"Run Like Hell" (Aaaaaand we're done!)

[panzerconor]

I've already got a thread going on Armorama, so I figured I'd post my side project on here. 

It's Jaguar's "Poncho Stretcher Bearer" resin kit. I had been watching it on eBay for more than a year and when I saw there was one left, I snagged it...for $37 dollars. So the fact that I spend enough for 3 DML figure kits on one resin kit is my motivation to do this one right

The box art:


I was nervous about getting the standing figures positioned so that they're carrying their comrade correctly. But, this kit practically fell together. Everything fits perfectly, except for some arms which needed putty work, and when the torso meets the legs. But, even that went together perfectly. 


IMG_1629 by ronoc29, on Flickr


IMG_1630 by ronoc29, on Flickr


IMG_1631 by ronoc29, on Flickr

The dining room lighting is not great for pictures, and it's hard to show the remarkable detailing without priming the figures. I've done some adjusting since those were taken, and all I've got left is some putty work, then primer. I'm not operating at 100% due to a complication from surgery back in August, but I'll be able to get back into the swing of things again by next week. At least I'm not as messy as Fritz here...


IMG_1632 by ronoc29, on Flickr


IMG_1633 by ronoc29, on Flickr

What else to say...Ah! Yes, the gear on these guys is phenomenal as well. Everything sits perfectly. To top it all off, it came with a little vignette base for them. So, before long I'll have these bad boys primed and ready to go. I've got some good references for painting too...

IMG_1601 by ronoc29, on Flickr
Thanks for looking!

-Conor

[deafpanzer]

Figures look real good! Count me in please...

[wbill76]

Ought to be a fun project, looking forward to you bringing it to life.

[Leon]

Count me in Conor,nice to see some figures on the bench.

[bullardino]

Interesting vignette, count me in

[robbo]

This looks interesting mate, the camo looks good, should work well

[tobias5555]

I really like the figures.

[panzerconor]

Thanks for the comments guys, this one is pretty fun.

Well I've been doing stuff since the last update, albeit very slowly. I'm limited to the kitchen table for a while, so there's no more nights up til 1 or 2 working away. Which might be good for me actually... But anyways, moving right along. The kit came with a base to my surprise, pretty detailed as well. There's even footprints to mark where the figures will go. I spray painted it black, then used thinned AK earth effects. Came out with a very, very dark base coat. But I was going for this look, because I've got some cool earth products to put over it.



IMG_1645 by ronoc29, on Flickr

The colors are off in the picture, my camera couldn't get the colors right. There's more contrast in the colors and it's not quite as black.

So all the figures have been primed, and it brings out the detail:



IMG_1646 by ronoc29, on Flickr



IMG_1647 by ronoc29, on Flickr



IMG_1648 by ronoc29, on Flickr



IMG_1649 by ronoc29, on Flickr

And in the past couple days I've started the skin tones. Slowly but surely I'm getting better, been following Spud's how-to on here. I just need the tones to blend more I think. Suggestions?



IMG_1652 by ronoc29, on Flickr



IMG_1653 by ronoc29, on Flickr



IMG_1654 by ronoc29, on Flickr



IMG_1655 by ronoc29, on Flickr



IMG_1663 by ronoc29, on Flickr

See what I mean? I know what I'm doing, I'm just having trouble doing it right. He still needs cleanup around the eyes and what not, but that's where I'm at now.

Here's the other 3...



IMG_1664 by ronoc29, on Flickr



IMG_1662 by ronoc29, on Flickr

WARNING: This dude got carried away by the cat while I was out with my friends, and he now looks ugly:



IMG_1666 by ronoc29, on Flickr


Yikes. He also had his MP40 broken off, so now I've got to give it a prosthetic end from a Dragon one. I've christened him "Headwound Harry" seeing as his forehead is now a mess. Regarding the skin tones, I think the issue is that I didn't thin the paints enough, but I'm not 100% sure. Like I said I've still got some clean up work to do on the eyes, which are a pain to paint. The guy who sculpted the figs made the eyes too sunken in, and it's near impossible to 1) see what I'm painting and 2) tell if the what's the eye and what's the eyelids. Won't attempt too much with them, it would only lead to disaster. Probably going to get more done this afternoon or early tomorrow. I really want to do the smocks on there guys 

So thanks for looking and for any feedback!

-Conor

[wbill76]

Can't offer you any pointers Conor since I'm not a figure painter but the cat-snatch and resulting damage did make me smile, especially since you've 'repurposed' the damage into a fitting wound!

[tigrazor]

Dogs are eating homework, cats carry aaway model figures! Yeah, cats are humans as well (thats what Hemingway said at least).

Right decision mate - if youre not sure how to paint the eyes, just leave them out. Will you paint some Highlights on the faces?

[deafpanzer]

No question the cat is fighting for the Allied... wound looks natural to me now. LOL

[panzerconor]

Thanks guys. I am going to have a go at more highlights, the tones right now make them look like zombies lol. Right now I've got some new Vallejo paints on the way, and they should get here Tuesday or Wednesday. But for now I've started painting the smock on one of the soldiers. It's thinned down Splinter Blotches II and German Camo Pale Brown, then for the shadows I used the same splinter color mixed with German Camo Black Brown. All are thinned with water to a 1/4 to 2/3 ratio... I haven't paid too close attention haha. Anyways, here's what I got:

Base

IMG_1689 by ronoc29, on Flickr

Shadows

IMG_1690 by ronoc29, on Flickr

You can sort of see where I worked on the eyes as well... I stole a pair of my parents reading glasses, it helped lol. Perhaps it's time I invested in an optivisor.

Before I forget, here is Headwound Harry again. The picture gives the colors far too much contrast...I'll have to check my camera settings. Still work to do on his eyes.


IMG_1697 by ronoc29, on Flickr

The cat!


IMG_1691 by ronoc29, on Flickr


Evil 4-legged fur-bearin' monster...

So that's what's happened, I'll probably have an update in a couple days. I'm just beginning to realize that this whole scale modeling thing requires something called "patience." I think that's some kind of ancient Latin word...

Thanks for looking!

-Conor

[panzerconor]

Today turned out to be more productive than I had thought. No work on the faces, but I'm near finished with one of the smocks and one pair of pants. The last figure will get autumn colors, so I'm waiting until I have the colors for that. Last soldier will get standard field grey...maybe camo trousers, but we'll see.

Pictures were a bit rushed, so they're a little blurry at parts. I think I've said this in every post, but the lighting in this room is crap for taking pictures, so they appear slightly different than in person. I'm gonna stop talking now



IMG_1700 by ronoc29, on Flickr



IMG_1701 by ronoc29, on Flickr



IMG_1702 by ronoc29, on Flickr



IMG_1705 by ronoc29, on Flickr

So it's Headwound Harry and that other guy who now have Plane Tree 37 camo. I got my laptop right here at the table so I had references with me the whole time. I used this one quite a bit:



I tried replicating the diamond-like shapes on the dude on the left's trousers. To an extent, it worked, but it got blended in with the dots, and now it's hard to see lol. So next up is most likely the oak leaf smock, highlights/shading, and facial touch-ups (if those ever end). 

Thanks for looking!

-Conor

[wbill76]

Moving right along Conor! Never trust a Siamese...they are particularly evil.

[remarc777]

Hi there Conor,

Color of the camouflage looks spot on to me. Very interesting subject you have here, the expressions on those faces are pretty cool and detailed.

Got a question though: In close up it looks like a few faces have a rough casted skin. True or just my imagination?

greetings, Richard.

[panzerconor]

Nov 4, 2013 21:48:39 GMT -5 remarc777 said:

Hi there Conor,

Color of the camouflage looks spot on to me. Very interesting subject you have here, the expressions on those faces are pretty cool and detailed.

Got a question though: In close up it looks like a few faces have a rough casted skin. True or just my imagination?

greetings, Richard.

Not rough casted skin, the faces are literally perfect. It's the paints I'm afraid. I'm still learning when it comes to thinning the paints correctly, and the contrasting colors and shades, along with some paints thicker than others, give the impression of a rough cast.

But, the Headwound Harry figure does have a rough cast. Not Jaguars fault there, that's actually my own fault. I decided to sculpt the top of his head rather than give him a helmet, and for the most part, it worked very well. But as you can see, I left them all alone on the table to dry when the cat snatched him up. The milliput I use now doesn't seem to cure right. It gets firm, but still soft, and the figures play date with the cat ruined his forehead and the left half of his hair. But that's the only truly rough part... I tried fixing it by repainting it as a nasty wound. Still needs work.

But other than that any rough-looking effects are my own wrong doing on an otherwise brilliant little vignette. After spending $33 dollars on these guys I'm determined to get it right though hahaha. If you look at the little step-by-step I did of the first face you can see where the paint stopped being thinned correctly (or I just rushed) and it got rough. But for the most part, I think I've fixed that. Just got to focus on getting the eyes right...and being patient about it hahaha. I'm slowly starting to get the faces to look right, very, very slowly. The helmeted soldier will be mostly left alone face-wise, his eyes are pretty well hidden and are a pain to paint.

I've gone and rambled. Sorry about that lol.

Tomorrow my new paints arrive, so in the afternoon I'll be working on that, instead of homework. Because I know where my priorities are 

Thanks for looking in guys

-Conor

(And yes Bill, the Siamese is nothing but fur-bearing trouble  By the way, I saw a Pakwagon in Fine Scale Modeler today...the modelers name rang a bell...)

[panzerconor]

Alright gents, a little update then. Got this today:



IMG_1709 by ronoc29, on Flickr

Good things come in small UPS packages 

But I spent a good amount of the evening with some on the job training, painting my Oak Leaf B pattern:



IMG_1706 by ronoc29, on Flickr



IMG_1707 by ronoc29, on Flickr



IMG_1708 by ronoc29, on Flickr

After seeing the pics, I've added a few dots here and there, nothing worth photographing yet. That's actually a mix of two different camo schemes, Oak Leaf A and B. Just some reference confusion on my part, but it's not noticeable. Hell, I'm not sure I even notice it. Started painting field grey as well, but only base coats. Probably will have an update tomorrow or Thursday.

Autumn camo and field grey, a lot of that coming up

Thanks for looking!

-Conor

[wbill76]

Have to be careful about what you read Conor! Pattern looks good from here.

[deafpanzer]

WOW! Outstanding work on the camo!

[panzerconor]

Thanks for the feedback fellas, I appreciate it. Well the mayhem continues, got quite a bit done now that I think of it.

Field grey! Actually, field grey, german tank crew, afrika korps tank crew, flesh highlights, and dark camo green. When all is said and done, that's field grey

Our fallen soldier finally got the colors he deserved.



IMG_1710 by ronoc29, on Flickr



IMG_1711 by ronoc29, on Flickr

Plane tree autumn for that side of the poncho, other gets spring/summer. I figure the orange against the field grey will provide some good contrast. He, like the rest of his buddies, has tears on his uniform. Haven't pained those yet, but you can clearly see where they go. His trousers are the german tank crew color, his tunic is standard field grey. The slight variations work well I think.

During that mess I did the pants and collars on the rest of the guys. Finally got around to doing the oak leaf autumn camo on this guy too. Field grey on his trousers chipped a bit on the high points and at the shins, but I've since fixed it.



IMG_1713 by ronoc29, on Flickr



IMG_1715 by ronoc29, on Flickr



IMG_1716 by ronoc29, on Flickr

It's either because the paints weren't thinned properly...or because that's where I held him when I painted the oak leaf lol. Doesn't matter, I'm beyond happy with the overall results. These Vallejo paints really are amazing...should've invested last year hahaha. 

Finally our last two kameraden. Not much on the first dude besides the collar. But, I remembered that the SS camo tunics were reversible, and there's a small ring of the opposite sides scheme around the bottom of the tunics. So, I added that too. Pretty simple, just a thin line here and there with a few different colors. The base coat is the same for both, so I only used brown orange and black brown.



IMG_1714 by ronoc29, on Flickr

Ugh, this face still makes me grimace. Not really, but it is pretty ugly lol



IMG_1712 by ronoc29, on Flickr

So that's all for now! Next up is probably the final touches on the camo and field grey, then I'll have to bloody them up a bit where need be. 

Thanks for looking!

-Conor

[wbill76]

Lots of contrasts to make them all stand out as individuals without seeming out of place in the setting Conor. Keep it up!

[panzerconor]

An update! At long last! Well I've nearly finished the figures, just touch ups and maybe some dry brushing left. Stuck them onto the base and have started groundwork. I had surgery Monday and as a result, sitting down is a pain. In fact, anything except standing or lying on my side hurts hahaha. But I toughed it out today. Aaaand, here we go:





They blend well to the base, more so than I had thought they would. Anyways, I've just got a bit left to do before I call them done

-Conor

[deafpanzer]

It is really looking GREAT! I really like the facial expressions on those figures...

[Leon]

Awesome work Conor.Have to agree with Andy on the facial expressions.

[wbill76]

Nice job bringing them all together.

[remarc777]

Hi there Conor,

Very nice scene you have there, the whole really gives me a feeling of chaos and despair. Emotion really nice captured!

greetings, Richard.

[Tojo72]

Really impressive,those guys look great

[Deleted]

... Gorgeous and evocative relief of a wounded. Congratulations for the good work of the diorama.
Jorge.

[Deleted]

Don't know why it takes so long for all the pics to load, but this is some fantastic work!

[panzerconor]

Thanks for the comments guys, means a lot   As of now I guess it's basically done, might revamp the groundwork closer to ValleyCon in March. I took these pictures a while ago but never got around to uploading them, simply because I'm lazy and that is not a good combo with work & school. Haven't got hardly any bench time in the past weeks or so   My Christmas season project will turn into a New Years project lol



IMG_1762 by mullinator7, on Flickr



IMG_1768 by mullinator7, on Flickr



IMG_1771 by mullinator7, on Flickr



IMG_1772 by mullinator7, on Flickr

So I guess that's that! Thanks for looking


-Conor