One of my preferred subjects is the Russian Army during the Chechenia conflict. There is a lot of picture available on the web for this topical, but no manufacturer seems to be interested about it. From regulars to snipers, paratroopers and so on, there is a really large variety of equipment, uniforms and camouflage patterns.

What I'll try to reproduce is a tanker crew, using spare parts from Tamiya (1/35). The problem with such figures is not the ugliness, as many people thinks, but its size. In my opinion some figures are really gracefully sculped, but its size does not go beyond the true 1/35 scale, remaining between 45 and 50 mm, like my scratched tanker (46 mm), which also seems to have an undersized head.



The base for the figure will be very simple, only a corner
of a destroyed building.



Here some of the grabbed pictures I'll use as reference.







Suggestions are welcome.

Luca, I agree with you whole heartily about Tamiya figures. Some very nicely sculpted figures can be found within their boxes. You just have to look beyond their shortcomings. These being mainly due to the restrictions and limitations found in injection molded plastic. I also agree with you on the heads being too small but I'll also add the hands and feet to this category. How do you fix these one might ask? Hornet to the rescue! Their head and hand sets are EXCELLENT! If I might add one final thing Luca, I reccomend replacing this head from the figure you have chosen with a modern head. Besides being better sculpted with more character, it's more accurate. The head you are using has some very subtle differences whereas compared to the the pictures, you can see all the details rather well. Hornet makes these and you might as well pick up some hands too. You can find boots in almost any resin 1/35th figure.

Hope this helps,
Jim Patrick

I also love looking at pictures from this era.

Ciao Jim and thanks for your comments.

Yes, I noticed the differences. The modern version of the tanker's cap has from four to six padding strips and the headphones are bigger than the WWII version.
Thanks also for the hints on the Hornet heads. Maybe I'll try to reproduce the entire cap on a Verlinden head I have. I see somewhere a beautiful example (not sure, but I think of Bill Chilstrom).
I have a resin casted pair of boots, but I'm thinking on using them on my next subject (another russian tanker in Afganistan), moreover I've already sculpted the folded border. Let me know if you have more suggestions.

I'm not sure about the windcheater. I see that seems to exist two different versions, one with a hood and one more simple. By the way, if you need them, I've collected a lot of pics about the Chechenia topic.

Here more progress on the vignette. The base is almost finished, I must add only some bricks and minor details. The column has been coated with white Milliput, as the ground, where I've glued some soil. All the work on the figure is made with Magisculpt.

Fantastic looking figure and groundwork. I really like how your groundwork compliments the figure so well. I'm looking forward to seeing this completed. A couple of questions though. First, what type of material do you use for your earth and what do you glue it down with then have you decided on a camo uniform or a plain tannish color?

Thanks,
Jim Patrick

Jim thanks for the compliments. What I've used is a very fine kind of (white) arena, used as a base for sidewalk bricks. In front of my home there is a never ending work in progress, so it is easy to find it... :lol:
I'll try to take a more closer shoot to show you the texture.

The idea for the column and the groundwork is grabbed from another picture:



I don't have a standard 'strategy', simply I try to focus on the reference photo. For example, look at the above picture, the mud on the boots is almost identical to the tannish base color of the ground, under the debris. In a such scene, the camo of the uniform really does not matter, I think the key is the tannish mud. Extreme wheatering and groundwork integration, in my opinion, is the distinctive sing of Bill Horan's work, and I must confess that the little I've learned about is looking at his photos.

This is a close-up of the arena I'm using for the ground.



About the figure I've decided to modify the original head. For my current level, I think this will be a good test.

Ciao Luca, sto seguiendo il tuo step by step con molto piacere, buon lavoro e belle fotografie.

Continua il buon lavoro
Roc

Rocco, la vostra accoglienza mi lascia a bocca aperta. E' vero che, come dicono qui, "nemo profeta in patria", pero' non me lo sarei mai aspettato.
Anyway, I must admit that seeing and examining your work helps me a lot in the learning process.
Ciao

Hello again,
here comes the tanker, now ready for painting.





I'm not satisfied with the overall result. The column on the base is too big and the jacket, sculped in a hurry, is really ugly. The helmet has been remaked ex-novo, like the boots. Maybe the next figure will be better.

Just started brushing.





As usual for me, the face is the last item. Looking at the real thing, the camo on the trousers seems to disappear under the dirty, so I'm trying to reproduce the same (maybe a more deep shadows needed).

Ciao Luca,

great figure and IMHO a very realistic dirt effect. Hope to see more soon!

Hi bosko,
thanks for the nice words. I think the most difficult thing is not to paint figures, but achieving our own style. I like extreme realism/weatering, but it's an hard way and the result are not the expected...
Anyway, it's only a figure, and I've learned to find a point of beauty also in the ugliness...
Here the paint progress, just started with the jacket. The base still needs some adjustment.

Luca, I've been following the progress and it is very nice. You've done great things with the Tamiya figure and the base is first rate. Looking forward to seeing it completed. John

Hello again,
the ugly-jacket tanker is now finished. A not so good figure, but even in this case I learned something. I know that the pictures are blurred, but because I exagerate with the jpg compression.
Hope you like it.
Luca