Well, I hate to start a new project when I haven't completed the one I'm working on but I there is a method to my madness! I can't finish my current Sherman project in time for an upcoming local show (at least not the way I want to), so I'm taking a hiatus from that one just long enough to complete this one.

HISTORY BLURB: The 761st Tank Battalion was one of three African American tank battalions of WWII (along with the 784th and 758th tank battalions). Known as the "Black Panthers" they were attached to Patton's Third Army and committed to combat on November 7, 1944, fighting through France, Belgium, and Germany, ultimately becoming some of the first American units to link up with the Soviet Army in Austria. They fought not only against the Germans, but against the racism of a segregated US army within which most believed they could not (or would not) fight ably. The 761st went on to prove their valor in combat, ultimately earning the Presidential Unit Citation.

I wanted to represent the men of the 761st because it's a subject that is not often seen. For this project I'm going to be doing a simple 2-figure display using the following components:



For inspiration, I've selected this photo:


I'm going to try and keep this a simple assembly and paint job as the Alpine figures and Hornet heads are just gorgeous and should paint up very nicely. Although...I have been toying with the idea of arming the model on the left with a Thompson. It should only require a fairly simple right arm modification to hold the sling. However, the figure is so nice, I'd hate to botch the job and ruin the arm so we'll see.

I'm excited to get started working on these but unfortunately it will be a couple of weeks before I can do that as I'll be traveling out of town for a while. Until then, your comments are welcome!

Cheers!

Hey Don
A nice choice of figures there mate.
One thing I wouldn't do is to use a Thompson, as by this stage of the war they were superceded as personal weapons in AFVs by the M3 grease gun, as shown above in your archive photo.
Brad

Hi Don,

This is a great project you have here. I agree with Bradley, actually if you look at the man in the center of your inspirational picture you can notice the tip of the M3 grease gun in his right hand.

Looking forward to the finish, will you be putting them on a diorama?
Regards,

Thanks for the comments guys. The reason I thought about using a Thompson was because the model on the right is already carrying an M3. I was just thinking it would add a little variety, especially since the model on the left has no equipment at all. I suppose they could both carry an M3.

But like I said, I'm not keen on ruining the figure with a botched modification so I may do nothing at all. Will have to ponder this a bit.

Vladimir--I will be putting these two on a pedestal base together with some suitable groundwork. Nothing fancy. Going to try and focus my attention on the paint jobs.

OK, after a couple of weeks preparing for and traveling to Las Vegas for a trade show/conference, at which I basically worked 12-15 hour days and ended up getting sick just in time for the trip back, I returned home to a family suffering from strep throat and pink eye. It took a while for all of us to recover and now that everyone is feeling better and we're back on our regular schedule, I'm finally able to return my attention to this project.

I've started by modifying the Hornet heads to fit into the M1 helmet. Originally I had planned to use some spare Dragon helmets but after test fitting, they seemed a little oddly shaped at the crown. I picked up one of the Tamiya U.S. Infantry Equipment sets and tried the helmets from that set which I liked much better (after much fiddling to get the right fit). I had to remove quite a bit of the Hornet head as well as rout out much of the interior of the Tamiya helmet, but the end result looks pretty good. The before and after versions of the head and helmet can be seen in the image below:


After getting both the heads and helmets squared away, I began cleaning up the figures. They'll need a bit of filler as there were just a couple of rough spots, but otherwise they are really nicely crafted. I went ahead and stuck them together with Craft Tack to check the poses and fit. The barrel of the M3 held by the tanker on the right was badly warped and rather than fiddle with trying to get it straight through heat or other means, I simply replaced it with one made of brass rod.


Initially I had toyed with the idea of adding a weapon to the tanker on the left but given the way the folds in the sleeves seem to slot right into mirrored folds in the jacket body itself, it seems more likely that I'll just ruin the arm or worse, so he'll have to be devoid of equipment. However, I am planning to remove the Corporal stripes sculpted onto his sleeves so I can make him an officer instead...I guess he won't totally escape being modified!

Next up, I'll complete the prep work, assembly, filling and sanding before getting a coat of primer on these guys and getting them ready for paint.

Comments welcome...thanks for your feedback!

Hi Don,

Nice little vignette that you are preparing.
The more I do them, the more I love Alpine figures (beside the fact they are always in relaxed poses).
When you prepare them, do you wash them with water and soap ? I've seen some books recommending it but I always asked myself if it really change something to the painting ??
What would be cool could be to make two kind of black skin tone, one dark and the other one more café crème.
Best,
Julien

Thank you Julien,

Yes, once I'm done with the assembly, I wash the miniatures using a product called Dawn dishwashing detergent and water. Dawn has a light de-greaser additive that helps rid the models of any surface oils accumulated from the manufacturing process or from handling during the assembly and clean-up process.

I just put about an inch or two of water in the sink along with a few drops of the detergent and let the figures soak for a few minutes. Then I'll give them a very light scrubbing with an old, soft bristled toothbrush, rinse under warm water and set aside on a clean towel to dry. Once dry, I minimize handling the figures themselves until I can get a coat of primer on them. I've used this process for many years and I have never had any problems with my primer adhesion.

Well, the weather in Minnesota simply refuses to cooperate with everyone's plans for winter to be over. It's still quite cold and we even had a couple of inches of snow the other day. It's too cold and damp to spray paint out in the garage so I sidetracked myself from the main project and have taken drastic measures...I built my own spray booth so I could spray in the house:



I used a clear plastic storage tub, a 70CFM bathroom fan, and various other bits and pieces totaling less than $60...and it works great! It was really kind of a fun project, apart from wiring the switch incorrectly and blowing the main circuit in my house , but with summer EVENTUALLY coming, it will probably be less useful than if I had built it in the fall. Still, it's allowed me to ignore the weather and get some primer onto my models so that I could actually start painting.

Which led me to the stunning realization that I literally had not painted a figure model in over 5 years. So before I started slapping paint on these particular models, I decided to do a test model to work out the colors and review my techniques. But, the closest I could come to a "throwaway" without having to build another figure was to use the driver figure from my Sherman project. I already know that just his head and a tiny part of his shoulders will be visible through the driver's hatch meaning most of my mistakes will be hidden...so he was my best candidate:



I could work on his body and hands before getting to the face, which by that time, hopefully I would have worked out the kinks and even if the rest of the model didn't turn out so well, I would have learned what NOT to do for the full figures. I've been working on him the last couple of nights...hopefully I'll finish him up tomorrow and have a pic or two to get some feedback.

Stay tuned...

Nice nice nice !

Julien

Agreed, very nice

OK, test model is basically done. Still needs a shot of Dullcote and I'm not happy with the armored division patch at all...but It's very unlikely to be seen when he's mounted in the driver's hatch anyway so I'm not going to spend time redoing it. I'll definitely be ordering the Archer transfers for the division patchs on the other models.

Paint is about 98% Vallejo and 2% Citadel. I wanted to stay away from oils and terps so instead I have used inks and concentrated water colors for the washes and filters. This color palette is much different than the vast majority of figures I have painted in the past so I had to make a conscious effort to try and tone down the colors...but it may still be little "bright" by military modeling standards.









In all, I'm fairly pleased with how this turned out. It took much longer than I planned (or hoped) but again, not having painted for 5 years has taken it's toll. I think I'm ready to begin painting the other two models based on what I've learned here...first I need some sleep.

Feedback is welcome.

You may be being a bit hard on yourself. I think the tones are really good and the faces highlights etc are excellent.

Don, For someone who hasn't painted a figure in 5 years that's excellent.

That is looking superb. I cannot see anything that could be considered "to bright".

The colors are correct, and quite frankly, IMO, you need a "spot of color" on what will be a monotone vehicle. Pun intended...........................

Stay with it I'm looking forward to the next installment.

G

(PS, 81 and partly cloudy here all weekend)

Looking great so far!

Looks great Don. I just got my heads from Colorado Miniatures and will need to get some painting tips from you at our next meeting.

Cheers,

Tim

It was pretty darn late when I posted the photos and commentary last night so I was a bit crabby about the outcome due to lack of sleep. However, looking at it today I feel a bit better and am more confident moving on to the actual display models. Still going to get those Archer transfers though...

Julien, Thomo and Pat: Thanks much for the kind words.

Wayne: Do appreciate the support and the pun...the Vegas weather update, not so much!

Taesung: WOW! Now that you've checked in, the pressure's really on to do a great job! Hope I can do justice to your terrific models. Man-Jin and Calvin have set the painting bar pretty high on these particular figs. Thanks much for commenting on this thread...I'm honored.

Tim: The Hornet heads are terrific and paint up pretty easily. Given my "retired" status from painting for so long, it was nice to have such a well defined face to re-learn on. For the record the color palette I'm using for the African American skin is:

Reaper Master Series "Dark Shadow"
Vallejo 984 Flat Brown
Vallejo 843 Cork Brown
Vallejo 955 Flat Flesh
Vallejo 846 Mahogany Brown
Dr. Ph. Martin's Concentrated Water Color #27B "Mahogany" (used as filter)

Thanks again everyone. Taking Easter off but will hopefully have more "step-by-step" updates next week. Cheers!

Don,

That test figure looks fantastic!!!! How about a step by step for the other two?

Don, Your driver looks great and you know the spray booth still will be getting a work out-think of the weather at Fishing opener! What and were did you get the fan?
Dan

Took a few minutes to post a How-To on the spray booth over in the Painting forum. You can check it out here.

Don, I agree with the others, your figure is wonderful! I too would love to see a step by step of your process. Really great job!

Thanks all for the kind words. I'm really flattered by how much attention this little project is getting. Only wish I could make progress a little faster.

Here's my step-by-step on the first face. All colors are Vallejo unless otherwise noted.

Started by base coating the two models with slightly different tones. The one on the left is a mix of Flat Brown, Cork Brown and Flat Flesh. On the right, a mix of Flat Brown, Orange Brown and Cork Brown.


Working on the left figure, I added the first highlights with 2 very thin coats of the base color mixed with a dab more each of Cork Brown and Flat Flesh.


Second highlights placed after adding more flat flesh to the mix.


Blended the highlights a bit with very thin coats of an intermediate color between the two highlights. Also blended the first highlight with the base color. Lots of trips to the water cup to keep the brush tip clean and prevent paint buildup.


Let that dry for a bit and started work on the shadows. Added the first shade along the sides and under of the nose, under the eyebrow ridge, in between and under the lower lip, and under the chin. Used a mix of the basecoat plus Flat Brown. Then the darkest shadow, in the same areas only smaller. Used a mix of the first shade color with Reaper Dark Shadow added.


Blended the shadows and then added a touch of Mahogany Brown mixed with Scar Red for the lower lip. Went back and did a few touch-ups on the highlights where needed to get the right balance.


In order to unify the colors and add some depth to the skin tone, I used a product called Dr. P.H. Martin's Radiant Concentrated Water Colors in Mahogany color as a glaze. Back when I was painting gaming miniatures, I really liked to using ink glazes to unify and restore colors after highlighting with so much white. The same principle applies here except everyone refers to it as "filtering". Call it what you will, the effect is the same. Because ink pigments are so concentrated, they retain their chroma level even when extremely watered down so they work better than using watered down paint for the same purpose.

In this case, the Dr. Martin's Mahogany was mixed about 5:1 with water and applied as a glaze (or filter) over the entire face.


Another aspect of the Dr. Martin's that I've incorporated into my method is that it is not water proof. Therefore even after it dries it can be reactivated with a wet brush. In this manner I can continue to work it around how and where I want it, making it heavier in some places and more transparent in others. I'll let it dry and then see if I need to add more in some places or just smooth the transitions. It took about 15 minutes of working with the glaze to get it where I wanted on this face. Once it dries overnight, I'll hit it with a shot of Testor's Dullcote to set it and kill the gloss, then I'll go back in and do the eyes.

Stay tuned.

Hi Don,
I didn't know this product, looks nice !
The flesh work is very well done, and varied.
Keep up like this
Julien

After spraying with Dullcote, it appeared to me that I had over-highlighted resulting in the skintone being too light. So I applied several more glazes of Dr. Martin's Mahogany mixed with just a touch of the base color. Mixing the ink with paint cuts the transparency of the glaze ever so slightly in order to actually darken the underlying colors rather than just shift their color. I did this in stages, applying a glaze, working it in, letting it dry for a bit, and then spraying with Dullcote before seeing if another glaze was needed. Several layers were added before I was satisfied that the skintone was dark enough.

Unfortunately, I don't think I allowed each stage to dry thoroughly enough before spraying with another shot of Dullcote and the effect of these multiple layers seems to be a semi-gloss finish. After letting it dry for several hours, I heated the spray can in a sink of hot water for a few minutes, shook for a full minute and sprayed it again, but still the semi-gloss appearance seems to persist.

So, I just went ahead with the eyes anyway and will let it all dry for several days before I try again with a brand new can of Dullcote (The one I'm currently using is several years old...What? I told you already that I haven't painted in 5 years! My supplies are old too! ). Anyway, here are the photos of the finished face on figure number 1.



FYI: The dark band of color that runs down his left cheek is actually a reflection from the glossy finish and the bright lights...another reason I wanted it matte before snapping the photos.

That's all for now. Will try to get started on Figure 2's face before the weekend is out.

Feedback welcome as always. Thanks for following along!

Excellent Don. I have never painted darker skin colours, and can imagine how hard it is to get depth with the darker colours, but you´ve pulled it off really well. The only thing I would add is try a different "mix" for the last figure ... for 1) to show the range of skin colours and 2) add further interest to your subject. Would be cool with an even darker skin colour