Hi guys,

I've been working on this superbly sculpted and cast 120mm figure from Alpine for the past couple of weeks, and I can honestly say that I'm officially over USMC desert MarPat.

The concept behind this figure was to show a young Marine sniper in Afghanistan, with a rather vacant, haunted and nihilist expression on his face, as if he's seen and been through too much and doesn't give a shit anymore.

I liked the idea of adding the Metallica logo on his beanie as I wanted to play on the idea that he was an angry American teenager with a .50 calibre sniper rifle in a warzone. The logo took two goes to get right.

The title of the Metallica song "Kill 'Em All" seemed an appropriate summary of the attitude this young Marine gives off, and a cool title for the figure.

Painting MarPat is a painter's nightmare. It's certainly the most technically challenging camouflage pattern I've ever attempted, and I wouldn't choose to paint it again. If I was to start this figure again, I would probably create some templates of shapes with masking tape and spray the pattern on with an airbrush.

These are still WIP pics, and there's still a lot to do, but I thought it was time to show you what I've been doing lately.

Hi tony,that cameo looks a real nightmare,great job on it though

Your work on the Cam has certainly paid off, the face looks great as well. I won't be going anywhere near that pattern.
Thanks,
Scotty

......so after you get this done, you'll do something nice and relaxing, like the hearts and bunnies Auscam??

maybe not straight away, maybe I can send you a spare girlie figure to paint up??

Looking at the figure as he stands, are those hints of freckles on his face?
Nice face sculpt you've bought to life.

I think once you layered on some weathering, that will unite and tone things in a bit....

Cheers

Jamie

PS, will this be a Model Expo?

That is really impressive work Tony. I thought the same as Jamie, might be an idea to paint something a tiny bit easier next to wind down and for the sake of your sanity.
The effort was worth it for this finish though.

That pattern has got to be tough in a large scale figure - is it all blocky square edges? - yuk.

Pretty stunning Tony.
Cammo was defo worth all the hard work.
Gells

Well done on attempting that camo and then succeeding with it , very nicely done.

Chris

Looks awesome so far, Tony. Great idea to have him wear the Metallica beanie, and top job on the camo

You've nailed that Marpat. I've tried painting MTP and it was bad enough, but that looks an absolute nightmare!

These guys are 28mm and I nearly went blind!

First class approach again Tony.

Love it all including the freckles.

Psul

How cool!!! Great idea the Metallica skull cap.

Great work,I love the psychological profile.It brings the figure to life.

Oda.

Nice one Tony!

You have my admiration for tackling such a difficult pattern to replicate !

Joe

Very effective looking camo.
I admire your tenacity and attention to fine detail.

Cheers,
Andrew