(Completed) RAF Bomber Command, WW2

This will be my last bust for 2014.

A challenging yet rewarding bust to work on. Painting the textures on the various accessories was time consuming but the additional dimension it brought to the bust made it worthwhile :)

(WIP 3) RAF Bomber Command, WW2

Approaching the finish line for this bust. Some straps and buckles to paint and attach.

Overall I enjoyed bringing this bust to life. The different materials & fabrics gave me an opportunity to experiment and try different methods.

Just note the oxygen mask and the oxygen hose are cast as separate pieces and should be pinned together. The oxygen hose also needs to be bent into shape. Likewise the cable from the mouthpiece of the oxygen masks needs to be bent and connect to the intercom cables.

(WIP 2) RAF Bomber Command, WW2

Getting back into the groove. Lots of interesting textures and fabrics to experiment on :)

(WIP 1) RAF Bomber Command, WW2

An older looking Brad Pitt :)

A slight variation to the flesh mix. I added some French Blue & Olive Green to the shadow areas.

(WIP 4) Max Wünsche, 12th SS Panzer Regiment, Western Front, 1944, Young Miniatures

After some struggling with the highlights and shadows for the Italian Camouflage jacket, I am calling it done for now. Some lessons I learnt from tackling this camouflage scheme.

• Blues and Reds as shadows Red, being the complementary colour green, when mixed with blue gives violet which gives a nice shadow when glazed into the folds of the sleeves and jacket. Adding more blue gives blue-violet which also complements the blue biased dark green base.

• Work on small areas This time round, I took on the whole bust during each session as opposed to painting and completing an area before moving to the next section. I found this frustrating as given the larger area, it takes more session before results can be observed. Maybe I am just impatient. Next time I will try completing smaller sections before moving on.

• Leather belt While this is not related to the camouflage scheme, it's still part of the jacket. Not wanting to distract the viewer from the camouflage scheme, I went for a simple black belt. Instead of painting it just black, the base colour of the belt was a mixture of Burnt Umber and Carbon Black. Followed by Burnt Umber for highlights and Burnt Umber + Raw Sienna for the final highlight to define the holes in the belt. Carbon Black was carefully painted into the areas where the belt buckle would leave a depression.

• "Panel" Lines While I use a 2/0 brush to draw the lines, the lines are not consistent and are rather "fat" at some points. I guess practise is key here ...

With the camouflage completed, I can take move on to the easier stuff which are the cables for the headset and throat microphone, the map case and his gloves.

(WIP 3) Max Wünsche, 12th SS Panzer Regiment, Western Front, 1944, Young Miniatures

Here's a short update with a WIP photograph showing the highlights and shadows painted in. There is still work to be done in pushing the highlights further.

(WIP 2) Max Wünsche, 12th SS Panzer Regiment, Western Front, 1944, Young Miniatures

With the head completed, its time to tackle the main bulk of the bust. Thankfully I was able to find some pictures online with Max in Italian Camouflage. While these were not the best of photographs, they served its purpose and I was able to replicate some of the patterns on his jacket. Areas which could not been seen from the photographs were based on my imagination :)

The jacket was given a black basecoat followed by application of the base colour. The brown areas have been blocked in. I have yet to add the light green areas. Painting camouflage pattern is often time consuming and I suggest tackling the jacket by parts, especially when this is a big bust. Once the main colours are blocked in, highlighting and adding shadows to the jacket will follow.

Schirmmutze (Peaked Cap)

Field Grey = Ultramarine Blue + Yellow Ochre + White + Brown Madder
Pink piping = Permanent Alizarine + White

M1929 Telo Mimetico "Italian Camouflage"

Base colour = Hooker's Green + Olive Green + Prussian Blue Hue
Brown Areas = Burnt Sienna + Burnt Umber
Light Green Areas = Hooker's Green + Sap Green Olive Green + Yellow Oxide

(WIP 1) Max Wünsche, 12th SS Panzer Regiment, Western Front, 1944, Young Miniatures

Work on the face started after some cleaning, pinning and filling in minor gaps on the bust.

With a quick black basecoat, highlights and shadows were blocked in to define the shape of the face. As I found the face too round for my liking, I introduced more shadows at the cheeks and emphasised the jawline to give the perception of a sharper chin.

The colours (Jo Sonja Acrylics) used to render the face are as follows. 

Base: Raw Sienna + Skin Tone Base + Naples Yellow Hue + Rose Pink

Highlights: Naples Yellow Hue

Shadows: Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Brown Madder

Generally I will put a drop of each colour on the wet palette and mix them as I go along, varying the proportion from time to time. This serves to introduce variation in colours as opposed to painting from a fixed palette of colours. Some of these colours were also diluted for glazing. For example, Brown Madder was used to glaze cheeks, nose area while Raw Sienna mixed with some Brown Madder was glaze to bring parts of the face together.

The white of the eyes was painted with Skin Tone Base.The iris of the eye was painted in Ultramarine Blue with Skin Tone Base added to Ultramarine Blue for the highlights. Black was used for the pupil and White for the catch-light.

The Green Devils, German Fallschirmjäger, Monte Cassino 1944

Thinking of getting some of these printed as post cards :)

(Prelude) Max Wünsche, 12th SS Panzer Regiment, Western Front, 1944, Young Miniatures

The first project of 2014 is a "bust" of Max Wünsche, Sturmbannfuher of the 12th SS Panzer Regiment.

This is a rather large figure as it consists of the subject inside the cupola of a Panther. It's evident that the inspiration for this figure was drawn from the photo of Max in his Panther, which was most likely taken post Normandy.

Atypical of a bust, the body of the subject goes beyond the chest. This presents a great opportunity to work on the M1929 Telo Mimetico camouflage pattern or commonly known as the "Italian Camouflage".  For this project, I am attempting to paint the actual camouflage pattern on Max's jacket and the following photographs will be useful references.

Photographs are crucial when it comes to scale modelling. Not only does it provide excellent reference material on the subject itself, it also sheds light on the setting or mood when the photograph was taken. One can also learn some bits of history and draw ideas from such photos. 

In the third picture, Max while wounded*, is conferring with Kurt Meyer and Fritz Witt. The situation looks desperate as suggested by the body language of both commanders who are both deep in thought.

* The head wound was a result of splinters from an exploding grenade that hit the front plate of a Panther. Max was lucky to survive the incident with a concussion while another 2 panzer crew were not as fortunate.

 

(Completed) German Fallschirmjäger, Monte Cassino, 1944, Young Miniatures

This is my last bust for 2013. With this bust completed, my final production output for 2013 stands at a final tally of 9 busts/figures :)

After experiencing Scale Model World 2013, I felt it was imperative that the "lessons" gleaned from attending the competition should be put to use. This bust started to take form exactly a month ago on 28 Nov after I returned from UK.

For this project, I experimented with a slightly different approach. As with all experimentation, one must be prepared for setbacks. But fortunately, not everything was a disaster

Things that worked

• Bold strokes to mark out highlights This helped to clearly define the facial features of the face early on. With the highlights defined, painting of the shadow areas quickly falls into place. 

• Bold strokes need not be neat Corrections can be made subsequently by blending.

• Graphite gives a nice gun metal sheen Finding the appropriate shade of the graphite pencil is important. Note to self: Get a range of the graphite pencils and make a swatch for reference.

Things that can be improved

• Hairspray technique Excessive chipping on the helmet may be overwhelming and be a source of "irritation" or eye sore. There's a fine line between enough chipping and going overboard. If you noticed from the previous pictures, I repainted the helmet and did the chipping without using hairspray the second time round. A sponge was used instead. While a sponge is easier to control, it still takes practice. 

Closing

On the whole I am satisfied with the progress made with this bust and will continue to build on the lessons learnt from chipping using the hairspray technique.

  

  

(WIP 2) German Fallschirmjäger, Monte Cassino, 1944, Young Miniatures

Be gentle when handling the chin straps and the ammunition belts should you decide to take on this figure. They are rather thin and fragile.

Attaching the chin straps
The chin straps come in 3 pieces which were glued into the recess of the helmet. The chin straps were left till the end as I did not want them to obstruct the face during painting. While it seemed like a good decision as first, fitting the chin straps in place is not an easy task. More so when you risk smearing CA glue over the completed face ! Patience and care are required. As well as a hairdryer to bend the lower chin strap to shape.

Pinning the ammunition belts
The ammunition belts came in 3 separate pieces which had to be linked up. After bending them to fit the contours of the bust, holes were made with a 0.5mm drill and soft wire used to string the belts up. It was no surprise when I accidentally snapped one of the belts during drilling. Thankfully the break was between the bullets and could be fixed by pinning them together.

Painting of the belts
The belts were painted or rather "polished" in the same manner as the MG34. Graphite from a 6B pencil was rubbed onto a cotton swab (Q-tip for some) which was used to "polish" the belts. (The belts were given a black basecoat prior) In essence its like dry brushing. The end result is a rather pleasant gun metal sheen to the belt links. 

All that remains is the right arm holding onto the MG34. Hopefully it will be done soon and more photos will follow.

(WIP 1) German Fallschirmjäger, Monte Cassino, 1944, Young Miniatures

Rounding up 2013 with the bust of a Fallschirmjäger. The bust is 80% complete and with the Christmas holiday approaching, completion is near :)

The Chosin Few, Korean War, Young Miniatures

2013 marks the 60th anniversary of the Korean War.

This bust is dedicated to those who laid down their lives so that we need not experience the unspeakable horrors they went through.

Remember them.

The Chosin Few.