Airborne01
SMF Supporter
Absolute carnage! Vlad would be proud!
Steve
Iwo Jima 1-32 Scale
- Thread starter Neil Merryweather
- Start date
Steve
Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
Cheers Rick
13 so far.....
I don't know if I will do any more - I still have some interesting pics that I haven't replicated yet but I may have peaked.
I've put them in a box for now so I can get back to the Fusiliers and avoid distraction.
Thanks everyone for watching.
Some great work on the figures so far Neil.
Not all on the beach had helmet covers, so you shouldn't limit yourself to eleven fighting dudes.
Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
1mm for most and 0.5mm for the wrists
Thanks Neil
Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
I decided to build and paint one of the Airfix US Marines 'Out Of The Box' (ALMOST), as a test to see how much of the original stuff I could actually tolerate...
The only deviations from OOTB are the addition of the helmet straps and carbine sling. And the grenades are my own 3D printed ones.
I have put up with the inaccuracy of using the rifle ammo pouches instead of carbine pouches which aren't supplied, and to be honest the pack ,meat pouch and shovel arrangement leaves a lot to be desired. As already discussed, the boots are all wrong.
It was very useful experiment from that point of view, and also from a painting point of view. I used ground up pastels for the weathering which came out better than I expected.
I tried a slightly different technique for painting the flesh this time too, essentially pre-shading and using very thin coats to build up and diffuse the edges of the darker colours. There's still a long way to go but it worked particularly well with the veins on the arms and backs of the hands.
I have discovered a few more things that I will need to do to make them at least passing accurate, for instance all the figures will need pocket flaps removing(actually only those that can be seen, since most are face down...bullet dodged there), the addition of jacket skirts.; and I'll need eyelet holes in the waist belts where they can be seen ( I tried painting them but I wasn't very successful so I will have to drill them or hot needle them).
Also, I don't like the joint between the neck and the shirt collar so I will need to make those better disguised, because I like to paint the heads away from the figure.
So only 13 figures to do all that with....
There are some brilliant people out there who paint the HBT lines on their 1/35 USMC figures, but I do not intend to even TRY!
The only deviations from OOTB are the addition of the helmet straps and carbine sling. And the grenades are my own 3D printed ones.
I have put up with the inaccuracy of using the rifle ammo pouches instead of carbine pouches which aren't supplied, and to be honest the pack ,meat pouch and shovel arrangement leaves a lot to be desired. As already discussed, the boots are all wrong.
It was very useful experiment from that point of view, and also from a painting point of view. I used ground up pastels for the weathering which came out better than I expected.
I tried a slightly different technique for painting the flesh this time too, essentially pre-shading and using very thin coats to build up and diffuse the edges of the darker colours. There's still a long way to go but it worked particularly well with the veins on the arms and backs of the hands.
I have discovered a few more things that I will need to do to make them at least passing accurate, for instance all the figures will need pocket flaps removing(actually only those that can be seen, since most are face down...bullet dodged there), the addition of jacket skirts.; and I'll need eyelet holes in the waist belts where they can be seen ( I tried painting them but I wasn't very successful so I will have to drill them or hot needle them).
Also, I don't like the joint between the neck and the shirt collar so I will need to make those better disguised, because I like to paint the heads away from the figure.
So only 13 figures to do all that with....
There are some brilliant people out there who paint the HBT lines on their 1/35 USMC figures, but I do not intend to even TRY!
Honestly Neil, he looks mighty good to me! The worn and tired look comes across very well. I would say the only thing missing is a tattoo with USMC on his arm, or maybe MOM...BTW, and not critizing your work, I've never seen grenades with silver fuses on them. They were the same color as the grenade body (I could be wrong though)...
Prost
Allen
Prost
Allen
Hi Neil, Well for a first article it looks pretty good.....I did notice the "obvious" discrepancies as you did, I don't know if you are aware of this or not, but thought I would mention it and let you decide if you want to make changes or not. The Marine is equipped with an M1 Carbine that has no bayonet lug on it. As issued the recipient would have also received an M3 fighting knife instead of the 10 inch bayonet that was issued with the Garand. Here's a shot of the two for comparison. I love the use of pastels for weathering. They allow you to make very subtle differences in how things appear on the finished product. Tony Greenland was my teacher.......years ago. 
Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
cheers Allen
I honestly did think of a tattoo but I chickened out.
As for the grenades I googled images of ww2 US Grenade and I just took my pick-presumably they weren't accurately described?
That's fine with me, it's one less painting step!
Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
That's very useful, thanks Rick! I did wonder.Hi Neil, Well for a first article it looks pretty good.....I did notice the "obvious" discrepancies as you did, I don't know if you are aware of this or not, but thought I would mention it and let you decide if you want to make changes or not. The Marine is equipped with an M1 Carbine that has no bayonet lug on it. As issued the recipient would have also received an M3 fighting knife instead of the 10 inch bayonet that was issued with the Garand. Here's a shot of the two for comparison. I love the use of pastels for weathering. They allow you to make very subtle differences in how things appear on the finished product. Tony Greenland was my teacher.......years ago.
I'll have to see if there's a model I can download and print for my carbine armed guys
Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
I found one but I had to add a sheath, so I did both types
These are about 10mm long; -fingers crossed they print ok
These are about 10mm long; -fingers crossed they print ok
rtfoe
SMF Supporter
The test paint is a cool move to get the tone and hues correct Neil. I've learnt my lesson of leaving a build unattended for a long period. Getting the mojo and remembering what needed to be done next takes a while.
I would use two part putty like Magic Sculpt as its adhesive and hardening properties are excellent not to mention sculpting.
Cheers,
Wabble
Custard filling John custard.
I would use two part putty like Magic Sculpt as its adhesive and hardening properties are excellent not to mention sculpting.Cheers,
Wabble
Jim R
SMF Supporter
You're striving for accuracy does you credit Neil. The painted guy looks very good even if you see things to change.
scottie3158
SMF Supporter
Neil,
You make it look so easy. I may of missed it but what are HBT lines?
You make it look so easy. I may of missed it but what are HBT lines?
Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
HBT stands for HerringBone Twill which is what the uniform is made from. In real life it gives the effect of a slightly lighter toned stripe to the fabric. If you look back at Rick's image of the jacket you'll see it.