Thank you. I appreciate that. I try my best to make them look as natural as I possibly can. There are others who can sculpt better, but I put my heart and soul onto each figure and stand in front of the mirror or have photos taken in the uniforms, equipment, and with the weapons so I can try to transfer those details to the poses and the overall figure itself.
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Yup, the closer to Saigon the more amenities at the larger base camps. At Camp Bearcat there was a pool and a miniature golf course. A couple other bases in 3 Corps had them, too. The Grunts rarely saw any of it because they were constantly out other than a couple days on standdown to refit, and then those were usually cut short.
Talking to the former Director/Curator of the Field Artillery Museum during one of our living history events for Basic Trainees here at Fort Sill, his descriptions of conditions in I Corps were way different and way more austere than in most other parts of the country. Each area had its own unique hazzards and environments that the people operating in those places had to contend with. Still happens today. Each time I went to Iraq and Afghanistan, it was to a different region and things were quite different in each one.
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Marine Force Recon were never a very common sight up my way, but I happened upon a group located on an island east of Tam Key. They wore the generic boonie hat like I did, and regular green fatigues. A great bunch of guys, and always worried about them. LRRPS that rolled thru my area mostly wore a dark charcoal colored jungle fatigues. You’d see them every now and then in stripes. SOG guys wore regular green or stripes.
Well we did have China Beach and some other one that most just called China Beach in Chu Lai. Been in the one in Chu Lai a couple times, but we were frowned up on. From the ocean till you went west about twenty miles I-Corp was mostly flat. The you got in to the low rolling hill country that would evolve into mountains. It gets cold up on the mountain tops during the monsoon. Also a foggy place. In the summer it will be like your in Death Valley, but you get used to it. Actually a very beautiful place in the mountains. Still no USO shows, golf courses, or swimming pools. Just tigers and mud.
gary
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This week’s progress on the figures for my MEDCAP diorama included working on the medical personnel treating Vietnamese civilians. I just finished working on a conversion based on Alpine’s 35263 Pz Commander Summer #1. He is now a US Medic dispensing meds for the Battalion Surgeon who he is looking towards as the Battalion Surgeon examines a Vietnamese boy. I scraped away the German uniform details and sculpted jungle fatigue details with Magic Sculpt. I replaced the head with a Hornet head wearing a cap from ICM. The right hand holding a jar of meds is from Hornet’s latest hand set which was originally holding a pair of binoculars which is now transformed into a pill jar. The left forearm is from Bravo 6 and it is holding pills made from Magic Sculpt. Once the putty cures, I will clean up and smooth out areas that need it.
Here is a grouping of some of the figures for this diorama. Among the figures in the back, you will see this one prior to completion and how he will be interacting with the Battalion Surgeon who is the guy kneeling.
Thanks for looking.
Cheers,
James
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James, Your figure conversions and your sculpting talents are outstanding. 
Thank you for sharing the process.
—mike
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I am in awe of your figure sculpting ability.
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Wonderful…Magic…
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Thanks, Mike
On the next figure I might take step by step photos showing my methods for conversions.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
Now if they could just magically have paint apied to them… 
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Here is the latest figure for the MEDCAP diorama - the Battalion Surgeon getting ready to listen to the heart of a young patient. He started out as a German figure from PanzerArt that I was originally going to use in another diorama, but never got around to finishing it, so the jungle fatigue details and boots were already done when I decided to use this figure as the Battalion Surgeon. I added a head that I had modified a couple years ago that probably started out as a Hornet head. The right arm is from Bravo 6 and the left arm is from Hobby Fan. The stethoscope is made from copper wire with the listening base made of Magic Sculpt. I still have to clean up and smooth out a few things prior to painting
This is the kit from PanzerArt that was used as the base figure.
Here are some photos of the Battalion Surgeon and his young patient from Paracel Miniatures. Not pictured is an interpreter that I am currently converting from the ARVN Soldier from Masterbox’s “Somewhere in Saigon” kit. Sorry about some of the photos being blurry.
Thanks for looking.
Cheers,
James
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Really great work on all those figures, this will be some diorama, a lot of figures.
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Thank you. It looks like there are going to be a lot of figures for this diorama. I usually try to stick to projects with less figures, but to tell the story I want to tell, it will take more figures than I normally use.
Here is the figure of the interpreter. It is a conversion of the ARVN Soldier from Masterbox’s “Somewhere in Saigon” kit. He had already been started before I had even started any of the other figures as he was being prepared for another diorama, so all I basically did last night and today was add a Hornet head with a boonie hat from one of Bravo 6’s LRRP kits, used arms from the ICM CH54 crew, and fill in gaps. After looking at the photos, I think I may add some putty to may the front fly on the trousers. There are photos of his proposed position near the Battalion Surgeon and boy.
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I wasn’t very pleased with the front of the interpreter’s trousers, so today I added the fly and defined the front pockets. I think it looks better now…and his gig line is pretty straight.
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Very very nice work, Jim! It’s nice to see all the progress on one page. Thanks for sharing.
Kind regards,
James
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Thank you, James. I am glad you like what I am doing.
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Beautiful work I wish I had your talent to convert figures to that level of detail.
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Thank you, Oliver. It takes a bit of practice when you start, but as you gain more experience starting with simple conversions, you can find yourself doing more complex conversions in a relatively short period of time. Just keep anatomy in mind when posing (get in front of a mirror in the pose you want to create, or have someone take a photo) so you can ensure that the pose can be realistically plausible. Uniform details come as a result of good references (having a real example is best) and practice.
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Progress from the past several days includes a doctor using a tongue depressor and penlight to check a patient’s throat and a distinguished Vietnamese woman who was one of the teachers at the school where the MEDCAP was conducted.
The doctor is a conversion of a WW2 German Soldier from Bravo 6 of a barber. I sculpted the uniform details with Magic Sculpt. The head is a modified head from Hornet with a cap from ICMs CH54 crew. The arms are from other Bravo 6 figures as are the jungle boots. The left hand is from Royal Models.
The Vietnamese woman is a slight conversion of a figure by B&L Models. All I did was change heads with one from Royal Models.
I also worked on two other Vietnamese women that are conversions of figures from Masterbox but are not yet complete.
Thanks for looking.
Cheers,
James
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