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WIP Critique Grenadier officer LAH, Kharkov 1943. 1/35 scale

Discussion in 'vBench (Works in Progress)' started by Eludia, Aug 28, 2016.

  1. Eludia A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Hey again folks,

    Inspired by the excellent article by Juanma Vergara in the Scale Model Handbook WWII Special, I decided to have a go at doing the same figure. The body is Alpine's SS Grenadier figure (35064) and the head is from their Max Wunsche figure (35057).

    No issues with the sculpting or casting, both were excellent. True to form, I broke off the barrel of the MP40 within minutes of taking it out of the packet. This happens every time I start a new project so I've come to expect it now. Luckily I managed to find it this time and put it in a safe(ish) place till I can fix it later.

    I've still got loads to do on the figure (its barely started) but today I concentrated on the groundwork. The idea I have in my head for the scene is that the officer is indicating a target/objective from the corner of a bullet-ridden building. Hopefully it'll hint at the fierce urban fighting during the third battle of Kharkov even though the pose is fairly relaxed. My original idea was to use this figure as the focus for a vignette along with an MG42 heavy machine gun crew but I haven't been able to find a suitable set in the UK so I'm doing it as a single figure for now. I might revisit the original idea another time.

    The building wedgie was made from foam board with quick drying plaster over the top. For the rest of the base I started with a layer of Aves Apoxie to get the general shape. I pushed the larger bits of rubble into the putty while it was still wet. I then made up my own sandy paste with kiln sand and PVA ,which I mixed to a gooey paste, and covered all the gaps in the base with it. After leaving it to dry for a bit I then sprayed the whole lot black and applied some old-skool washes and drybrushing with various earthy colours (mainly Jo Sonja but there's some Vallejo in there too).

    Anyhoo, some pics. Let me know what you think, homemade groundwork is not usually my thing so I'm a bit of a noob here and could do with the advice (y)

    DSC_3269.JPG DSC_3270.JPG DSC_3271.JPG DSC_3272.JPG DSC_3273.JPG DSC_3274.JPG DSC_3275.JPG
  2. Eludia A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Oops, almost forgot. I took some phone pics of the base before I applied paint and, as this is a WiP thread, I thought I'd share them :):

    20160828_164726.jpg 20160828_164738.jpg 20160828_165012.jpg
  3. Wings5797 A Fixture

    Country:
    France
    Looking good Billy.
    Interested to see this progress Mate
    Keith
    Eludia likes this.
  4. Ferris A Fixture

    Hi Billy,

    No advice needed so to see...it looks like work from a veteran!
    Perhaps some light grey touches at the edges of the bullet holes? Those are areas where the plaster is fresh and clean.

    Cheers,
    Adrian
    Eludia likes this.
  5. Viking Bob PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    I Thought I was the only one that broke off parts on opening the packet. Im in good company then.
    Nice looking vignette and nice painting so far.
    Regards
    Eludia likes this.
  6. Eludia A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Thanks Keith, its nice to see you looking in mate (y)

    Thanks Adrian for the good advice, I'll be back at my bench later so I'll have a go at the bullet holes (y)
    Wings5797 likes this.
  7. Eludia A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Lol, thanks Bob. I now consider "breaking the barrel/spear/sword/club off" as a separate activity when I'm planning a project and write it into my To-Do list accordingly (usually in step 1 or 2) ;)
    Viking Bob likes this.
  8. Viking Bob PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Billy,
    I have started the bust by CGS of the 19th Foot, I broke off the ball tuft on the shako, then lost it, made another only to find it later.
    Eludia and peedee like this.
  9. Eludia A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Some better pics, in daylight :)

    I've taken Adrian's advice and added some light grey tones around the bullet holes. I also used a few oil glazes to add a bit more depth to the colour. As far as the figure goes, I did some initial layers on his gloves and smoothed out some of the harsh lights and shades in his trousers with more oil glazes (Blue-Black ftw). I tried doing the trousers with acrylics, didn't like it so I've gone back to my old reliable oils for the rest of the figure. I guess acrylics are just not for me :(

    DSC_3280.JPG DSC_3281.JPG DSC_3283.JPG DSC_3284.JPG

    Critique welcomed :)
    Nicolaos, Ferris, T50 and 1 other person like this.
  10. Eludia A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Last night's progress:

    DSC_3290.JPG DSC_3291.JPG DSC_3292.JPG DSC_3293.JPG DSC_3294.JPG

    The little bit of white tac on the base is my "safe place" for sticking bits that I break off, at the minute it only has the mp40 barrel in it ;)

    Sorry for the scary painting revealed by the suicide-zoom shots. Next time I'll move to the other end of the garden (and put a soft filter on)
    T50 and Viking Bob like this.
  11. Viking Bob PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    He's looking very good Billy.
    Eludia likes this.
  12. Eludia A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Thanks again Bob, he does look a bit better at normal range :)
  13. Eludia A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    I've done a bit more work on the Kharkov parka and gloves, trying to smooth out some of the harsh lights and shades. I'm a bit happier with how he's looking now. I've also done some initial work on the winter boots, I'll probably concentrate on them tonight and, if time allows, do more work on his other leather "fixtures and fittings". I'm also going to be looking into methods of making and adding some snow to the base.

    DSC_3298.JPG DSC_3299.JPG DSC_3300.JPG DSC_3301.JPG
    arj, Vanja and billyturnip like this.
  14. Vanja Member

    Country:
    Belgium
    look good m8.keep it up the good work
    Eludia likes this.
  15. Eludia A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Thanks Vanja (y)

    I had a go at making some snow:

    image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg

    My aim was to give it a little bit of texture to make it look like the spring thaw is on the way but not too much that it looks like white sand.

    What do you think? Too much, too little or just plain wrong?
    Ferris and arj like this.
  16. arj A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Nice figure and a very effective backdrop and groundwork.

    Cheers,
    Andrew
    Eludia likes this.
  17. Eludia A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Thanks Andrew, nice of you to drop by and I'm glad you like it (y)


    I've made a bit more progress :)

    The main bits still left to do are his face, MP40 and MP40 magazine pouch. I managed to repair the MP40 and it seems to be holding (for now). I decided to depict it with the stock folded so I also added the arms running along the side from brass wire

    Oh, and I used acrylics (Jo Sonja) on his scarf, no really ;)

    DSC_3310.JPG DSC_3311.JPG DSC_3312.JPG DSC_3314.JPG
    Nicolaos and mark126804 like this.
  18. Eludia A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    A bit more progress :)

    He's getting there, not much more to do now. His MP40 still needs a sling and the face could do with a few more glazes. Last night I built up the groundwork around his feet so that he doesn't look like he's standing in a couple of strategically placed pits, I'll need to put some more work into those areas to blend them in now (its a bit hard to see the areas in the photos but if you squint and tilt your head to one side you might just see the grey putty). I also ordered a nameplate for the piece last night, I'm hoping that everything will come together in time for Euro :eek:

    DSC_3339.JPG DSC_3340.JPG DSC_3341.JPG DSC_3342.JPG DSC_3346.JPG


    Thanks again for tuning in and, as ever, critique would be most welcome (y)
    Nicolaos, mark126804 and billyturnip like this.
  19. Ferris A Fixture

    Looking good Billy.

    To reinforce the impression of melting snow you could add faint tints of ocre color around the edges of the snow, where it meets the ground. Close to the colour of the ground. And perhaps add a bit of semi-gloss to them to make the bottom of the snow look wet.

    And perhaps you could add some after the battle bits and pieces in the open area on the right side of the base. Like a russian helmet, empty ammo crate, shell cases, something like that. Should be easy to do even at this stage.

    Will look great with the nameplate!

    Cheers,
    Adrian
    Nicolaos and Eludia like this.
  20. Eludia A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Thanks for the tips Adrian (y)

    I already have some spent cases ready to go on, made from fine brass wire. I like the idea of more battle debris, I might have a look for a few more bits and bobs.

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