Hello All,

After getting the "All Gave Some...Some Gave All" vignette completed, I sat down to work on an M16 halftrack that I am working on for the Air Defense Artillery Museum here at Fort Sill, OK when I happened to look to the side of my workbench and saw some sandbags from a Hobby Fan LVTP-5 Crew kit and it gave me an idea for another vignette. This one is called "The NVA sketch we found marked this spot as a CP" which depicts a platoon leader and his RTO reporting in to his company commander (who is standing near the entrance of the CP) what his platoon had found on their way into the patrol base. The Soldiers are from 4th Battalion 39th Infantry of the 9th Infantry Division who were OPCON to the 4th Infantry Division for Operation MacArthur in Darlac Province from 21 November through 11 December 1967. The platoon leader figure is a conversion of one of the figures from the Bravo 6 "Take 5" kit. The right forearm is from the officer from the Bravo 6 Field Briefing kit. The head is from Hornet with a Bravo 6 boonie hat. The claymore bag slung over his shoulder is made of magic sculpt putty with a paper strap. The compass pouch is from Bravo 6 as is the rucksack and accessories. The watch through his button hole is from Eduard's M274 MULE set. The RTO is from Bravo 6 with extra canteens and accessories from Hobby Fan and Bravo 6. The company commander is a converted British Soldier from Accurate Armour with a Hornet head and Vietnam details sculpted in with Magic Sculpt.

Here are some pictures:

















Thanks for looking. If you have any questions about anything that I did, please ask and I will do my best to answer them.

Cheers,
James

This is really high quality work here bubba. You really captured all of the colors very well. And I was in the 1/39th for three years during the 70s.
J

The paintwork on these figures is just amazing- the OD tones and the dirt from the earth is conveyed so well. I particularly like the watch in the buttonhole- a great little piece of detail- and the radio and helmet on the RTO are done to perfection. I have to mention the skin tones too- just ace! The scene is really well composed too- the interaction between the figs is easy to see. Very inspiring work James- thanks for posting.

Top notch work, my friend ! Thanks for posting it here for us to enjoy Cheers!
Kenneth.

Thanks for the positive comments. It motivates me to work on some more figures and vignettes. I am glad you like my work.

Jerry, when you were in 1/39, were they part of the 9th ID at Fort Lewis? I know some of the units from the 9th ID got dispersed after leaving Vietnam. My dad was in the 9th ID in Vietnam from December of 1967 through July of 1968 and I remember when he was stationed in Alaska that a battalion from the 60th Infantry was located at Fort Wainwright while we were there from 1974 through 1979.

Take care and have a great weekend.
James

My Army time frame is later than that. I was in the 1/39 in Charlie Company from 77 to 80 in Baumholder,Germany from the rank of Private no class up to Sergeant. We were in the second Brigade,8th ID and proud to say Triple-A-O!! (anything-anytime-anywhere).
J

Magnificent build. What is the color of the paint that you used for the uniforms? Is it straight from the bottle or your own personal mix? Also, how did you made the radio antennna?

What a small world..!!! Jerry m8, we might actually have met in Baumholder!!

I'm a proud honorary member of the 1/39, Bravo Coy

"D'une Vaillance Admirable"

We used to collaborate a lot with the Baumholder guys (also bringing good Lux beer!! ), as 8th ID provided most of the troops taking part in the "Remembrance Day" festivities organised every year back then in Ettelbrück (Grand Duchy of Luxembourg).

Lots of positive memories there!!!

Cheers

Romain

With all the nostalgia, I should not forget to mention the amazing top notch quality of the figure painting in this vignette!!

And as previously pointed out, the vignette tells a story and does so in a brilliant way!

Congratulations Sir!!! Fantastic show!!!!

Cheers

Romain

It really is a small world in terms of military service. I have seen guys that I was in the Marines with while in the Army. It is quite a unique brotherhood.

The uniform colors are derived from Reaper Acrylic Paints. I use a mixture of Highland Moss and Military Green as the base color. I really don't have an exact mix as various lots of uniforms sometimes had slightly different shades and through use, the fading factor can cause several Soldiers to have several different shades of uniforms even if they did come from the same lot. I use Black Green for the shadows. For highlights I add Vallejo Sunny Skintone. Alot of it comes from trial and error. The good thing able acrylics is that they go on thin and if you mess up, just paint over it.

Cheers,
James

Wow,

really amaziing what you have done with that Figures. Your Figure conversions are brilliant and always an inspiration. I know sometimes it is hard to cut those always excellent Figures from Bravo-6 in two halves but the result is worth it. Your conversion of the Accurate Armour Figure is a great idea. Your work at the Vietnam era Uniform trousers is fantastic too. A "simple" Figure but looks great as it is. Perfect for such a Vignette. I am a fan of your work since the old times of Hard Corp Hobbys and now with that great Figures of Bravo-6 your work is stunning. The paintjob is great too and the little Details like the watch, which is really nice done by Eduard" makes it perfect.

Again, thanks for sharing

Bye, bye

Stefan

Thank you for all of the positive comments about this vignette and the figures.

Stefan, I am still looking forward to seeing your SASR figures with some paint on them:)

Cheers,
James

I am going to be displaying this vignette at the IPMS Scalefest show in Grapevine, Texas along with some other items. I will be showing 7 pieces in all. I will be posting my latest vignette that I made for the "Humor in Modeling" category when I come back.

Have a great weekend,
James

James, good luck at the show, bring home some gold!!

http://www.duffelblog.com/2012/11/sma-chandler-putting-your-hands-in-your-pockets-will-get-you-killed/#!Sp9MB