Well I finally decided to give it a try over the weekend. The figures I used are from Helo Miniatures and Hobby Fan. Matching the colors weren’t all that hard as thought. Using a pair of ACU pants from a friend I started out using Tamiyas XF-22 RLM Grey mixing it with XF-55 Deck Tan and Flat white to get the base coat. Then using XF-22 RLM Grey and flat white for the second color and finally XF-22 RLM Grey and XF-55 Deck Tan for the darker color. I just kept mixing and matching the paints till it looked right.





Base color



Figures painted in mixed colors, in the red cap is the boot mixture. It was mixed using Tamiyas XF-49 Khaki and XF-55 Deck Tan, then dry brushed using the deck tan.





















I still have a bit of tweaking to do, I'm thinking about adding those zip cuffs to a few of the figures and finally they will be brushed down using sand that was brought back from Iraq. Comments and questions….

Joe

Looking good Joe, that looks like a devil of a camouflage to paint.

Perhaps a dark wash to bring out the detail of the boots?

Cheers
Henk

Mother, I'd say damn near right on the money perfect... Looking forward to seeing them finished out an weatherd

Chris

The uniform colors look really good. But how did you paint the camo shapes?

Hisham

I think your figures are looking outstanding! You have really captured the ACU look.

Joe, nice job on the camo. It is a slight bit tricky to pull off, but not hard. I was just wondering if you had painted the IBA in woodland camo or not. All IBA since 2005 issued to soldiers heading to Iraq/Afghan would be wearing ACU camo'd IBA, I believe. Here is what I came up for the guy I did.


Disregard the fact that I hosed up the installation of the RWS.
Thats why I visit this site, to improve my modelling lack of skills.

Thanks guys For reference I went to Military Photos and a Google image search. The IBA MOLLE gear is painted in woodland camo. At first I started out doing all in ACU but in 1/35th it just didn't look right. So I went back to the woodland and now they stand out more, the pictures really don't show it.



Like I said a few more things to add.

Joe

Joe,
OUT FREAKIN STANDING SIR!

You can also do a coule of iBA's in the DCU 3 color camo pattern too. But you right, when I painted mine, the ACU IBA just didn't look right and thats why I painted mine in the Woodland camo also.

Excellent job Joe! Always glad to see someone trying the ACU pattern. Its also nice to see what colors to use for future reference.

Jeff

My God, you should do a feature on how to paint ACU uniforms!! That's brilliant, can you give me some tips??

Hi Joe

You have done an outstanding job on these figures, nice work mate

Ryally

Excellent job on the figures, Joe! If you're still planing on using flex cuffs, I thought I might help out a bit. I took several Hi-Rez photos of our IBA for another member, and thought you could use the one of the flex cuffs. You usually don't find them pre-looped any more, as they were a few years ago. They tend to get hung up on things. We usually run them as shown below, or doubled over and run down the left and right set of loops in the back.
Ditto on weapons: if these guys are meateaters, they'll more than likely have their weapons slung - single, two, or three point sling, doesn't really matter. Nothing like kicking in a door and getting your sling hung up on the way in...



" If you love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest of freedom, go home and leave us in peace. We seek not your council, nor your arms".

Samuel Adams

Damn, you have done an awesome job. I wish that I had your patience. You should be proud of the work that you have done, it looks spot on. Keep it up, I am looking forward to seeing the finished dio/vignette .

Thanks for the kind comments guys as soon as I can get more figures (soon) I'll put together a "How to Do" feature.

Joe

Pleases do. You did a wonderful job with an extremely complex camo scheme.

-Matt

Very nice job. The only suggestion (aside from the color of the IBA as noted above) would be to add groin protector plates to the grunts. Most pix I have seen show the troops to be wearing these. Should be pretty easy to make out of plastic sheet.

Regards,

John

the neck and groin protectors didnt become mandatory till early 07. some of the NG units and MP ones made their guys wear them early on.

Outstanding job mate, Congrats, Helo miniatures good figures Cheers

WOW. Awesome job. PLEASE do a "how to" with tons of in-progress photos! I have some Stryker guys to get painted up in the next month or two. Very, very impressive!

tracy

I just got back last October from Baghdad. I understand why you painted the IBA in woodland camo, but no one but a few Air Force units have been wearing them since at least late '06. It is also very common to add side plates and DAPs (Deltoid Armor Protectors) which is a fancy phrase for shoulder armor. Having said that, the ACU camo looks fantastic!

Joe;
Well I think the pics speek for themselves. AWESOME!!
Nough said. Todd

Joe they are rockin! I reckon you nailed the pattern, woodland camo on the chest rigs look great as well, cheers!

thats awesome good job

Awesome work!

They look great Joe. BTW did you ever get around to the "how to" feature???

Herky