@bwilt ,
Thank you. I am glad you like the figures.
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@Dan ,
Thank you. I am sure they were all glad to see the ladiesā¦
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Thank you. I have been trying to maintain momentum to get these figures cranked out. I think taking pressure off of myself by not trying to achieve the look that better painters are able to achieve and just going with my own style has helped me get past some of the slumps I had been encountering recently prior to this
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@SSGToms ,
I have never tried Black Label, but from what I understand, it was not the number one preferred beer. Unfortunately, either because of the luck of the draw or because they had a lower logistical priority level, pretty much every 2/47 Inf (Mech) Vet I have talked to mentioned that Black Label was what they got 80% of the time or more, so I try to show it whenever possible. Plus the red cans bring some color to the scene. There will be some Coke cans in the scene, too.
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@namengr ,
That was pretty nice to have a trailer full of iced down beer and sodas, Wayne. I bet you guys sure appreciated that after repairing the airfield damage.
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@G-man69 ,
Thank you. Back when I sculpted the original figure, I put on a set of jungle fatigues, got in the pose (Mountain Dew in my hand rather than Black Label), and had my wife take photos from several angles. Then I made the mannequin and sculpted the uniform details as close to the photos as possible.
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I think your style of painting is to be commended and admired- when I see your figs I think they are exemplary lessons in how to go about painting a figure in 1/35. Getting the most out of a fig in a small scale like that is no easy task- bringing out the details in the sculpt, painting facial expressions, doing new vs. worn uniforms and going for various shades of skin tones are all very difficult techniques- and all of which can be appreciated in your work.
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Nice job on the figure, I laughed when I saw the Black Label can as it was not the first choice most beer drinkers. Soft drinks were sort of the same deal, Coke or Pepsi were harder to find as you got further away from big bases like Long Binh. For some reason a brand called FANTA seemed to be everywhere but was as popular as the Black Label beer. During a mortar attack on our base, NVA managed a direct hit on a pallet of Fanta near the chopper pad, my CO said āIf I ever met that SOB, Iād pin a medal on himā.
Figures are looking good and (as always) totally accurate.
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Fanta helps with hangovers. Truth
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In true military logistics form, the farther you were from the bigger bases, the lower the quality of the beverage! Long Binh, for example, always had Pabst and Schlitz. Wayne
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@Karl187 ,
Thank you. I used to paint figures using more gradual transitions from shadow to highlight, but realized that at viewing distance, so of that work was lost due to lighting and other factors at shows. After working in the museum field as an Exhibits Specialist I found that having more contrast between the shadows and highlights bring the details out a bit better, especially at normal viewing distance.
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@SFCJJC ,
Thank you. 2-47 IN (Mech) were usually pretty far away from Bearcat and later Dong Tam when 9th ID HQ moved there. The guys that I had talked to mentioned FANTA as well as the Black Label.
I like to drink Mountain Dew, but there were times during my tours in Iraq and Afghanistan that Mountain Dew was not available, so I ended up drinking Fanta Orange when Coke or Pepsi were hard to find. When I first got to Iraq, the Mountain Dew we got was manufactured in the Middle East and tasted like gasoline, so I turned to Fanta Orange until the PX at Camp Taqaddum finally carried American Mountain Dew around February or March. I remember the first day that it was available at the PX. My platoon was getting ready for a four day patrol and once someone told me that they had real Mountain Dew at the PX, me and my buddy went over there to buy some. The had a pallet of it in the middle of the floor. I grabbed a few cases, a DVD to watch after the patrol, and some beef jerky. The line at the register was pretty long. When I was three people away from the register, a loud explosion could be heard. A bunch of people dove for cover and some were screaming. I stayed focused on the register so I could make my purchase. A second round hit (that is all we ever got there - two rounds, because counter battery fire from across Route Michigan responded quickly) and some Gunny came in telling everyone to return to their units for accountability. The rounds were close, about 200 or 300 meters away, perhaps a bit closer, but I had my mission to complete. When everyone else were making their way out the door, I became first in line and placed my cases of Mountain Dew on the counter along with my other stuff. The cashier told me that they were now closed. I assured them that everything was OK and that there were no more incoming rounds so she should be able to ring me up. She refused and since I was paying with a card I had to just leave the stuff there. If I had cash I would have just left the proper amount and left with my stuff. As me and my buddy walked out and started to leisurely make our way back to our BN area, I had my hands in my pockets, kicking rocks as we walked, and bitching about how the POGs were going to drink all the Mountain Dew while we were gone and I would be pissed and was ready to start kicking peopleās asses. Lucky for them that there was plenty of Mountain Dew left when we returned four days later.
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Aint that the truth, Wayne. Binh Phouc was a pretty far down the food chain and were pretty much one of the last units to receive beer and soda rations. At least real beer was available. In Iraq and Afghanistan all they had was non-alcoholic beer. I imagine that must have tasted bad. We received soda and Gatorade rations every couple of weeks.
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Great story, funny how some Mountain Dew (or Coca Cola in my case) become worth a slight level of risk. Totally understand staying in line.
And Dan, Iāll take your word on FANTA as hangover cure, last can I drank was at Tan Son Nhut Airbase darn near 55 years ago. 
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I used to always have a bottle the next morningā¦
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The ODA prior to ours left us a lifetime supply of Rip It. And a huge freezer full of steaks we didnāt discover until about four months in, The PX was over an hour away along a pretty interesting route.
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Fanta and Tabā¦Still flinch when I hear those names
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Tab!!??? Yuck! My grandmother used to drink that crap. I remember visiting my grandparents one time and I wanted to drink a soda but they were out of Cokes so my grandmother gave me a Tab instead. I took two sips and that was it.
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@18bravo ,
That was pretty nice of the previous ODA to leave those steaks. I bet yaāll were pretty happy to eventually find those.
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They were in a long-ass box freezer - probably close to 25 cubic feet. There were extra Russian MGs and spare .50 barrels and a bunch of other crap on top of it, which is why it took so long to investigate. We had more guns and explosives than God. The true find was the pancake batter covered sausage links. We dared not share those with our Muslim brothers in arms lest they violate Halal law. But the steaksā¦
They learned the same lesson soldiers around the world have learned: Always make friends with the ODA. Far better than being our enemy.
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