Well this started as some practice on painting uniforms and eventually turned into a vignette. It's not exactly finished, but close enough. I also wanted to try out Tamiya's uniform decals which don't match the later war uniforms, but anyway just wanted to see what they looked like and they were okay. I thought that they looked a bit big when I first saw them, but they went well with the Dragon figures.

Comments welcome

Yeah.... forgot the photos...

Yo Brett,

Very nice work, small but effective!

Realistic MG hide out...nice painted figs, Dragon I supose? Are the heads also from Dragon...if they are...you did a great job! Very nice painted figs, love it.

My only point is that I miss some vegetation...some long and short grasses some roots on top and roots in the walls of the MG hide out etc etc...

Great work...a good base to work out.

Greetz Nico

The heads were given to me, but I believe they are Hornet.

Great work Brett, the uniforms are very well done and the faces are great! Faces and skin tones are always so tough I find!

I think the MG nest is very well modelled also, I can see where Nico is coming from but personally I quite like the bleakness of it.

Thank you Jon and Nico for your comments. I'll probably add a bit more dirt around the shoes... and I didn't want to add vegetation..well because I'm a little lazy, but also, such positions were temporary and they didn't attract growth.

I like it. I think it came out well. I like the blankness also.

In the future I would suggest drilling out the sleeves a bit to get a recess and add more realizm.

Hi Bret,

Nice concept, and the figures look really good, the faces have a very appropraite expression and fit the scene well. Excellent stuff. The shoulders of the chap in the rear look like they need some work to smooth them down, bits of stuff there especiall under the arms.

The metal and ammo on the MG looks grand but the butt color is terrible when compared to the other wood on the rifle and hand grenade.

The leaves on the bunker look too uniformly placed and the colour of the earth lacks any kind of tone or depth as do the leaves There appears to be no variation in the planking either, or change of the earth tone in the bottom of the trench. This makes the scene look sterile and uninteresting.

The botton on the trench would show signs of the passage of men. If you add some kit hanging around and some general litter this has the makings of a grand scene. Try some variation in the soil and planking and it should add a bit of depth to the whole thing.

It's hard to tell about the colour as the pictures are not professionally taken and the glare of the light might well be hiding work you've done. Keep at it, it's OK.

Al

Good work Brett. It looks really well. Uniforms, weapons and faces really look good.

Bret,
I think your vignette is very well done! The figures look great! Hard to believe this stated as a practice session! The leaves look a little off to me....too uniform somehow. All in all though, I really like it. Well done.

I agree totally.

I couldn't be bothered adding kit, but if I was interested in a competition...totally.

Yeah, you're right... they are Plus Model leaves and they all look the same. I'll add some pigments to them. Thanks for the comment.

Nice job Brett. The figures look better than anything I do. I agree with Scott about the sleeves and hands. If pointed down, they can't be seen, but upwards, you see what is meant in photo #3. I hollow out the sleeves and add a small wire glued into the hand to give it that look of a hand protruding out. Real nice job though. A case where practise makes perfect. I like the bleakness of it. It fits the story. How much more bleakness than being captured and an unknown fate. Great little story.

I pretty much agree with all the criticisms and advice here.

As I said, I didn't intend to do a vignette, but you know how these things go, one thing leads to another.

My main goal was to try a different approach to painting uniforms and I was rather satisfied with that. I've yet to perfect it, but it's not bad for styrene.

Hello Bret, very nice job, simple and effective. Have you thought about adding a third figure on top of the parapet? A GI, Tommy, or a Russian looking down, his weapon at the ready. Just an idea I had looking at your scene. I hope to see more of your work. Al

Bret,
Nice work, some nice detail

Nice work, the figures are really good. The ground could really use some kind of colour variation though, as Alan said, it makes the scene look very sterile at the moment.

Really nice job. A few boo boos ........so what . Make some improvements but don't loose sleep over it. No matter what you do someone , somewhere will find something wrong.....Al

love the detail great dio

Wow, very realsitic-looking. Congrats on the vignette!

Nice work on the dio! What material did you use to make the dirt? I'm always looking for new tips and materials on creating dirt and mud surfaces.

It's a local product which is a modelling paste with some type of fine pumice rock added. I sprinkle fine sand on top and that's it. My photo's lighting is quite harsh so it's hard to see the earthwork well. You can add pigments as well to make the earth more dusty.

Very nice, I like it a lot and those decals do look good.

The only thing I'd point out for future reference is that the MG34 and MG42 ammo belts weren't the disintegrating link like modern ammo belts so the expended portion of the belt accumulates on the right side of the weapon. Not a criticism though, just an observation, I like the addition of the spent brass scattered around.

I just checked one of my books and you're right; didn't even think about that. I wonder how I would model something so small? Thanks for pointing it out.