Hi guys,

Here are the first pics of the base I'm building for my 150mm Australian infantry figure, climbing the Kokoda Trail in New Guniea in 1943.

I've been experimenting with soaking the figure in dirty water (containing a dilute mix of acrylic black & brown paint and pastels) overnight to create the build up of dirt and grime that would be typical of a soldier fighting in the dense tropical jungles and swamps of New Guinea. I've found that pastels work best, and create a very realistic effect.

The base is made of Marri wood by my good mate Chris Walden (thanks Bro ). I've made the basic shape of the ground work with DAS modelling clay and pushed a few small rocks into the wet clay.

The lower portion of the base will be covered in clear acrylic resin to simulate dirty stagnant swamp water, with the figure emerging and looking upwards at the steep track in front of him. I am trying to capture a scene of utter exhaustion and physical extremes.

I've built up a good collection of commercial jungle plants and other jungle ground cover materials (from my garden) which I will add to the base once the ground work is finished.

I'm hoping to have this figure completed in time for the 2008 Western Australian Scale Model Expo (WASMEx) on 23-24 August.

Cheers

hi Tony,
nice to see your work again. Waiting to see the next step, the result will be great i think

(why do you create a little boudha to make the ground ? ...see the second picture )

Seb.

This is going to look soooo good.

Spike.

looks nice so far!

Hi Sebastien, Spike and Lennart,

Thanks for your comments guys.

Cheers

Very interesting Tony - should be X-cellent! Good luck in your competition!

All the best,
Dan

It is gonna be a showstopper.
But i cannot figure it out why you put the figure so deep into the acrylic paint and pastels.
Can't you paint it on the figure???

Marc

Hi Dan & Marc,

Thanks for your comments guys.

Marc, I am experimenting, attempting to present the figure as if he has been wading neck deep through dirty swamp water. I thought that if I allowed him to soak in dirty water overnight, I could create the effect I was looking for, without having to paint it on.

The acrylic paint I used was too dilute to add much colour to the existing paint job, and after it stood for a few hours most of the paint settled to the bottom of the container. By contrast,the pastels worked very well because they floated on the surface, and left a "ring" around the figure marking the line where the water came up on his clothing, which was the effect I was hoping to achieve.

I then drilled a couple of tiny holes in the container (a plastic milk carton with the top cut off) and allowed the water to slowly drip out overnight, allowing the pastels to create a subtle shading effect (which the camera doesn't show) all the way down to his boots.

Cheers

I get it.
Looking forward to the finished figure with this technic.

marc

Tony,
Looking good so far and an interesting idea for the dirt on the clothes.
Cheers
John

Looking good Tony

The figure looks good ,one of Phils.Look forward to the vegetation.
andy

G'day Andy,

Yep, its one of Phil Walden's magnificent Masters In Miniature figures.

Phil's son Chris made the base for me, so I guess its a real family affair.

Cheers

Hi John,

Thanks for your comment. I'm keen to see how this effect works out too mate!

Cheers

That's going to look great,Tony.
I've been looking forward to more work on this one.
The track gradient you've got worked into the base tells
the story of Kokoda in itself.
-And they dragged artillery up that as well!

G'day Mark,

You're absolutely right mate. Those poor bloody infantry dragged 25 pound guns up those muddy jungle tracks by hand, 1500 metres above sea level, and often under intense fire from Japanese snipers and most of them suffering from dysentry. What an amazing effort.

Thanks for your comments mate.

Cheers

This is looking good Tony. I look forward to seeing your technique followed through.

Hi Tony,

interesting weathering idea, will follow the outcome for sure. Also look forward to see the groundwork with jungle platns! Any specific method how you dry the plants?
Interesting to see you have DAS clay such a distance from here.

Thanks
Denes

Hi Guy & Denes,

Thanks guys, I'm looking forward to seeing how this experimental weathering technique works too.

Denes, I'm using a mixture of dried plants from my garden, etched brass plants from Verlinden, paper plants from a Japanese company called Paper Creative and plastic plants from my local aquarium. The garden plants are simply pulled up and left in a dry place for a few weeks until dry. We've had DAS in Australia for decades. It's good stuff andI use it for most groundwork.

Cheers

Groundwork

Hi guys,

Latest pics of groundwork. The DAS clay groundwork has been covered in white glue and white Talus (crushed rock debris) sprinkled over most of he surface.

Over the Talus I've added the contents of a used tea bag to create soil/ leaf litter, and a liberal dose of static grass. Next step will be to select and test fit the jungle plants, vines and various bits of jungle clutter. I'll paint the plants before placing them on the base.

The figure has survived another overnight session in the pastel mud bath, and the filth is really starting to build up. I don't care about obscuring the detail of my painting underneath,as I want him to look filthy and covered in mud, sweat and crap.

Cheers

Tony,

He is getting filthy and he looks hot! I really like the groundwork.