I would like to start by wishing all my friends and fellow miniaturists a very happy a prosperus new year,i hope santa brought you all the figures you wanted :lol:.

I have just completed a 1/9th scale resin bust of a Ist cavalry trooper from the vietnam war dated 1970,the bust has been sculpted by the very talented Carl Reid and what a great oiece it is too.
The vietnam war never held any interest for me as a figure painter but when i recently saw this figure on the Planet site i was immeadiatly taken in by it,the post of the painted piece was completed by Ernesto Reyes which was used for the box art,and having read through ernesto's post and studied the pictures of the completed piece i just knew i wanted to paint this.
I set about ordering the bust from Steve Kirtley at SK miniatures before xmas and then set about looking up the history of the division on the web,i also managed to find some related books in my local library which i found very useful.
Even before the bust arrived i'd decided i wanted to change the pose as i wanted to portray the trooper moving through a stream or river,i also wanted to add some foilage as well to really set him in a jungle like setting,the foilage was also purchased from Steve at SK from the federicus rex jungle range,the original pose has the M16 below the waist level,this would'nt look right if the M16 was below the water so i decided to change the anatomy of the left forearm and have the trooper carrying the M16 on his left shoulder.
The M16 is cast in white metal and has the right hand sculpted to it,i had to remove the M16 from the hand and rebuild the missing part of the M16 trigger area where the hand was,the rest of the hand was attached to its original position and a new thumb sculpted from milliput,i also had to rework the shirt with milliput where the M16 would have been,folds and creases + 2 buttons wer'e added and allowed to dry.
The M16 strap was made with Verlinden lead foil cut to size and the strap attachments wer'e made with 15mm fuse wire.
I also wanted to add the helmet chin straps hanging loose which are not included in the kit and just have them hanging loose,these were also made from the lead foil.
I added various bits of text to the hemet cover in black which was very evident with most of the troops in vietnam,i based this figure on the character 8-Ball from the movie Full Metal Jacket and added the 8-ball to the helmet front.
The supplies in the helmet band i decided to paint as a pack of marlbourgh cigerettes and a first aid pack,the bottle on the other side i copied from ernesto's box art,i'm not 100% sure but i think its a lotion of some sort used by the troops.
The helmet was painted in GW acrylic paints with washes of sepia ink.
I watched a few vietnam movies during the construction of this figure and as you know i like my weathering so i decided to give him the camo face paint used by charlie sheen in appocolypse now,i noticed in a lot of pictures the face paint was used alot by the troops in vietnam so i decided to add shades of thin green and black to the face and arm areas,i think i have added just the right ammount but i will let the viewers judge me on that.
The ruck sack was also completed with GW acrylics and oils to shade followed by washes.
The greens for the uniform i used different shades of oil mixes,oils wer;e also used for the ammo pouch sling.

The plants were airbrushed in different shades of green and finished with oils,this was my first attempt at using federicus rex paper plants and was entirely allien to me bit i achieved a result i was happy with.

The water was created first by using soild water coloured with GW desert yellow and when this was dry (24hrs) i added the product 'making waves' which was also coloured with GW desert yellow and lightened with lights for the top of the ripples,all these water products are available from Deluxe materials.

I am totaly converted now thanks to Carls great sculpt and Ernesto's superb paint job,i will be looking to perhaps do further vietnam projects in the future.

Many thanks to Steve Kirtley for the prompt delivery 48hrs - great service Steve
Thanks to Carl Reid for creating this excellent piece
Thanks to Ernesto for a great post and inspiring me to complete this piece.

All coments and critisism most welcome

Happy Painting.

Brian

Well done Brian, a very good portrayal of a man "livin' in a world of s--t". I like all his bits and pieces, the cigarette packet, 1st aid kit and all the graffiti on his helmet, plus the camo paint scheme on his face. You are to be congratulated on a job very well done. I hope to see this in the flesh soon.
Regards
Dennis

Outstaning work!!!superb idea the scenery!

Great concept Brian and very well done.
Cheers
Derek

Brilliant!

Got to hand it to you Brian, you have a cracking imagination and always bring something extra to the out of the box model. nice one

Ron

What a super job you have made of this bust Brian, you bring the jungle alive and share the Grunts pain at being there. Love how he blends in with the jungle, you have captured that very well.
The plastic bottle on the helmet would be "Bug Juice" clue is in the name and you are right about having the M 16 above his head as they were prone to rust and you just would not put any weapon under the water.
Super work mate and I look forward to seeing it if you manage to Sword and Lance.
I do think I will have to have a look at this bust when I see Steve at S&L.

Don

Way to push the envelope Brian. Very creative and imaginative use of a bust in a diorama setting.

Brian great painting and a superb and imaginative idea to add foliage and groundwork .

Cheers Ken

Fantastic idea and excellent execution Brian!
Nice job!

Cheers,
Adrian

Exellent work Brian, and great imagination on the setting. I had this type of idea planned for young miniatures USMC radio operator (YM1817). you certainly have inspired me to work on my own rendition of the Viet-Nam figure from YM. Well done.
Les

Wonderful Brian!

Brian

Forgot to add, (this could be ground breaking )

Superb! Awesome job Brian!

What a great setup Brian! I can now see where you were coming from when you posted on jungle & weathering for my NZ 3rd Div Kiwi the other day. You've definitely pulled out all the stops on this guy, capturing the 'grunt' in the field.

Really like that foliage too, especially the effect of the overhead jungle covering, ideal for a bust.

Neat for sharing mate, as I too love this bust. Gotta be one of Carl & Ernesto best modern efforts to date I reckon.

Very impressed. you've done a fantastic piece. Great display.

Love It Brian!

Your work is on another level!

Dave

OhMa'Gosh, just incredible

Congratulations to you, Sir:

What a beautiful presentation. . . Another example of true artistry. . .

Raising the hobby to a "Work of Art". . . oh my goodness. . .

I hope for you that this effort brings you great joy and a sense of true
satisfaction. . . .it is so hard to achieve, in this life.

The Miami Jayhawk

I love it mate ! Really good idea n very well painted .

The base is a work of art on its own 10/10

Sam