Bust of a member of Scout PLT, HHC, 2-47 IN, 9th ID

[JamesOLeary]

While I was working on the bust of the 9th Infantry Division Rifleman, I found that not only was I enjoying converting and painting bust, but I could assemble several in a project covering the years that the 9th Infantry Division served in Vietnam. But what busts could I use? I remembered that Mitch's Military Models produced a trio of characters from Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now. I thought they would work well for this project as while they somewhat resembled the characters they are supposed to depict, they look off enough where they could be modified to depict members of the 9th Infantry Division. This particular bust originally was supposed to depict CPT Willard from Apocalypse Now. I thought he looked kinda lame being sculpted in just a t-shirt, but it made for a good platform for a nice conversion.

 

[JamesOLeary]

Since I was going to convert all three busts, I worked on them simultaneously as I had to sculpt in smaller sections in order to avoid messing them up.

This was the first step of me transforming Animal Mother from a Marine to a 9th Infantry Division M60 gunner and CPT Willard into a member of the Scout Platoon, HHC, 2d Battalion, 47th Infantry (Mechanized), 9th Infantry Division.

 

[JamesOLeary]

Here is the CPT Willard bust with the various details I sculpted for the conversion.



I primed the busts with Tamiya Ultra Fine Primer, then applied a coat of AK Interactive's Ultra Matte Varnish to give the QuickGen paint something to bite into.



Then I applied several coats of QuickGen paints mixed with the Ultra Matte Varnish to prep the busts for painting.

 

[JamesOLeary]

I painted the head first using a combination of AK Interactive's QuickGen and Gen3 acrylics as well as Reaper Sunburn Flesh.



Since the Scout Platoon were issued ERDL camouflage jungle fatigues on several occasions, I thought it would make the bust a bit more interesting if I painted it in that pattern. Since I have several sets of ERDL uniforms, I brought them out to copy the pattern off of them which also ensured that the pattern would be in scale. I started with one pocket, then the main part of the front of the uniform. I worked on small sections. It took a while, but I think it was worth it.



I then painted the patches. Since I couldn't remember the last name of the guy this bust depicts, I just put my name on the nametag. It also serves kind of like an artist's signature in plain sight. I painted the CIB above the US ARMY tape. I then painted the rolls of the sleeves.

 

[JamesOLeary]

The light green in the pattern seemed a bit too bright, so as a final touch I applied QuickGen US Uniform Green to the shirt to tone it down. Once that dried, I lightly dry brushed Vallejo Khaki across the raised parts

He still needs to be attached to a base, but other than that, I am calling him done.

Thanks for looking.
Cheers,
James

 

[moon puppy]

Wow James, that's great. Thanks for sharing your technique for sculpting. In my mind I would have thought you would layer like a full shirt on top of the tee shirt but all you really did was add specific layers, collar, hem for the sleeve, pockets. Really neat, thanks, this looks fantastic.

 

[JamesOLeary]

Wow James, that's great. Thanks for sharing your technique for sculpting. In my mind I would have thought you would layer like a full shirt on top of the tee shirt but all you really did was add specific layers, collar, hem for the sleeve, pockets. Really neat, thanks, this looks fantastic.

Thank you. Rather than layering which would increase the bulk, I just sculpted in specific items to reduce a bulking effect. If the bust hadn't already had the appropriate amount if bulk to it, I probably would have sculpted the full shirt.