Tony I would be very happy to dig out one of the M42 Paratrooper uniforms I still have from BOB along with the helmet and some webbing with the felt shoulder pads I had made for the show. Damian's webbing was based on Winter's original set from WW2 that I saw and was given to a Belgian collector friend back in 1999and when I showed Damian the picture he wanted his to be exact.
The uniforms were all manufactured by a company in L.A. that supplied funnily enough the uniforms for two other shows I worked on 'Saving Private Ryan' and 'The Pacific'. The colour and detail were very good and as close to my own originals now sadly gone. The webbing for Damian was a mixture of Reproduction and mint originals that I found. When are you going to paint the uniform etc ? because if you can wait I will get the box out with the uniform etc and photograph it for colour and detail

Alan

Hi Alan,

Thanks again for your generous offer to help and provide photos of the gear used in BoB. I'm working on the helmet at the moment so I'm happy to wait for you to supply photos of the uniform, so please don't hesitate to get your camera out.

I would like you to clarify something for me if you can; was the regimental marking on the helmet (the Ace of Spades in the case of the 506 PIR) painted on both sides of the helmet? In doing my research I've seen photos of Damian Lewis and other cast members with the marking on both the left and the right side of his helmet, but I'm never sure if the photos have been reversed. Most of the time the marking on Lewis' helmet appears to be on the right hand side. As you can see from the photos below, its a bit confusing. Could you enlighten me please?

Great looking bust and really nice painting. You may disagree but if it was me I would be converting the bust to be King Henry 8th as Damien Lewis played him in Wolf Hall.
John

Hi Tony
the answer to the helmet insignia is yes it was on both sides of the helmet and Damian also had the officers single vertical strip down the back of his helmet. The camouflage scrim was green and brown hessian much like the same that was used in WW2 camouflage nets and applied randomly to the helmet net. I have checked out the figure on the web and see that it comes with the Airborne 1st Aid dressing pack that had 2 ties for attaching to equipment etc and I see it is pictures as being attached to the front of the helmet this was never done on and about the D-Day drops but surfaced primarily for the Market Garden operation. Hopefully I shall get the pictures tomorrow depending on work
Alan

I'm really looking forward to see your technique for 'dirtying' up the face, I'm always scared to death about this stage in case I mess up what I have already painted.
Inspired face painting so far...

steve

Great start Tony on the face looking very realistic looking forward to your progress.


Cheers David

Hi John, as I'm not familiar with the Henry VIII character, I'll stick with the Damian Lewis character I do know. Thanks for your comments.

Hi Alan, thanks again for being my "Go To" guy on this project. I decided to paint the unit markings on both sides of the helmet anyway, and I've added the "follow me" stripe on the back of the helmet, although they are largely obscured by the hessian strips woven into the helmet netting. The first aid kit/ shell dressing on the helmet is not a D-Day thing so I wasn't planning on doing it. The face painting is done, with the exception of the face camouflage and weathering, which I will add as one of the final touches. I plan to dirty up his face a lot, so these images of his face represents only the half way mark.

Hi Steve, dirtying up the face is especially hard when you think you've [painted a good face and you don't want to ruin it, but the key is to use a medium that allows you to remove it if you make a mistake. I prefer to use pastel chalk for facial weathering and dirtying up, as it washes off in water if you go aver board. For the key is to do small sections at a time and build up the face weathering slowly rather than try to do it all in one hit.

Hi Davis, thanks for your comments mate. Here are some WIP pics to show you some of the progress I've made over the weekend.

A bit more progress with the uniform and the bandolier.

Arms are primed and base coated and will probably be added tomorrow. Normally I would have glued them in place before painting but there's so much detail under the arms that would be impossible to paint, so I left them off.

Great work, Tony. I'm following with interest. Seeing your SBS is encouraging me to get this figure.

Tom

Methodical without rush..........I like it..............

Wayne

Tony I haven't forgotten to sort out the pictures for you although I see you are progressing at a good rate of knots but as you can imagine working in the film industry doesn't always allow for people to pursue there out of hours activities but I will be getting the Christmas decorations out on Saturday and the boxes with the BOB stuff are there, sorry If I wasn't pro active enough

Alan

No worries Alan, I'm making progress with the pics I have at hand and of course watching the DVD of band Of Brothers to ensure I get the colours correct.

The arms are now fixed in place and I'm slowly working on the blending of shadows and highlights. I've deliberately washed out the colour of the uniform with a series of grey washes to reflect the muted colour palette of the show.

I'll be happy to get the photos of your gear whenever you can take them and send them through.

Looking good Tony , very nice start to a great bust
Cheers
Al

Excellent work Tony, was your wash on the uniform oils?

Good progress Mate.
An obscure detail to pick up on but I do like the way that you laid down the stitching on his jacket.
I know with you never assume that it's never finishes 'till it's finished but I thought that it was too dark etc, etc. etc. Seeing it in this shot it is amazing. Great work Tony and thanks for sharing your SBS.
All the best
Keith

Hi Al, thanks mate. It's a great bust and certainly gives me plenty of things to focus on. No shortage of bits and pieces to be added.

Hi Les, acrylics mate. I made a mix of Vallejo Khaki and Grey Black and washed it over the unfirm to dull it down. I'll come back later to do some highlighting.

Hi Keith, thanks for your comments mate. Nothing is finished yet. Some things are more finished than others but nothing is 100% finished until the end. The uniform details will be carefully picked out and I'll apply some selected highlights on things like the stitching and seams to help bring out some of those details.

Latest WIP pics showing the hands and rifle test fitted and held in place with blutak after priming.

I'm making steady progress and I'm liking the way this is going.

Hi Tony,
That's really superb work, the face is just brilliant, your work is looking better than the box art!
Regards
Chris.

Fantastic so far .

Paul.

Hi Chris, very high praise indeed mate, thank you. I'm flattered.

Hi Paul, thanks mate. I've painted the hands and base coated the rifle and blutaked them back in place to show the next steps.