers also can benefit from.

As for the cutting, I have used a jewellers jigsaw like this one:

The blade for it that I used was only 1mm wide, with about 40 TPI (teeth per inch). So to start cutting I only had to drill a small hole, a little more than 1mm in diameter (let's say 1/16''). Then I just used lots of care and running water to keep the dust down. After I had the legs separated from the base I have cut the base chunk off the legs with one horizontal cut, parallel to the base of the vignette, leaving some excess resin on the legs. Then I just carved some material away to reconstruct the portions of the legs that just wasn't there. This was done using a scalpel. After I glued the base chunk back on the base there was a recessed spot there that I filled with black Milliput. Re-creating the "dirt" texture was easy, done by stippling with a water-moistened brush. So I hope it helps you and I'd be glad to answer other questions in this thread as well.

Gamera - Thanks a lot for your comment, and like I wrote, this thread turned out to be something very good!

Following the advice of Griffin and to sum up my progress I have done this photo:

As you can see it's almost done, just the radio left to be finished, together by the beverage can lying in the dirt. I assume those are empty - who in his right mind, having an ice cooler would lay out the drinks on the ground to warm up? As you may notice the cigarettes are supposed to represent Winstons (on the crate) and Kools (on the jacket).

I also started to paint the legs. I wanted the trousers to be considerably faded and here's how my shading turned out:

By the way - another picky question that I have come up with is this: The Dude is wearing a belt. This belt would normally be part of the web gear, and not serve to hold up the trousers, right? So when you removed the web gear, you also took of the belt. Did you need something, or was there something to keep the trousers from going down?

Thanks for looking and have a nice day

Paweł

Looks cool Pawel!

And Capn Mac & Glenn, thanks from me as well about pointing out all this stuff. I'm trying to remember as much as possible for when I get around to my Vietnam M48.

Wow Pawel, I have to congratulatute you on your dedication to this project as well as all the people who supported you in making this a more accurate and believable setting.

You mentioned that you used a jigsaw to cut out the figure, are you talking about a motorized hobby jigsaw like a Proxxon or something else? Also what did you use to make the initial hole in order to start cutting and then how did you cut the excess material from the bottom of the figures legs?

Sorry for all the questions, I am probably at least a couple of years away at my current skills before attempting anything like that. If the day comes I just want to do it right.

Can't wait to see the fully finished kit! I've always liked how in this forum members will simply point out obvious kit errors and give suggestions or simple facts about why it is wrong and, like in this case, how to correct it. Like one member pointed out they even mentioned how some corrections may not even be worth it.

GlennH

Schlitz beer Pawel if you are going Army Issue. No clue why they picked that

Schlitz was low bidder for the contract.

In the 80s, Pearl Brewing of San Antonio, Texas won the genereic "Beer" AAFES contract (plain white cans "BEER" ). 

Contract was valuable enough that Rolling Rock bought Pearl in 1988 or so, just to get the AAFES contract.  AAFES also contracted for "name brand' beer for PX/BX sale, too.

Kool cigs and Schlitz beer Pawel if you are going Army Issue. No clue why they picked that aside from the cans made good for feeding door 60's

Schlitz beer at 2000 feet by Glenn Hanson, on Flickr

Nice work. The detail is great for such small items. You should zoom the picture out a little. Just a little. It is unnatural to view this sooo close up, IMO. Like looking through a microscope. I love the rifle. Really well done.

Hello Gennulmen!

Capn - thanks a lot for your kind words! That sure would be a sight to see if you did this thing in 1:1. I'd be glad to post a picture like that here in this thread and on my web page, too!

Glenn - thanks again for the inspiration and for your kind words, that means a lot to me!

And I have painted the jacket and rifle group. Like Capn already mentioned that Colt M1911A1 isn't really at home here, and it's in a funny shoulder holster - It's called M3 if I'm right by my google search. The jacket is ERDL pattern, and the helmet is Mitchell pattern. I haven't decided yet what brand of cigarettes it's going to be. I also have a dose on the other side of the vignette - I'd like it to be some kind of beer, haven't decicided on that neither. Anyhow what I have recently painted looks like that:

Now I have only the radio left to be painted yet, then I'm movin' on to the olive greens. Thanks for looking and have a nice day

Paweł

And the opened can of apricots, inspired by the photo of Glenn (thanks again, Glenn!):

Peaches Pawel! Peaches and poundcake. I've forgotten more than I remember but I only recall peaches and that fruit mix as far as fruits in C's. Details are looking great in your build.

LoL.  Modeling, like life is a compromise between what is wanted and what is to hand.

Was just thinking about this.  I have all the items to replicate this but for c-rations, the metal cooler, and th transistor radio.

And, a legit '67-69 radio would be probably hardest to get.

So, now I'm sore tempted to gather up my stuff and see how complicated it would be to recreate this, just in real life   Would probably have to drive up to Wichita Falls as there is red dirt galore there.  Mind, I'd have to decide on Marine (easy) or Army (more complicated).  Would be tempting to do a "late" edition more like the figure, too.

Hello Capn!

Thanks a lot for your comment! Those local tailors in Vietnam must have ben able people! Mitchell pattern - I'm just painting it on the helmet liner. So after having read what you wrote I'm going on with my original plan - ERDL jacket and OG trousers.

Too bad about that pack. I'd even have one to replace it with, from that plus model set - but If I was to correct all the faults of the Verlinden vignette - like cutting the Dude out, cutting the pack out, removing the ice cooler, removing the oversize M16, the M1911 colt - then I'd actually be better off starting from scratch, wouldn't I? Like you wrote, sigh!

I'll make the poncho shinier with a little future.

Thanks again for your comment and have a nice day!

Paweł

Ok, try this again.

ERDL was often mix-n-match.  Sometimes things fel apart (or just nebvver came back) from the field laundry.  You'd draw a new item to replace the missing item.  Or, maybe, you'd get a local tailor to make you something from a Mitchel-pattern selter half:

Later on, there were two schemes of ERDL; the "green dominant" (called "lime" by collectors) and "brown dominant."  The latter only really appears in 1972, though.

Arrrgggh, that pack.  The Verlinden-itis hurts my eyes.
I have one of those--had another, a "bring back" given to me at age 13 in 1973 for Scout camping--those pockets are awful.  They woul look like that if stuffed with a cardboard or metal box--which was not done in the field.  They should be rounded.

Verlinden has stuck a thing which looks suspiciously like a Wehrmacht dagger on the pack, at a location where there is no attachment point.  (US troops had a number of US commercial knives with them, but they were kept on the person, not fastened to the pack.)  It could be painted green and black to make it hide a bit, be indistinguishable.  Surgery would be inapt, as, at that point, the whol pack ought be excised and one from an aftermarket set substituted.

The shading on the pack is quite good, though, ditching all that work would be a waste.  So, it probably wants being toned down.  In a perfect world, there would be an aftermarket set of LBE that could be tossed over.  Sigh.

The poncho needs to be a bit shinier on its oustide.  The coating had a sheen wet or dry.

Still looks exceptional though.

Hello!

Capn - thanks a lot for the pics - they are great, as usual. I'd say the colour I see with my eyes is a pretty good match for your photo no.3, but the photos I shoot don't convey this very well. But your post has prompted me to add a bit of an orange (tiny little bit) to the ground.

I have a question: I'll try to paint ERDL pattern on the jacket laying on the ground under the rifle. Would that mean the Dude would also have to have ERDL trousers, or could he have OG trousers and ERDL jacket?

In the meantime I have taken my first shot at shading with acrylics and I have done the pack:

And the opened can of apricots, inspired by the photo of Glenn (thanks again, Glenn!):

I hope you like it - thanks for looking and have a nice day!

Paweł

Looks good.

Colors are deceptive online, particularly uploaded photos.

But, you may need a red wash for the dirt.

Vietname is famous for its red dirt.

Which has a number of hues, wet to dry.

Ignore this, if the ground work really is reddish already.
The reds and greens can get christmas-kitsche-y quickly, so a deft hand is needed, which cameras and uploading can disguise all too easily.

Hello everybody!

Glenn - thanks a lot! Ain't that curious - such a giant organization as US Army and in war it's almost everyone for himself!

Gamera - thank you very much! Thanks to the great comments I'm getting here this turned out to be much more informative that I could ever dream of!

And I started putting colour on the base. But first I have put on a layer of Tamiya spray primer. Then I went on with the ice cooler - I was trying to show that galvanized look by putting on various silver paints with a sponge. Then I put a thin grey wash on top of that.

I have taped the base to a small cardboard box to be able to handle it without actually touching.

The ground was done in two layers - first was black, and the second a colour called "Doombull brown" (ah those Citadel names!).

I'm also trying to get some variation in the wood colour by putting on different shades of yellow-brown. I think I have to add a few layers yet.

What I have so far looks like that:

Thanks for looking and have a nice day

Paweł

Really nice work there on the face and skin tones Pawel. 

And thanks guys, I'm getting a whole new education reading though all these posts. 

Hello Capn!

Those fotos sure will come handy! If it's a late war pack, then it's tempting to do a late war jacket and paint it in the ERDL pattern. That could give a very nice colour variation if - I can pull it off.

And in the meantime I have finished the head - I painted the hair. Used mix of Humbrol 63 and 27 for the shadows, andstraight Humbrol 63 for the highlights. The result looks like this:

And I'm starting to paint the base. Thanks for lookin' and have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel

But I think the bag on the base isn't the first in the front row, but the second in the front row - the one on the base has three pockets.

Peachy, that' actually a late war (1970 IIRC) limited issue pack. Quickly replaced wit hthe Lightweight Rucksack (top row, third from left in the pack set; the one to its left is a 1975--post war--LC pack and frame).

I'm not sure if I get it - does the rucksack have it's own straps or does it attach to the LBE?

On a halt, you doff pack first, then LBE.

Most people would put immediate-use food items in the outer pockets, which keeps you from digging in the pack.  That neatly folded poncho (or maybe a poncho liner) might ride just under the pack flap.

VN era poncho:

Note the gloss on this.  Bbrand new, these were almost as dark OD as a helmet (or a military vehicle).

Poncho liner:

It's distinctly semi-gloss IRL.

Mind, Adrian Cronauer was only in-country 65-66, and we have a mix of 69-70 things going on here, but it's do the best with what's there.

Since you are so excellently on the way with face and hands, our guy would probably be dressed like this:

There is a reasonable change our man might have had ERDL camo by 69-70

Which was often mix-n-match.  They'd get beat up in the field, then go to a field laundry and maybe you'd get your stuff back, maybe not. 
The OG-107 would fade unpredictibly, somethimes getting quite pale.  But the cotton ripstop was replaced pretty often, too.

Your choice.

Hello!

Barrett - thanks a lot for your kind words!

Capn - another very informative post! That's a great cross reference of the packs and looks like a manual for this Plus Model set:

I took my claymore bag from this set.

But I think the bag on the base isn't the first in the front row, but the second in the front row - the one on the base has three pockets.

I'm not sure if I get it - does the rucksack have it's own straps or does it attach to the LBE?

Do I understand you right - you would most probably lake your rucksack down together with all the web gear, right? Or would it be possible/practical for any situation to take down the rucksack first and then to take off the rest of the gear?

In the meantime I started painting the face. I'm doing the hands at the same time. First I have put on a coat of Humbrol 63 as primer:

This has to dry for at least 24 hours. Next thing is to put on a brown wash - in my case Humbrol 113:

Then, directly afterwards I dry brush, using a nice, soft brush a coat of Humbrol 61:

This is followed by another dry brush with a mixture of Humbrol 61 and white, for lightening:

The hands are actually done at this point, I only painted out the fingernails with the mixture of Humbrol 61 and white. The head still needs eyes. To paint them I used light and dark grey as opposed to white and black to keep the contrast down and help the face look more realistic. I started by painting small horizontal dots of Humbrol 147 with a small brush:

Then I painted two horizontal lines over and under each eye. This was done using a single hair. Yup, the details here are this small. In the end I used the same hair to paint the eye centers, being careful not to make the Dude cross-eyed. The paint is Humbrol 27:

The lower lip was also painted with Humbrol 113.

Now it's time to think about painting the hair and the eyebrows.

Thanks for lookin' and have a nice day!

Paweł