Thanks, Ralph.
I am glad that the drive sprocket issue worked out. At first it was kind of disheartening after all the work I had already done.
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Thanks, SSGToms.
I am glad this M577 is turning out like it is as I haven’t built very many armor models.
Glad you like the “Hootch Maid” vignette. It is something a bit different.
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Thanks SFCJJC.
I was trying to think of a quick vignette idea that was something different from most Vietnam vignettes and dioramas but was something that most if not all Vietnam Vets were familiar with and thought a hootch maid shining boots would make for an interesting vignette
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Thanks, Mike.
The boots were from Hobby Fan and Verlinden figures with the exception of the pair of unshined ones which were from Royal Models’ showering GI figure. Did you notice the can of Kiwi shoe polish, dauber, buffing brush, and c-rat can of water?
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Very much, it was a common site during my tour. Loved the polish can and accessories. The hooch maids were always working hard cleaning and doing chores. A lot of times they would gather to do the boots and gossip! All that’s missing is the betal nut juice stains! Wayne
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If I wasn’t trying to make something relatively quick for two upcoming shows I would have had at least one other hootch maid either washing uniforms or setting them out to dry.
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Thursday night I got the putty work done on the H3 figure conversion. The tannish putty is visible to show what was done. I primed the figure this morning.
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Last night I painted the face of the driver figure and today I completed him. I think he turned out fairly well for a one and a half day paint job.
A little while ago I started to paint the girl selling hats. I think I can complete her fairly quick along with the other two kids. Then I will paint the guy from H3.
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James you are a Master sculptor and painter. Truly phenomenal work.
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The sculpting is superb! It fits right in with the rest of the figure. Your painting is also awesome, the realism and emotion in your figures is great!
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That would be cool. They were always washing, cleaning, doing something. If you can find a picture of the brooms they used they were very unique.
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Thanks, Guys.
Wayne, I think I know the type of broom you are referring to. I remember my dad having a few slides of their hootch maids cleaning out their tent and them having these odd looking brooms.
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Today was a pretty productive day. I completed the three Vietnamese kids. They were relatively easy to paint, but the faces were a bit challenging as the details were not well defined and since they are young faces, dark creases and heavy shadows for contrast are not appropriate. For some reason my paints were drying out quickly when I was painting the faces which caused a “texture” to develop as the paint dried as I was brushing it on. And this was despite adding water frequently throughout the day. Anyway, here they are. Normally I would have tried to have period labels and products for stuff the kids are selling, but since the items were already in the basket I was lucky to be able to reach any of them with the brush to apply a variety of colors.
And this is how they will be interacting with the GIs.
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Yeah, if you google vietnamese broom images there are a lot of pictures of them.
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Great work on the figures.
Cheers,
Ralph
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Wayne, I googled the brooms and they were what I remembered from my dad’s slides.
Thanks, Ralph. I just finished one more.
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Yesterday I painted cots by Armand Bayardi to attach to the front of the M577 where the shovel would normally go and attached one of them to the model to cover the holes where the shovel was supposed to go. The Bayardi cots are very well detailed.
After I painted the cots, I started working on the second GI yesterday and completed him this evening. The thing I spent the most time on was the flak vest. Because the details were so soft from it being a 3D printed figure, it did not paint up as easily as one from Bravo 6 or Alpine would. Then I was trying to replicate the nylon cloth of the M69 flak vest and the color. This is the best I could do in the amount of time I allowed myself to do it in. Not sure if it would have looked any better if I had taken my time even moreso. I also made the part of the shirt that is inside the best darker than the rest of the uniform indicating sweating. Not sure if I pulled that off as effectively as I would have liked. Sorry about some of the photos being a bit blurry.
And here are a few set up as they will be in the diorama.
Tomorrow and Wednesday I will work on the base.
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I had a lot of non-modeling tasks to accomolish today so I did not get to do all that I had wanted to on the diorama. However, I did manage to mask off the base in preparation for applying the groundwork tomorrow and weathered the road wheels and tracks of the M577. I still need to apply some glosscoat to the headlights and vision blocks as well as add one antenna.
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Today I started working in the diorama after adding some dust and dirt to the tent extension. I used one of those groundwork texture products to try to replicate a hard packed dirt road.
During my initial placement of the figures, I fekt that the Vietnamese kids were too evenly spaced apart, so I relocated the kid with the basket closer to the girl selling hats.
Tomorrow when the groundwork as fully cured, I will do more work to get the coloring of the road to look better plus enhance the color of some of the plants. I have another Vietnamese kid and another GI ready to paint and will try to get them done in time for the show if I can.
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Tomorrow is the Oklahoma City AMPS/IPMS show and between the Tulsa Show last weekend and up until about an hour ago, I added a figure of a guy stretching, a M60, a helmet, and more vegetation. I have some ammo cans for the M60 that I am not going to be able to have finished in time, so they will be added later along with some other figures.
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