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"House to House" May 1968 Vignette COMPLETED!

"Contact!" Tet Offensive Vignette

Thanks, guys.

I had done some weathering on the crushed drum as well as the one knocked over, then I read Duke's comment about the bullet holes and added some. I was thinking there was something that still needed to be done to them. The standing drum is a solid resin piece from Armand Bayardi. I used a pin vise drill to drill holes all the way through, painted the hole black and outlined in grey. The shrapnel hole in the knocked over drum was drilled then roughed up with a knife.

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And here are some shots of the through and through bullet holes in the standing drum.

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And here is a shot of what it looks like with the dead VC or NVA is in place.

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That's all for tonight.

Cheers,
James
 
"Contact!" Tet Offensive Vignette

I've taken a break from the groundwork to get some painting done on the figures. Since I had started the grenadier, I am in the process of finishing him. Hopefully I will be done with him this weekend.

In these photos, I still need to finish painting the boots, left hand, and M79 (the left hand holding the M79 still needs to be added once painted). Since most members of 2/47th Infantry (Mechanized) had faded helmet covers and that is how I am going to have most of them depicted, I painted general shapes of the Mitchell Camouflage Pattern since they will not be very visible once I fade out the cover.

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The following photos are of the figure with the helmet cover faded out and dusty/dirty as well as his trousers dirtied a bit. I still need to finish painting the boots and add the left hand with M79.

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Next time I post, I will have photos of the completed figure prior to mounting to the base and then some of the figure in position in the vignette.

Thanks for looking,
Cheers,
James
 
"Contact!" Tet Offensive Vignette

Thanks, guys. I kind of lucked out on the skin tones. I only used four colors and I think it turned out fairly well.

Well, I am calling the grenadier done. Here are some photos of him after the boots got scuffed up and dirty, the M79 and left hand got painted, and the left hand got attached to the left arm.

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And here are some photos of the figure attached to the base and how visible he is when incorporated into the scene. At some angles, you can barely see him.

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When I first applied the Magic Sculpt for groundwork, I had made the impressions of the contact points where the figures meet the groundwork so the figures could be removed for painting and then placed back into the exact spots once the painting was completed. Apparently, when I was applying the rubble and debris, some of the dust and sand material made it into the holes where the pins on the bottoms of the feet were to placed. The area where the left knee meets the ground also had some excess debris in the way which prevented the knee to be totally flush with the ground. Despite cutting the pins shorter, there was still a bit of a gap, so I placed an additional piece of rubble in front of the gap near the knee. It seems to have worked. Also note that there are two spent 40mm shell casings from the M79 on the ground in front of the grenadier indicating that he has already fired two rounds from that position.

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That is all for tonight. Tomorrow I will continue working on figures.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,
James
 
"Contact!" Tet Offensive Vignette

Incredible work James! I am constantly in awe at how well you can bring everything to life!
 
"Contact!" Tet Offensive Vignette

Thanks, guys.

The next figure to paint is the dead NVA. First I primed him with Tamiya Fine Surface Primer, then I painted the entire figure flat black. Unlike most figures I paint, I decided to start on the uniform and equipment before the face since the figure's eyes are closed and I don't have to worry about getting the eyes to look right. Here is the figure after I painted it flat black:

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For the uniform, I took Vallejo Khaki and mixed it with Reaper Black Green to make it a bit darker, then drybrushed it with khaki for the first highlight.

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Then I started adding the shadows with black green. I also applied a thin glaze of black green to darken the overall color of the uniform as it was too light for my liking. The darkest shadows in the creases of the knees and elbows are flat black.

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I then mixed some Vallejo Sunny Skintone into the Khaki for the final highlights. The ammo pouches were then painted Vallejo British Uniform with khaki and Iraqi sand highlights. The uniform and equipment was then outlined with flat black. I started placing skin tones starting with Reaper Sunburn Flesh.

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Well, that was the result of a few hours of painting time. When I have a straight forward, openly posed figure painting goes much more quickly than those with more complicated poses and more equipment that require more care and manipulation to get every part painting. Tonight I am going to attempt to finish this figure. If I don't get him completed tonight, then I will finish him tomorrow.

Thanks for looking.
Cheers,
James
 
"Contact!" Tet Offensive Vignette

Thanks, Guys.

I am glad you are liking the figures. I completed the dead NVA yesterday and got him placed on the vignette. Prior to showing him in the vignette, I will go through the painting of the face. Hopefully the lighting wasn't so bad that one can tell the subtle differences between the following pictures.

First comes a base coat of Reaper Sunburn Flesh:

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Then the first highlights with a mixture of Reaper Sunburn Flesh and Golden Shadow. I also retouched the eyelashes with flat black.

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Then with some more Golden Shadow added to the mix.

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Now some Off White is added to create a "drained of blood" or "Bleed Out" effect. In some places, I drybrushed straight Off White.

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I then add blood streaks along the abdomen as well as a slice from shrapnel. I also soaked the upper right part of his shirt with blood. It is flat red mixed with black. I then applied shadows to the folds where the shirt was soaked with flat black.

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The final touch is to dirty the uniform with pigments.

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"Contact!" Tet Offensive Vignette

Now that the figure was completed, I wanted to attach him to the vignette. I painted a pooling of blood that would be under the figure and applied some gloss varnish to those areas. When I initially made the impression of the figure into the Magic Sculpt, the figure seemed to fit fine. Now there were places where gaps had formed between the figure and the ground. To fix this, I attempted to press the figure's left leg and right arm harder so they would stick. Unfortunately, I broke off the left foot...and those places did not adhere permanently like I had wanted. I was able to re-attach the foot, but there was still a bit of a gap, so I filled it in with some jute twine grass. I think I was able to make the impression of the grass being matted down from his weight. I did the same thing where there was a gap under the right hand. I then glued down his AK47. Since there is going to be alot of expended brass laying around, I decided to start placing those, too. In order to get the placement of the brass coming from the M16 that the shooting Grunt is engaging with, I temporarily placed that figure on the vignette. Then I removed him so he can be painted later. So here how the vignette looks like so far:

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Well, that all I got for now. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas as I doubt I will be posting anything more until after Christmas.

Cheers,
James
 
"Contact!" Tet Offensive Vignette

I echo the others James- your figure and ground work is top-notch!!
 
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