It seems like several of us experience the same problem in regards to close up and at arms length. I have watched several videos and have read countless articles, but never seem to het the same results. The ones that amaze me are a few Japanese painters who use digital microscopes that allow them to paint incredible details.
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@G-man69 ,
I am glad that you found it and are going to follow this project. I hope it turns out well. Getting the figures, backdrop, and accessories built and painted is the fun part. The thing I don’t look forward to is the groundwork.
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@oliver ,
Thanks, Oliver. It is good to see you on here.
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Today I completed the sixth of the eleven figures for this diorama. He is a conversion of a WW2 German from Bravo 6. I scraped away all of tge German uniform details and sculpted in the jungle fatigue details. The boots are from Legend. I originally built this figure in a slightly different form for a MEDCAP diorama, but decided that I wanted to use the body for this diorama so I broke off the head and arms. I replaced the head with on from the Tanker head set from Royal Models. I scraped away the CVC helmet and sculpted the ears before placing a boonie hat from Bravo 6 on his head. The arms are from one of Masterbox’s latest Vietnam kits with a right hand from a figure I sculpted that is produced by Custom Dioramics that is part of their Yanks figure line.
And here he is mixed in with some of the other figures.
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Nice work
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Thank you, Dan.
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That is a finely observed pose and matching facial expression on the fig James- just right for the relaxed and amiable situation.
I hear you (and the other fellas above) when it comes to getting paint right. Hairs and stray bits of debris etc are a right PITA. Very little you can do though, other than be vigilant and have a moist brush on hand to try and wipe it away. One thing I’ve started doing recently is taking in progress pictures of my figure work- it can help to do it at various stages to look for any issues you can’t easily see when looking at it normally. Phone cameras are so good these days they will pick up any issues and you can zoom in to the pictures to easily see problem areas. If I’m unsure, say, about how a color transition is going then I will sometimes take a picture and study it, zooming in and out and moving around in close up to see where I’m going wrong or (hopefully) to see if I’m getting it right!
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@Karl187 ,
Thank you. You got to have happy expressions on Grunts’ faces when they are around pretty women. 
Thanks for mentioning the in-progress photos. I have been doing that for a while and have managed to catch some things that I have been able to fix, but sometimes I run across something that I cannot fix or it gets worse as I am trying to fix it, such as eyes or transitioning of shadows and highlights on a face. However, most of the time it is a very useful practice that can save a figure before it is finished.
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All the figures look great.
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Thank you.
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About an hour ago I completed the seventh of the eleven figures for this diorama. He is a conversion of one of the figures from the Bravo 6 “Take Five” figure kit. I painted him so his uniform looks a bit more faded than some of the others.
I don’t have a photo of him on my phone, but this figure turned out looking like the platoon sergeant from the Flame Platoon.
If I can maintain this momentum I should be able to get this diorama completed by the end of March.
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I wasn’t able to get any bench time for a couple of days until yesterday when I was painting the seated GI figure for this diorama. Somehow he got bumped off the bench and got damaged so instead of losing momentum by trying to fix him right now, I started and completed the third Donut Dolly figure that depicts Emily who was known for bringing her guitar with her when visiting units. Since the diorama is showing one of the recreational program games being played, her guitar will be leaning on something beside her while she waits for her turn to do a sing along.
While the head that I had chosen for this figure resembled Emily, unfortunately my painting doesn’t resemble her that well. However, the guys that knew her will recognize some features like her hair and the guitar, so they will know who it is supposed to be.
Here is the figure by herself and with the other three Donut Dollies.
And here are some more of the figure. It probably could look better, but it is not bad for one that I completed in one day.
Three more figures to go…
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Since we have severe weather on the way and didn’t want to be in the middle of painting a face if a tornado warning came about, I did only minimal painting of the next figure (eyes and some outlining). Instead, I painted and installed a door to the conex facade being used as the background for this diorama. It serves two purposes - first it extends the area of the background behind the figures and it also gives the impression that work was being done prior to the guys taking a break when the Donut Dollies arrived. Here are some photos of possible positioning of crates and pallets.
Hopefully I can do more work on figures tomorrow.
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I completed the ninth of eleven figures for this diorama. He is a slight conversion of a figure I sculpted that is produced by Custom Dioramics in their Yanks figure line. I replaced the head with one from Hornet and added a short brim boonie hat from Bravo 6. The ERDL camo pattern is copied from a hat that I have. After looking at the photos I have a few places that I need to touch up, but overall I am pretty pkeased with him.
Only two more to go!
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Such fabulous paint work on your figures… 
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He’s excited to see the ladies! Nice work!
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Outstanding job James. Great paint work there! You are a figure machine !
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I notice they’re all drinking Carling’s Black Label. Worst cat piss on the planet. Kind of goes along with Dragon’s “Black Label”.
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We were repairing the runway at Plieku and finished up for the night. They brought out a trailer filled with ice and beer and sodas. You guessed it, Black Label! The cans were the old metal and had rust on them. But it was beer and it was cold! Wayne
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Great paint job James, and an excellently rendered natural pose, outstanding work, 
.
G, 
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