Hello all,

Mack, for the eyes, if you wan to make the best tradeof between simplicity and effectuiveness, paint a horizontal white line first, a little rond on the top part, and then put a the black dot in eaéch eye, which ave to be synchroneaous with each other (unless you want to depict some squint sniper

Matt I always loved this particular set, I find the poses very action orientated. Unfortunately I read the uniforms were a bit outdated and was relevant for a DCU or woodland but not for MARPAT and alike. I tried to improve one fig of the set but never went further. I'll follow your progress with interest.

Julien

Hi Karl,

Nice work.

These are some of the figures I'll be working on over the coming months, when I get motivated to start!

Good work guys.

Al

Thanks Al. I see you're on a roll with your WW1 figures...lol. Look forward to seeing some more finished after your two exceptional WW1 dios. Any plans yet?

Hi Karl,

The Tank crew will most likely join the Mk IV's I have still to build, I was thinking of a town/canal scene for the advancing Germans coming up against the early BEF as both sets are suited for the early part of the war.

The two ANZAC's are for the second Somme Dio as I never got around to building the soldiers going up the line (I was waiting to see what ICM produced).

The two Paras in chutes I was thinking of doing with a small vehicle, hot cuppa before loading and the civilians are for the 1940 street scene I never got around to finishing.

The two Commandos are repairs for the LCM as I damaged both when cleaning the kit.

Dio wise I have several WW1 artillery pieces to build, so there will be more crew to convert for those and one if not both of the Mk VI's will eventually arrive in a very muddy part of the battlefield lol.

In truth I haven't had the motivation or energy since end of November to get started again, but the brightening days will help.

Cheers

Al

Add one of the problems w/ figure mod's.
It's hard to tell the proportions until you add some putty.

Had to cut the left arm in half and re-position it. That dark spot is the wire inside. Had to get the grinding wheel out to fix that one...

@ Tom. From where I sit, the arm looks a bit hourglass-like. You might want to buildup the outer area of the left elbow just a bit. What do you think?

@ Al. Always good to see your wonderful creations! I hope you get motivated so we can all enjoy what will follow.

I was just wondering … do you (or anyone else) have any insight on civilian figures? I may already have what’s needed for my dio but I’m always looking around for other possibilities — coming up just a little short on females for my Berlin, 1945 setting.

—mike

Hello everyone,

Great job everyone. It seems everybody else is making great progress. I think I'm the slow one on the lot, so here is a quick update. Nothing big, but I was able to finally airbrush primer on my figures. Here's where they are at:



I will be experimenting with AK Interactive's True metal on the knight. We'll see how it goes.

Thanks,

Joseph

Well I got my 3 Guys for my M-26 built

Not my best work and I didnt go to crazy on them being that they will be inside the M-26

'Tug of War' update.

The remainder of my 'Hornet' heads/hands order arrived on Monday. Since then I've done some more FrankenFiguring, puttying dry-fitting, etc. I've got most of these poses close to the way I want them now — two-to-three more females to build. So anyway, here's a rough mockup of the mob.


Let me know what you think.

—mike

Mike - your right. I had to cut w/ wire cutters and it left that divot.

The new and improved Bionic arm...

Cool, much better!

Mike- This "tug of war" is looking to be something else. Not only is it a great idea but the mix of figures is superb. Makes for something to look at all round. I like the way you've modified figures so that they interact. Something a lot of people forget when building figures in dios. Following this one with great interest.

Sal- I hate to say this but if they were my figures I'd strip the paint off and start again. The chevrons are too high, there's areas where the paints come off, some touch ups (the bloke on the right) you've used the wrong colour when touching up and the eyes? What happened there? They have no eyes just a blob of blue scalewise about 4 inches wide? Some may think I'm being brutal but noone learns if critique isn't passed. I see no point in saying something looks great when it's far from it. Half the figs I'm working on for my dio in progress will be in buildings so won't be seen that well but I take as much care over painting them as the ones that will be in the street (even the dead ones face down) so saying they'll be inside a tank and no one will see them is a poor excuse. I thought the aim of this campaign was to improve figures not to just haphazardly splat some paint on a figure in random colours and call it done? Sorry to be blunt but someone had to say it.

Ah, unfortunately most of my work bench activity has been coming ot a grinding halt the last few weeks. Got some deadlines at work that is keeping me busy!


Mike: Your diorama sure does look like it will be something else. VERY impressive scope!

I've started building a few dead Germans for my Arnhem dio so thought I'd stick them in here. As there aren't really that many corpses on the market I decided to make my own. I've spent some time today looking at pictures of battlefield dead so modelled the poses from them. I've not tried major surgery using pins before but was inspired by others using the technique on here. Next stage fillering, filing and tidying up before a base coat.







Fingers crossed they turn out okay

I'm going to have to go into my abattoir tub of Germans again as I need a couple more while I think about it. I have to admit I don't particularly like building figures straight from the box as they inevitably turn up in other peoples dios and they've made a better job of them...lol

Here are the results of AK Interactive's True Metal on my 1/16th French Knight:







It was so easy to brush on and it does shine after buffing. I am impressed with this product and I highly recommend it. Next goal is to brush on gold or brass trims to the armor, after which I will try to weather it up.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but is there some kind of mad dash to call it good and get that campaign ribbon? … Time to slow down, have fun and enjoy the process. Personally, I'm looking forward to learning as much as I can here.

@ Sal, As mentioned, there is room for “improvement.” It might not be necessary to completely strip off the paint, however, it would prove beneficial to continue to work on the details i.e., eyes, shadows, highlights. May I suggest adding helmet straps? — always a nice little touch (can be made from thin strips of copier paper). Just take your time.

—mike

Hi everybody i'm in. I am shocking at figures so I will provide the amusement.
Regards
Ian

Speaking for myself personally, I did enlist in several campaigns not because I want to collect ribbons but rather to be part of a group (albeit virtual) and to finally work on and finish models from my stash. I've been consistently buying and buying kits thinking to myself, "I'll build this someday..." By joining campaigns, I am actually working on the kits and I am having fun in the process. I am enjoying some form of interaction in this mostly, individualist hobby. Growing up in the 1970s, I used to be that "odd" or "loner" kid who preferred to stay indoors and work on models. Now, I see other people's work from around the world! That being said, one of the main reasons I joined this campaign because I do want to improve my figures. I hope I can do justice.

So after a break of about 8 years, im back into modelling again and what better way to start with than a campaign. So Ive dug out an old kit and will build the medic and see how I go with trawling through the vast info on here to pick me back up again.

heres my start up pic.

@ Karl, I'm looking forward to trying the wire armature method somewhere down the road. I'm new to sculpting and haven't had the opportunity to try it yet.

@ Joseph, That shiny armor effect looks very cool!

@ New participants, It's great to see more folks enlisting in this fun campaign!


Thought I’d share a couple of observations I've made regarding figure interaction and line of sight.

Image 1. With exception to subjects walking bye, all eyes are focused on the bicycle’s headlight. When I think of it this way, line of sight seems unrealistic.


Image 2. The bicycle is still the center of attention but many eyes now are making contact with opposing subjects. I’m also starting to move subjects closer together, which hopefully will add a sense of congestion to the scene.


Note: This is another reason for my saving final head attachments for the end.

Does this make any sense?

—mike

Mike it makes perfect sense to me. As I mentioned earlier people forget sometimes when building dios that the figures are very small model people and real people naturally interact. They look at each other, talk to each other, all turn and look at a distiurbance etc. Love what you're doing. Can't wait to see the finished result.

I should get started on my figures soon. Ironically, I am bogged down doing a good number of figures for the Market Garden Campaign.

Mike, coming along nicely. A suggestion about placement though. Maybe place a standing quasi-idle Soviet soldier behind the bike woman. This separates and isolates her from the other German civilians. Also, maybe position one of the Soviets sort of watching the crowd for any would-be "white knights that might decide to intervene.

Sal, I've never been a fan of Tamiya's figure heads. They just paint badly for me.

Twisted minds think alike! As seen in reference image, note the KGB spy shadowing the crowd (white figure w/brimmed hat, top left).

Nice concept Mike, good figure interaction.

Cheers

Al