Well, I've had this one in the makings for awhile. The base is pretty straight forward.... piece of masonite with foam for the ruined walls, some scraps of balso wood, a balsa wood brick, everything was covered in pva and coated with sand and gravel, and then painted. The whole thing was painted with the regular methods. I know the figure isn't of the best quality, but it's good enough for me. It's Conte Collectible's 1/32, "The Sarge" (Yeah, I have no originality, and didn't bother to rename it, although I might later) As far as painting, I think this is somewhere around my 9th figure painted in this scale, and so far, it is my favorite out of all of them. I was purposely trying to do my best, as it was going to stand alone, and it was my favorite figure out of the set.

So anyway, the scene is pretty self explanatory...... he's wounded(most likely fatally) I gave him three bullet wounds and knife slash. That was probably overkill He's obviously mad, and running on adrenaline. He's got a tommy gun in one hand. In the other he's got a German sub-machine gun, and he's got a German Luger stuck in his belt. The ground is littered with spent shells, and he's smoking a cigar...... ( the shells are the wrong size, I know, but it's all I had)

Anyway, hope you like it, and I'd really appreciated comments on the painting, as I'm trying to work up to a high level.

Thanks,

Matthew

Fun subject, Matthew! Looks like something outta one of those old 'War Picture Library' comics.

Maybe the shots are a wee bit blurred, but I think you could give his weapons and kit some washes and dry brushing.

Also, on the blood stains -- a sort of downwardly creeping stain would've been more reallistic than flowing blood, which doesn't flow down the outside of clothes (unless they're waterproofs) but down the body.

I frankly can't comment on the face 'cos it's too blurred.

Base looks fine, but how 'bout a bit of grass? And get rid of those casings. I know they're all you have, but they're just too big. Better to give the idea that he's moving forward and so all the spent shells are behind him (and outta view).

Gday Matt
As David said, a fun subject to display!
He has that gung ho look about him...
With shell casings, when using hollow brass tube, try to cut cleanly with a new #11 blade on a clean surface with grip such as a cutting mat. Roll (with consistent pressure) the whole tube length with the blade itself for a while, and you will find that the blade will cut the tube cleanly without crimping/squashing the ends.
The base sets him off well too
Cheers
Brad

I read your post and the best thing about this project is that you really really enjoyed it. You know there are few things that aren't 'dead on' and you're OK with that. You had fun doing it and that really shows in how you wrote about it. You are a bit hard on yourself and that can be toned down a bit - build and enjoy.

The overall subject is cool, very movie-esk.

Hey David, thanks for the suggestions.... About the face... I think it turned out ok, but it's nothing special, and I'm not too happy with the eyes, or the stubble..... that's something I'm going to have to work on. It's hard to tell from the pics, but the metal part of the weapons has a drybrush/rub of metallic grey over a base of black. One of the kit items did have a wash applied, just as an afterthought while I was applying a the wash to the shirt. The shell casings.... I've got some negative feedback on another forum about those, and I'm starting to wish I could remove them, but they are super glued down, and it might damage the base if I tried to remove them. I'm not sure about adding grass... I could, but I was actually trying to have the scene set in a ruined city setting..... would it be better to add grass?

Brad: Thanks, I'll keep that in mind... ( thanks for the comment on the base, also)

Slodder: Yes, you are right, I did have a ball with this figure, and I'm really having fun with my dios.... although I need to come up with some new figures, as I don't especially like the poses of the ones I bought, (1/32) except for this guy of course As far as being hard on myself.... I have to, since my critics (family) are a tough crowd to please Besides, if I take a critical view of my work at times, it helps motivate me to do better on the next project. Thanks for the compliments.

I'm starting to wonder now if I should add grass, like David said. Any more opinions?

I don't think you need grass. I like the stark barrin look without the grass. I think it adds to the drama.

Well, I didn't mean a full lawn-worth of grass, but just a clump or two of weeds. Just to contrast with the masonry. it's just a personal thing -- I always like a bit of greenery in my dios. I even manage some dried scrub in desert scenes.

I happen to like the great "comic book" style, reminds me of those classic Sgt Rock illustrations from my long ago childhood years.
A little levity and frivolousness is a good thing sometimes.
Hope you have a ball making more.

Hi, I recently did this same figure, along with 20 other Conte's and I thoroughly enjoyed it too ( although urs is a lil better than mine ) I have no comments that differ from what the others have said but I do have a question. How did you get the sarge off his base? Might seem like a straightforward job but when I tried to get him off with an X-acto I ended up mangling the bottom of hs feet.

BTW I would really appreciate it if you posted some more pics of your Conte paint work.

Thanks alot!

Matthew, Thanks for sharing your work. Since the shell casings were already mentioned I'll just touch on that briefly. For future builds try stretched prue painted a brass or gold color and then cut to size. When stretched really thin, and cut to the right size you can get some great results. I used thismethod on an old build of a King Tiger awhile back. I painted mine after they were on the model (not a good idea looking back on it) Hope this helps.


Your doing better work than a lot of folks I know that are twice or more your age! Keep at it