Hi all,
I'm working on Young's waist gunner at the moment and I'd like a little advice please. I was thinking of dirtying up his face on the places that aren't covered by gear, so I'm leaving around his eyes and his nose and mouth where his oxygen mask would go. So my questions are how dirty/ greasy would it have been back there, was the oxygen masked used a lot and have I got the right parts of the face covered with dirt? I've only put a quick dark wash on the areas I thought might be dirty. I also tried to put a bit of a reddish line on the cheeks and nose where the oxygen mask might rub. Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
Andrew.

Hi Andrew,

I recently had a similar issue with a Spitfire pilot, and I used pastel chalk to create a darker "ring" on the face to show where the goggles would have been on the face.

If I can suggest, take the goggles off the forehead and use them like a stencil on the face to create the outline you need. I would outline the ring with a touch of red.

B17 waist gunners were exposed to the open, so they would have worn their goggles for consierable periods of time while on a mission. It's reasonable to assume that after a mission their faces would be very dirty from all the chordite, oil and dirt flying around inside the aircraft.

Thanks Tony I appreciate the input mate. Between the oxygen mask and goggles it seems the isn't too much skin on the face that wasn't covered.

Exactly Andrew, at the altitude those bombers flew at, uncovered skin on the face would freeze within minutes. Many bomber crews suffered frost bite from exposure to extreme cold at high altitude.

After putting the figure down for a while I have decided to go back to the clean face, everything else I tried just didn't look right. I did add a little Errol Flynn style mustache for something a little different though, hopefully it works.
Thanks for looking,
Andrew

The mustache is a nice touch!

Jay H.

absolutley, I love the stache very good call.

+1 on the mustache.

I like the moustache more then the dirty look.
Wonder why you should dirty his face up. I believe the face was covered for the cold. If you dirty his face it could only be from gunpowder, and oilspoiling from the engine. just my thoughts.

Marc

Make sure you indicate the wear on the flight jacket...the cramped quarters of the bomber was quick to wear of the laquer finish which rubbed off in no time.
Nice start...

Carl,
Very nice so far.
Cheers
John

hello i doubt at all that the breech of an browning creates so much powderremains that you get black in face
the beard look great like billy zane in memphis bell
good start

Just hint at the marks on the face left by the mask Carl.....gently scrub a darker color with a dryish brush around the areas where they would go...nothing heavy..best keep this subtle so it doesn't end looking like war paint. You could even use pastel chalks which can be really subtle.......

Hi guys, thanks for all the encouraging comments. I'm going to paint him as he would look pre flight unless there is something I'm unaware of that suggests the bust is after a flight (I'm clueless when it comes to military stuff). I toned down the pink in his face and I have his skin tone at a colour I'm happy with.

Cheers,
Andrew.

Wow, incredible how this guy looks alive! It looks like he's gonna open his mouth and start talking...

Fantastic job!

Cheers
e-j

Thanks,
It took a few tries to get there but i think the effort was worth it.

Andrew.

Andrew -- Don't know where you might be in this project, but I found a picture that might help. You'll notice there isn't a lot of face uncovered. There would be a couple triangles pink from the cold, and deeper pinkish red upswept curves from the goggles and straight lines defining the lower border of those triangles where the edges of the oxygen mask sit (O2 masks are fortunately much more comfortable now than they were then!). There might be a bit of smudge in those exposed triangles, but very little, and definitely no engine smoke as was suggested.

http://images.search.yahoo.com/imag...i=11iht0cbr&sigb=13nm1ffdh&.crumb=9UhVEm.aomR

Nice job.

when i see this moustache i thin om Memphis Belle and the chap palyed by Billy Zane.the moustache makes the face i think.looks sweet