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My latest... "A Yank in the Ukraine",1944

Discussion in 'Completed Figures' started by bwildfong, May 16, 2016.

  1. bwildfong Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Canada
    Hey all,

    Here's my latest - a USAAF pilot on a Soviet airfield during "Operation Frantic" in the summer/fall of 1944 in 1/32 scale.

    For those unfamiliar with it (like I was), Frantic was a joint US-Soviet operation in which American planes flying from England and Italy would hit targets in far Eastern Germany, land at 3 Soviet airbases in Ukraine to refuel and re-arm, then hit German targets again on their way back to their home bases (also known as "shuttle bombing"). A total of 7 missions were flown between June and Sept. 1944 when the program was closed down.

    Anyway, on to the figgie. He started life as an Ultracast personality figure of Gabby Gabreski, beautifully captured by sculptor Mike Good. I replaced the Gabreski head with a modified Nemrod offerring (a Napoleonic, complete with ponytail that I had to remove) - I sculpted the overseas cap from Apoxie Sculpt. I also added the "blood chit", the package of ID documents with the US flag to identify downed crew to Ukrainian civilians and Soviet ground forces. The whole thing then got painted in my usual oils over acrylics:

    [IMG]
    [IMG]
    [IMG]
    [IMG]
    [IMG]

    In the interests of "full disclosure", the nose art on the back of his jacket is, uh, only partly me (the lettering); the Chief's head was cannibalized from a 1/72 scale decal sheet I got for a buck from a model show vendor - I'm not THAT talented a painter! :)

    I was also finally able to (cheaply!) source some 250 pounder bombs in 1/32, so that meant I could duplicate the graffitti I saw in a photo taken during Frantic which showed bombs with both English and Cyrillic messages on them, a visual cue that nicely hinted at the slightly odd setting of a Yank on a Soviet airfield.

    As always, any comments or advice are appreciated. Thanks for lookin'!

    Cheers,
    Brian
  2. NickM Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Australia
    Great job again, Brian. I love his leather jacket.
    Nice touch with the bombs and the Cyrillic graffiti - it places him nicely during Operation Frantic.
    Cheers
    bwildfong likes this.
  3. bwildfong Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Canada
    Thanks Nick for the kind comments - much appreciated. It was a risk with the jacket art; the decal was a really thick, really old one from an ESCI (remember them? then you know just how old ;) ) sheet. I trimmed it really close to the border to minimize silvering, then hit the s**t out of it with Microsol and Microset. Just to be safe, I touched up the border with black paint to cover/hide the edges AND sealed it with a coat of Future before I matted the whole thing down with Dullcoat - overkill? Maybe; but it worked...

    Thanks again,

    Brian
    NickM likes this.
  4. ACCOUNT_DELETED A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    Another excellent conversion Brian....and as usual terrific groundwork.
    bwildfong likes this.
  5. housecarl Moderator

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Very well done.(y)
    bwildfong likes this.
  6. peedee A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    What a superb little story and setting.

    I was told about this mission myself recently.
    The other guy in the conversation explained that to bomb the Tirpitz in Norway, the RAF crews flew all the way Russia first too, refuelled and hit the Fjord on the way back !

    These guys had some stamina for a job by golly.

    Thanks for sharing
    Paul
    bwildfong likes this.
  7. Viking Bob PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    A superb little scene, great painting and a story to boot. looks fantastic. :)
    bwildfong likes this.
  8. bwildfong Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Canada
    Thanks folks for the comments - much appreciated!

    Cheers,
    Brian
  9. arj A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    A very interesting subject.
    Very well painted and presented.

    Cheers,
    Andrew

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