Campaign :: Improve your figures!
Barcelona, Spain / España
Joined: August 31, 2005
KitMaker: 1,380 posts
Armorama: 845 posts
Posted: Monday, February 09, 2015 - 04:25 PM UTC
Hello the figure painters,
This thread is starting to get alive ! Very cool to see some figgies around on this site, especially enhanced one.
Mike your project looks really interesting. I always have been frightened by the PE stuff. Does that come with the Masterbox set. Is it easy to use ?
On my end, with a little girl aged 4 months, free time is damned scarce, and physical strengh is close to the one of a grandpa.... I still managed though last week to paint one of my alpine 1/35 GI. A little gem. I'll try to post pictures here, but I guess it will not fit the bill for that campaign as I didn't operate any transformation on him.
I'll try to think if I can have my hand on a figure to improve. Does that count if I take a non finished modified figure started a few years ago and finish the work ? Or shall I go to the unfinished business campaign instead
:) ....
All those posts are emulating. I'll do my best to join the fun.
Julien
http://leroyaumedekinggeorges.blogspot.fr/
Ontario, Canada
Joined: May 28, 2006
KitMaker: 172 posts
Armorama: 122 posts
Posted: Monday, February 09, 2015 - 08:54 PM UTC
Julien - In the rules section, there is nothing stated requiring that a figure be modified in order to qualify.
regards,
Jack
Barcelona, Spain / España
Joined: August 31, 2005
KitMaker: 1,380 posts
Armorama: 845 posts
Posted: Monday, February 09, 2015 - 09:49 PM UTC
Hello Jack,
You are right, I must have overinterpreted the title of the campaign. I think though that this figure won't be eligible because I started it before the start date of the campaign. I'll try to post one picture or two anyway in this thread.
Julien
http://leroyaumedekinggeorges.blogspot.fr/
Colorado, United States
Joined: February 24, 2014
KitMaker: 3,033 posts
Armorama: 2,492 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 - 12:12 AM UTC
Quoted Text
... Mike your project looks really interesting. I always have been frightened by the PE stuff. Does that come with the Masterbox set. Is it easy to use? ...
Merci, Julien! When I originally saw a review of the MB bicycle here on Armorama, I went into web-search mode which produced the reference photo and set my wheels spinning! Then, Johan submitted this great campaign idea, and here we are!
The PE does come with the kit and MB offers four versions of the bicycle — three of which include some nice figures.
MasterBox Bicycle Kits PE scares the hell out of me too but little by little, I'm getting better with it — a few specialized tools help greatly. The spoked rims were actually the easier part of the build — the soft styrene petals and right rear fork being the most delicate.
Hopefully, I'll post some more FrankenFigure progress soon.
—mike
Barcelona, Spain / España
Joined: August 31, 2005
KitMaker: 1,380 posts
Armorama: 845 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 - 01:56 AM UTC
http://leroyaumedekinggeorges.blogspot.fr/
Stockholm, Sweden
Joined: October 15, 2013
KitMaker: 444 posts
Armorama: 428 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 - 02:30 AM UTC
Quoted Text
I think though that this figure won't be eligible because I started it before the start date of the campaign. I'll try to post one picture or two anyway in this thread.
Julien
oui monsieur! as per rule number 5. "Figures can not be started before the start date of the Campaign."
However I am really glad you shared. The figure look awesome! Can we hope you start another one and share some more tips on how you achieve such a nice finish?
Louisiana, United States
Joined: October 21, 2013
KitMaker: 38 posts
Armorama: 29 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 - 04:03 AM UTC
Here is my time stamp and my first figure for the campaign. This is the old Dragon German Fallschirmjager "Crete 1941" set. I plan on doing the figure on the far right as a stand alone. I have had this kit in the stash for years but I only now just opened it up. My focus on improvement is to use a different kind of oil paint. Up until now, I have been using titanium white. I have found that titanium white tends to "bleach" everything, especially the flesh tones which end up invariably being too light in the highlights. I am going to stretch out a bit and use flake white which is somewhat translucent. This campaign is all about improvement, so I am going to try something new and see if it ends up improved.
Colorado, United States
Joined: February 24, 2014
KitMaker: 3,033 posts
Armorama: 2,492 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 - 07:29 AM UTC
A little surgery on Crazy Ivan!
Preliminary assembly with comparison shots. Still got lots to do.
I've also begun assembly on nine of the other figures. Until next time.
—mike
#041
Kobenhavn, Denmark
Joined: July 20, 2006
KitMaker: 10,069 posts
Armorama: 4,677 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 - 08:30 AM UTC
Wow, nice conversion so far, Mike. Looks spot on compared to the picture.
Looking forward to see more
Campaign'oholic - 252+ campaigns completed
Illinois, United States
Joined: November 20, 2012
KitMaker: 203 posts
Armorama: 198 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 - 05:39 PM UTC
Hey Guys,
Everyone's work here is really inspiring me!
I'm goin to do the figure with the MP40 and adding a hornet head. Lotsa little challenges here for a relative noob w/figures.
California, United States
Joined: November 13, 2014
KitMaker: 30 posts
Armorama: 29 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 12:03 AM UTC
Thanks Jesper!!
I plan on painting the camo. I'm going to try using a base color and then just spotting the other colors. I'm going to cut a toothpick (cocktail stick) to a square to attempt to avoid the dotted look. I'll post some pictures as I go.
Colorado, United States
Joined: February 24, 2014
KitMaker: 3,033 posts
Armorama: 2,492 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 12:19 AM UTC
@ Andrew: Does that cart come with the set?
@ Andrew and Chris:
Your kit choices are very cool! Why not build all of the figures included in the sets? Personally, I would really love to see them interacting with each other on some sort of a vignette or diorama. Stand-alone seems so very lonely.
—mike
Illinois, United States
Joined: November 20, 2012
KitMaker: 203 posts
Armorama: 198 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 12:52 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Your kit choices are very cool! Why not build all of the figures included in the sets? Personally, I would really love to see them interacting with each other on some sort of a vignette or diorama. Stand-alone seems so very lonely.
—mike
Thanks Mike, and yeah I'd love to do a mini-dio with these guys. The first one is the warm up lap and then I'll see how it goes from there.
Barcelona, Spain / España
Joined: August 31, 2005
KitMaker: 1,380 posts
Armorama: 845 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 01:39 AM UTC
thank you johan for your nice comment.
I can try to find more spare time (I don't know how though) to start a new figure.
I was thinking of that little fellow I started 2 years ago and who sadly joined the spare parts box. I like a lot his pose. He's coming from a masterbox set. I enhanced him with an hornet head and some putty to fill in gaps and make slings and straps. I just primed him.
Would he be eligible for that campaign ? I never have painted asian skin tone, it could be fun. The details of that figure are not at all crisp, so it would force me to overdo the highlight and shadows and to force every details with high contrasts.
http://leroyaumedekinggeorges.blogspot.fr/
Louisiana, United States
Joined: October 21, 2013
KitMaker: 38 posts
Armorama: 29 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 03:08 AM UTC
Mike,
Thanks for your interest. Yes, the drop container with wheels comes with the kit. It even has decals. It would make a great vignette but I prefer just doing stand alone figures right now (I need an "improvement" campaign for my groundwork skills!). For an older "60" series kit, the figures seem to be pretty good.
The kit number is 6070 if you are interested.
Happy modelling.
Andrew
Bayern, Germany
Joined: October 22, 2013
KitMaker: 380 posts
Armorama: 376 posts
Posted: Wednesday, February 11, 2015 - 07:09 PM UTC
Cool Project Mike, nicely done so far.
Quoted Text
nice one fabian. How well does his hand grab the leg/pant of the guy beeing carried?
Thanks, was almost a snug fit the frist time, ooB it would fit perfectly. As I glued the hand in the first time and had to break it up again, it´s not as good as it was...
Continued with creating more undercut:
and added PE soles for the guy who´s beeing carried (Voyager, elements for german military personel)
I´ve added some longer trousers from green stuff to create a bigger variety. It´s not quite a common feature of those tankers, but I wnat to show them a bit out of dresscode
Impossible only means that you haven't found the solution yet.
Stockholm, Sweden
Joined: October 15, 2013
KitMaker: 444 posts
Armorama: 428 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 01:27 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Would he be eligible for that campaign ?
Sorry, only figures started after the campaign date allowed!
Joined: February 26, 2007
KitMaker: 1 posts
Armorama: 1 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 01:33 AM UTC
Hi guys
New guy here, but not to modeling. Been building for 35ish years but mainly aircrafts.
I do build the occational AFV, but unlike for the aircrafts they look much better with a figure. So I suppose I'd better get cracking.
Recently we had a seminar at out local club where a super figure painter showed us how. Now it's time to show that I pay attention :-)
I'll be doing a crew for a sherman I'll be doing as well. I must confess I gave the heads (Hornet) a base coat before the start of the campaign (didn't know about it) but this is how it stands today so I hope it is all right with you guys.
Stockholm, Sweden
Joined: October 15, 2013
KitMaker: 444 posts
Armorama: 428 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 03:08 AM UTC
Quoted Text
I must confess I gave the heads (Hornet) a base coat before the start of the campaign (didn't know about it) but this is how it stands today so I hope it is all right with you guys.
Seeing how they are still on their stubbs and no other construction has been made I'll allow it
Welcome to Armorama!
Colorado, United States
Joined: February 24, 2014
KitMaker: 3,033 posts
Armorama: 2,492 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 08:19 AM UTC
'Tug of War' update:
Tonight, a small mishap … another soft piece of MiniArt plastic (hand and cane) broke and went flying! After about five minutes of searching, I gave up and went into scratch-mode. The minute I finished the replacement, the old piece showed up right in front of me — of course!
Hornet Hand drilled-out to accept some brass wire.
I guess you could say, what followed next was a rather unplanned story within.
“Come now Mother, let's go.” … 
Thanks for the comments, Guys!
—mike
Colorado, United States
Joined: February 24, 2014
KitMaker: 3,033 posts
Armorama: 2,492 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 10:26 AM UTC
Quoted Text
... added PE soles for the guy who´s beeing carried (Voyager, elements for german military personel). ... I´ve added some longer trousers from green stuff to create a bigger variety. It´s not quite a common feature of those tankers, but I wnat to show them a bit out of dresscode.
Fabian, Your pair are coming along nicely! The trowser grab, cuffs, sole upgrade, arm wound all look the part.
—mike
Barcelona, Spain / España
Joined: August 31, 2005
KitMaker: 1,380 posts
Armorama: 845 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 02:01 PM UTC
Hello Guys,
Johan, I knew you were to say that. That's why yesterday night I search for my scrap box to please you and start something COMPLETELY new. My objective is to do this guy
Out of my spare box. I bought this figure years (even decade) ago, and I assume it should be somewhere lost in one of the many cardboaxs I packed recently with figures. I want to show that with some efforts and dedication you can make a nice detailled figure and have fun out of standard ones. I'll use for that spare parts coming from Masterbox and Dragon figures, together with putty and lead foils.
I'll try to post pictures this week end of the early stages.
Fabian, I like your challenge. Starting from very basic Revell figures and turn them into something really interesting. Will you paint them black or will you try some camo on them ?
Mike, you've got a whole army coming along ! I had a good laugh reading your carpet monster experience. I guess we all have faced it once..
Julien
http://leroyaumedekinggeorges.blogspot.fr/
England - East Anglia, United Kingdom
Joined: August 12, 2005
KitMaker: 14,499 posts
Armorama: 11,675 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 03:21 PM UTC
Good to see the campaign underway lots of interesting work going on guys.
Al
'Action this Day'
Winston Spencer Churchill
South Carolina, United States
Joined: December 03, 2009
KitMaker: 2,160 posts
Armorama: 1,906 posts
Posted: Thursday, February 12, 2015 - 10:15 PM UTC
Some starter pictures.
Trumpeter's US Marines 2003 set. I'll probably build two or three of these. I plan on saving the prone figure for a planned sniper vignette. The others probably will be used in a post-apoc style thing.
Trumpeter's PMC In Iraq Armed Assault Team set.
Trumpeter's PMC In Iraq VIP Security set
I've had both of these PMC sets for years and have gotten sick of seeing them in the stash so I'll break down and do something with them. The sets have some issues and have some definite room for improvement. I plan on using them for a End of Days style post-apoc project with them as a retrieval team to get out a scientist that has the cure.
Trumpeter's US Army In Iraq 2005 set. This one has the "optional" vinyl torsos so that'll be something new for me to do. This is another set that has been collecting dust.
I'm starting work on some figures for the Market Garden Campaign so I'm not sure when I'll start these.
Stockholm, Sweden
Joined: October 15, 2013
KitMaker: 444 posts
Armorama: 428 posts
Posted: Friday, February 13, 2015 - 12:00 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Hello Guys,
Johan, I knew you were to say that. That's why yesterday night I search for my scrap box to please you and start something COMPLETELY new.
Thanks for staying positive
Sounds like you got a great plan for your next figure!
