1/35 US 82nd Airborne, D-Day

Hello all!

I started this figure a while ago so figure I’d add the in progress shots I’ve taken. Especially as D-Day US Paras remain popular!

This is a Gecko figure from one of their Cushman motorcycle sets.

The detail is soft, because the plastic is soft, but the pose is really natural and well executed.

I replaced the head with a Hornet resin head, and tried to sharpen up some details with a knife blade but this was tricky as the plastic is so horrible!

I resculpted the hands as I wasn’t happy with how the looked, and added some pocket detail in epoxy. I also added a rifle sling in milliput as well.

I replace the kit canteen with a Tamiya one, and also made a cut down entrenching tool that some paratroopers used, again from ‘Tamiya




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I am going to place him by a wall, initially one by the Church in St Mere English, but I also found some footage of the 82nd in a nearby village. But the stone will be the same.
I used a blue styrofoam to make the wall, coated with a milliput slurry.





image

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Painting is done in acrylics….mostly Vallejo and AK Gen 3 paints, with some added Games Workshop colours.




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Looks great Rob. What is your technique for the face?

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A good base coat, then thin layers building up shadows and highlights.
The colours I use are the same as Jaume Ortiz uses….he has videos on YouTube under Vallejo. Sure you’ll know his work.
I don’t work exactly as he does, but he colours are the same

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Thanks will check it out as that is my main struggle with figures. Well the one spot I am not as happy with anyway.

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This is the article I first used before YouTube became common place.

Jamie’s face painting on Planet Figure

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When google his name that was the first hit I got. :+1:

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Excellent job on tweaking that figure. I do have many sets of plastic figures, mostly Dragon but some I find rather soft. I have been painting mostly resin figures as of late and have gotten very spoiled by their quality. Excellent job on the face ! Can’t wait to see it fully painted .

I try to follow Jaime Ortiz face painting methods as well - with varying degrees of success. The guy is amazing. Again that face came great Rob

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The M42 jump uniform is tricky to get right, although I guess there’s quite a bit of variety. Using photos of original pieces and re-enactors I came up with this.



It’s mostly Canvas Tone and Khaki mixed 50;50 with a dash of the others….

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Damn! That’s some really nice work!

Thanks @SSGToms

I further refined the uniform, and also began painting his webbing. The details are very poor compared to a resin Alpine figure, but you can work out that each bit is with constant reference to photos.




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As I said before you’re making this figure look aces Rob.
As far as the color of those uniforms goes, you have a variety of colors you can use to get close to it.

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Thanks @metalhead85
I’m a big believer in if it looks right……

Someone pointed out that his boots and ankles looked odd….indeed they are very skinny! So it began niggling me so I thought I’d solve it.

As I’d already base coated the boots, I though I would test an idea….I mixed some epoxy putty and mixed it with the same paint. I then carefully sculpted wider ankles….hopefully you can see the subtle but important differences in these two photos…


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Yes definitely can tell. They look much better. The previous pic shows them a little too thin.

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And this is where he is currently…

More refining, more equipment painting, Garand done.

And made my brain explode by sculpting his boot laces. 12 loops per boot. I used epoxy and added paint to it, then rolled out a very very thing string. I used PVA to help the small lengths to stick, then curved them to the boot and cut to length!! Phew!

But so worth it.


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Looks great Rob. :+1:

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Laces look great too Rob !

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You’ve really worked magic with this Rob! The bootlaces were totally worth the effort. You have a great paint job there too- every fold and crease is picked out and really shows off the details.

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