Hey guysm here is my Wip us marines guadalcanal 1942 by Dml. The poses are nothing special, and the molding is fairly good for plastic!


Progress so far, i think i need a new brush, shading is harder than it should be currently..


I was not happy with this face so it has been stripped.


all for now!

The seam between the head and torso is pretty clear in that photo. You may want to fill and smooth that out.

As another option, you may want to paint it white, and call it a t-shirt??

oops!! thats a shame as i have been trying to keep seams e.t.c to a minimum. On with the filler. and off with the paint.

Looks great so far, but what's your technique for shading? I've got a few figures that look pretty good but I need to touch up on my shading a bit.

hello James,

Nice start here. i have this set and I've painted two of them. I found the poses very natural and drmatic, especially the one neraly kneeling. for me the seam is not that dramatic. a small touch of magic sculpt and it's over.
The back of the first figure looks good.
All the best,
Julien

did you watch the MXPRESSION video ? its got all you need to know.What is the color most used for darkening flesh paint for shadows ?

Hey guys, Been doing a Lil painting... after finally getting some primer ( vallejo is a lady on plain plastic) I got to work. and have done my best eyes yet! on a Styrene figure No less.
These is still a long way to go...
Amin, No i have not had the pleasure of watching the DVD.
There is a screenshot on the web, showing the flesh colours used.
HERE

borrowed form this review...
http://www.themodellingnews.com/2011/11/mxpression-painting-135-figure-with.html

THIS is Not the mix i am currently using. Although i am going to try it out.


so my progress..
the face looks rougher in photos than in real life, I may add some satin to the base of the next one to avoid this.?? Any thoughts





Eyes were Vallejo Light flesh 928 Then some Black mixed with light flesh , then gloss varnish.

Nice work James, looks very good. A dark leather brown is also quite good for doing 1/35 eyes.

Thanks Karl! I have a go-to brown, so ill give that a pop on Marine No 2

These are some beautifully sculpted figures and you are doing them justice. I use cheap, brown watercolors for deep line shading on flesh. But, it doesn't stand a chance when compared with yours. I just wish that a manufacturer would come out with some US figures with open jackets or in their undershirts, as was common in the PTO.

Thanks Matt! Really appreciate the comment! One manufacturer that has Taken some steps into the PTO ( resin though) is Evolution. And i'm really considering getting them!
This set has an open shirt
http://www.evolution-miniatures.com/35/images/41.jpg
This one is half open
http://www.evolution-miniatures.com/35/images/33.jpg


The turorial i follow is..
http://zyclyon-tutorials.blogspot.com/2009/03/1_28.html
By Calvin Tan,
Well, not very closely, but it gives me the correct parts to Shade!

Does anyone know if these uniforms had Rank Stripes? I cannot find any evidence to prove it?.

Matt- I happen to have a Verlinden catalogue handy and there's two sets which might be of use to you- 2060 and 2313.

James- you should consider getting some acrylic retarder and trying it out- there's a lot of different things you can do with it, from wet on wet blending to sfumato to controlled acrylic filters and washes.

James,

Usually just the globe and anchor on the chest pocket. If rank stripes were applied they were usually printed (black) directly on the uniform.

These are a nice set with great faces but as has been mentioned, you need to sort out the neck joint and you are good to go.

With regard to the graininess on the flesh, how many coats of paint are you using ? I usually "scrub" all parts with worn scotchbrite to really smooth the surface before painting and use probably three to four really thin coats.

Bit of a blog here might help.

Andy

The neck joint is a little better, But im to happy with my current face to go back... Haha. I dont have an airbrush so priming is done with a rattlecan.
Coats, Hmm, maybe 2-3 basecoats. Ill heat up my can a little next time to increase atomisation.
did a little shading, and some more basecoats



Whoops, quick edit, Im getting the archer set, and would like to use more than just the Globes. So i'll be ranking 'em!

Hey guys, I have noticed for my current figure that the webbing is too dark, so on figure number 2, I'm going to attempt a more buff like colour.
I have added so far, 1x usmc and globe. 1x 2 stripe ( Lance corperal??) rank stripe on his left arm ( the instructions said that they were rarely used, but someone had to use em !!)
and a U.s on the canteen ( hard to see due to too dark canteen base)

James- the decals look good. I think lightening the webbing is a good idea but I wouldn't go too far with it. Although now I think about it the conditions in the Pacific would probably have bleached the colors quite easily so going very light might be interesting.

The gun is not bad either- I assume you are using Vallejo paints? You should try and get a hold of the Old Wood color and another called 'Wood Grain' which is transparent and is a fairly decent way of creating scale grain. I sometimes use Raw Umber oils over Old Wood- I let it dry for a while (about a week- yeah its very slow) and then run a brush lightly up and down to create a 3D wood grain, and if you rub more firmly you can reveal more of the Old Wood color suggesting very heavy wear. It seems to work better in larger scales, but it is definetly worth a go if you have the time to set a weapon aside to dry for a while.

Thanks for the input Karl I'll pick up those vallejo colours next time I shop, Was also looking at the lifecolour weapons set.
I have already glued on the gun, and the paint has chipped a little, What I am going to do, is touch it up, Let it cure for a day, then go over with thin oils ( it needs a blue wash anyway)

So apart form the weapon, and anything else anyone can point out ( within reason) I call Marine #1 Done. Who to paint next...

Some Photos

Well a couple of observations

1- Marines of 1MarDiv on Guadalcanal did NOT have the M1 Carbine during their time on the canal in 1942. The received them in Australia afterwards while retraining. The Long M1905 Bayonet would have no way to mount on the carbine and the M4 Carbine Bayonet wasnt issued until late 1944. The carbine itself would not have the Barrel band with abyonet mount until late 1944 as well.

2- The 10 Pocket Cartridge belt is wrong for a Carbine armed Marine. 15 rd Carbine magazines do not fit in the belts pockets and ammunition was issued in 50 rd boxes loose until the korean war.

where did you get these harnesses from?or how did you make them?

B3A that has now been amended. thanks for the info.

Amin, The harness was a offcut of photo etch and a spare buckle. You can use paper and cut it to size too if you want.

Thats a fine looking figure you've got there James- really nice work.

As for that Lifecolor set- I have seen people achieve really nice results with it but I tried Lifecolor paints ages ago with an airbrush and for a bit of brush painting- I found they brushed somewhat like Tamiya, perhaps I was mixing them wrong or something but they didn't agree with me !

Hey Karl, I never had problems brushing lifecolour, But im probably going to go with the colours you suggested anyway, i can tint the colours with oils afterwards.
I an a little dissapointed with the figure, hopefully they will improve with the next marine!!

Don't be dissapointed James- every model is practice and in this game that makes perfect! Its a cliche yes, but it really does work. I have older models of mine and I can compare my figure (and AFV) painting skills of them with the models I am doing now and there is a world of difference- down to practice and experimenting and for me it was just doing figures over and over until I began to enjoy it.

I would really recommend doing a bust at some point though- the Verlinden ones are very cheap these days and they aren't Young Miniatures quality but they are good- getting to know the ins and outs of a larger scale figure is useful for when you do smaller scales. You get to understand and practice things on a bigger, more forgiving canvas, then you can put that knowledge to good use on smaller scales.

Hey James, correcting the carbine was needed, and the rest looks good to go. Nice job so far, want to see it all done up and what you come up with for the base. I liked this sets posses so much that I p/u 3 of them and want another. The bar gunner is the only one I'm not happy with, will change the head. Just waiting for the 4th set to come out to complete the series I plan. For lighting up the web gear on the first one, if you still care to, dry brush some model master dessert sand, should lighten it up and give it that sun washed look. Good luck with the rest of it. Looking forward to some more.

Cheers Karl, you have had me looking at busts for the last few days, i think being a little bit of a snob i may have to go for a young miniatures bust( if i can catch one on sale), they look fantastic, I had a look on historex at the verlinden busts, and couldn't see much i Really liked. what are the other reliable brands for busts, and whats a good scale to start? 1/9-10? Appreciate the help with my work, and im really looking forward to improving.

Bob, Don't expect too much my base making is average at best, i was thinking of a small strip ( my storage cabinet is size limited) 4x15cm, 2cm up, wooden, perhaps with just samplings of jungle floor. im not too sure yet .

Camera has been reclaimed by its true owner(dad) so untill i can "borrow" it back no photos. at least i'll have more time to model