Hi All

Inspired by all the sculpting and scratchbuilding going on here, especially Jason Whitman's Firing Line Vignette, I have decided to make my own! So, it will be produced in a Bill Horan/Jason Whitman method.

It will be either a 54mm or 1/35 single figure of a US rifleman on the edge of a hedgerow in Normandy.

To give you an idea, here's some pictures:
US in hedgerow
US in hedgerow

The 'Bocage' terrain in Normandy greatly hampered invading forces in the days following the Normandy landings, as no planning was given to tactics prior to landing and the small fields bounded by huge hedges created excellent defensive positions for the Germans.

While searching the Web for photos, I found some interesting sites. The Bocage does not exist today in many places but there is a conservation group:
Bocage
Great diagram and the rest of the site is interesting too!
Even holiday sites reveal interesting pictures:
Bocage today
Thats the sort of thing I'll be trying to replicate.
_________________________________________________
References:
The Normandy Campaign - Robert Hunt & David Mason 1976: horribly out of date but good pictures and cheap in a second hand shop.
The GI in Combat - Steve Zaloga + Ron Volstad (Concord)
Operation Cobra - Steve Zaloga (Osprey Campaign 88)
The WWII GI - Richard Windrow (W&G)
The Battle of the Hedgerows - Leo Daugherty (Ian Allen)
+ lots of others, but these are the most useful for my purposes

Thoughts, comments, ideas, other references would be greatly appreciated!!

Hope to get the next installment up in a few days
(by typing all this in I feel compelled to do this now!!!)

cheers

Rob

Rob, Jason is a valued talent on this site an inspires a lot of us converters/scratchbuilders in some way or another. I'm really looking forward to your vignette and I'm impressed at the preliminary research you're doing for this piece, bravo! I can't wait to see it's development.~Gary

EXCELLENT piece of research,Rob;WELL DONE ! Yes,I must agree with Gary,Jason is an inspiration to us all "mere mortals" ! In fact,my Kulak figure was in part an inspiration from Jason's projects.Looking forward to the start of the vignette,Rob.Cheers !
Kenneth

I'll look forward to seeing your progress Rob, how many figures?

Thanks for the encouragement folks.

Leigh, I think it will be a single figure for starters. It's a period I'm interested in and I'm out of practise at this sort of stuff, although the subject has lots of possiblities.

My biggest dilemma is to do in 54mm using airfix multipose as a starting point (have an M1 Garand) or 1/35 using Dragon. And of course, what head? Hornet probably, but these can be quite small for 54mm.

mmmmm

Rob

Facinating Rob...........Hope to see more as you progress along.

Sounds interesting Rob. I really like this period myself.

Regarding scale compatibility; If you use Airfix figures, seek out some Historex resin heads, or Shenandoah metal heads. Mussini make some metal ones as well, but there's only one in the set with a suitable expression for combat IMO. If you use DML figures the Hornet heads will work pretty well.

Hi Rob

Been waiting fro this thread since you mentiond it on Sunday, looking forward to seeing the progress, gotta be more than one fig though matey, its the law when using jason as inspiration (thats why I just paint).

Keep it coming matey

Robin

Cheers John. Fortunately I have some historex bare heads and Shenandoah ones.
Might get cocky and scale out the Garands available to see whats accurate (the airfix ones seem much bigger than the 1/35 ones. Mind you, it's quite a big rifle)

Robin. I would have put this up earlier but it felt like writing an essay! It will be one figure though :lol: maybe more next time if this works out!

cheers guys

Rob

Rob,

looking forward to seeing the figure take shape. My only words of advice would be to try doing the face yourself. I don't think they are nearly as tricky as they seem. For me, getting the proportions right is a harder task. If you don't like the results, then put on the head of your choice. Just my 2 cents.

Sounds like a great project Rob! Will look forward to each installment!

Shane: Cheers. Not a bad idea on the head.....as it happens, I have one I knid of did last year and never used....approx 54mm. Mmmmmmmm


Anders: You've shared your SBS's with us (more inspiration for this), sit back and enjoy!

:lol:

Rob

Rob,

That looks like a good head to me.

Hey Rob!

Thats a nice looking face, although he does look a little sour, are you gonna use it? Would be a nice touch to the vignette.

Nice!! One of my favourite themes! I'll follow closely this sbs. Keep it going!

Cheers Daniel: this one will get done!

I've just 'remembered' I have 2 heads at various stages of completion. A quick dry run with some multipose US helmets and they don't look too bad! Will take a picture tomorrow.
I now need to locate a box I'm sure I've got somewhere full of multipose weapons....

Still unsure as to use one or not, but will definately use one on another US figure I've just decided to do!

:lol:

Rob

Looking GOOD,Rob,looking GOOD ! Will follow the SBS with interest.Cheers.
Kenneth :lol:

Hey Rob, looking good.

Keep up the good work.

Roc

Rob,
Awesome idea for a vignette. I'd suggest going with 1/35 since you'll find a wealth of figures & accessories for this purpose. Most notably, you'll have lots of stock figures (even for conversions) to choose from besides DML. You might find the Nemrod 1/35 figures of particular interest. One project I've had going for some time is - believe it or not - a squad of US paratroopers lost in the hedgerows (titled "where the hell are we?"). I've been using the Nemrod paratroopers (adding insignia for 101st. & 82nd. Airborne) and haven't had any problem using Tamiya weapons, Hornet heads, and DML accessories with these. Also, Osprey's Masterclass series has a really good book on groundwork - "Terrain Modelling" - in which there's a step-by-step on making a 54mm-1/35 hedgerow; the results look really good.

Wow Rob! I'm glad my "on the firing line" project has inspired you. Can't wait to view your progress.