Logistics, The Figures Updated Feb. 9, 2014
Awwww Shucks Chuck,
Not really! :yipee :yipee :yipee
Bob
Awwww Shucks Chuck,
Not really! :yipee :yipee :yipee
Bob
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Logistics, The Figures Updated Feb 8th, 2021
- Thread starter bob letterman
- Start date
AndyFettes
Master at Arms
Logistics, The Figures Updated Feb. 9, 2014
Amazing bit of work and I know what you mean about painting one figure up
but 325, mate, thats awesome
Amazing bit of work and I know what you mean about painting one figure up
but 325, mate, thats awesome
Logistics, The Figures Updated Feb. 9, 2014
Thanks Adam!
Thanks Luiz!
THanks Andy,
I believe the total now is 350 of them. I've added some more tank riders and some Canadian and British war correspondents and photographers. The figures can't possibly live up to the standards of your Rorkes Drift figure or I would never be able to complete the diorama. I'm allowing myself an average of 2 hours each for painting and as you are well aware, that's not much. Still yet, that amounts to around 700 hours of figure painting. After I blew these up and posted them, I can see some glaring flaws, but they look reasonable when viewed in normal scale.
Bob
Thanks Adam!
...just perfect!...great painting job
Luiz.
Thanks Luiz!
THanks Andy,
I believe the total now is 350 of them. I've added some more tank riders and some Canadian and British war correspondents and photographers. The figures can't possibly live up to the standards of your Rorkes Drift figure or I would never be able to complete the diorama. I'm allowing myself an average of 2 hours each for painting and as you are well aware, that's not much. Still yet, that amounts to around 700 hours of figure painting. After I blew these up and posted them, I can see some glaring flaws, but they look reasonable when viewed in normal scale.
Bob
White_Wolf
Master at Arms
Logistics, The Figures Updated Feb. 9, 2014
If I remember correctly, few years ago, IBM's motto was "Think BIG". Personally I think you think bigger than anyone I have ever heard of in this modelling world (not saying that I know everybody of course).
350 figures ? Correction ....350 figures at THAT standard ? Plus the vehicles plus plus plus... all at THAT standard ?
Enough said -
Laurence
If I remember correctly, few years ago, IBM's motto was "Think BIG". Personally I think you think bigger than anyone I have ever heard of in this modelling world (not saying that I know everybody of course).
350 figures ? Correction ....350 figures at THAT standard ? Plus the vehicles plus plus plus... all at THAT standard ?
Enough said -
Laurence
Logistics, The Figures Updated Feb. 9, 2014
Thank you Sir!
I don't think anybody knows everybody on the modeling world, however, as far as I know, there are only three other modelers who build as large dioramas as I do. Lewis Pruneau, who coincidentally lives about 50 miles, (80 km), from me and is a close friend, and two others. A guy from Luxembourg named Claude Joachim has built a model of his hometown during WW II in 1/35th scale. It is huge. He was a member of this site previous to when it changed names. Although I have never seen his book, I heard he published one in Europe about the building of it. Also, there is a guy in California who builds models for the movie industry. I have only seen one of his dioramas, but it was quite large, maybe half the size of the one I'm doing all these figures for.
Over the years, I have heard several modelers say they were going to build one on this scale, but I have ever seen them.
Bob
Man, I'm having issues even painting one. Just awe inspiring seeing your master pieces come together
James
Thank you Sir!
If I remember correctly, few years ago, IBM's motto was "Think BIG". Personally I think you think bigger than anyone I have ever heard of in this modelling world (not saying that I know everybody of course).
350 figures ? Correction ....350 figures at THAT standard ? Plus the vehicles plus plus plus... all at THAT standard ?
Enough said -
Laurence
I don't think anybody knows everybody on the modeling world, however, as far as I know, there are only three other modelers who build as large dioramas as I do. Lewis Pruneau, who coincidentally lives about 50 miles, (80 km), from me and is a close friend, and two others. A guy from Luxembourg named Claude Joachim has built a model of his hometown during WW II in 1/35th scale. It is huge. He was a member of this site previous to when it changed names. Although I have never seen his book, I heard he published one in Europe about the building of it. Also, there is a guy in California who builds models for the movie industry. I have only seen one of his dioramas, but it was quite large, maybe half the size of the one I'm doing all these figures for.
Over the years, I have heard several modelers say they were going to build one on this scale, but I have ever seen them.
Bob
randy_ditton
Master at Arms
Logistics, The Figures Updated Feb. 9, 2014
Hi Bob, Always a pleasure to see progress from your bench
Your skill with color and paint is just plain awesome!!!!
Randy
Hi Bob, Always a pleasure to see progress from your bench
Your skill with color and paint is just plain awesome!!!!
Randy
Adam Baker
Active member
Logistics, The Figures Updated Feb. 9, 2014
I think I've got an idea for a dio kind of on this scale, but I've got serious doubts that it will ever happen.
A good friend in my model club has the Soar Art 1/35 Dora, and a few months ago we agreed on a price for me to buy it from him (we've been kidding & poking back and forth for a few year about me buying it from him).
Awhile back, I found a couple professionally built models of the cranes that were used to assemble the Dora, and that got me thinking about building a large dio of the Dora as it was being built, so it would mean partially building the Dora, and then building the 2 cranes, plus all the surrounding track, and a few trains, lots of figures & vehicles, etc.
W/ the Dora itself being over 4' long by itself when assembled, it would obviously make for a pretty massive diorama.
Here are a few pic's I found of kind of what I had in mind.
My understanding is at least 4 sets of tracks were laid down for the construction, so that would add a lot of interest to a dio of the construction.
I think I've got an idea for a dio kind of on this scale, but I've got serious doubts that it will ever happen.
A good friend in my model club has the Soar Art 1/35 Dora, and a few months ago we agreed on a price for me to buy it from him (we've been kidding & poking back and forth for a few year about me buying it from him).
Awhile back, I found a couple professionally built models of the cranes that were used to assemble the Dora, and that got me thinking about building a large dio of the Dora as it was being built, so it would mean partially building the Dora, and then building the 2 cranes, plus all the surrounding track, and a few trains, lots of figures & vehicles, etc.
W/ the Dora itself being over 4' long by itself when assembled, it would obviously make for a pretty massive diorama.
Here are a few pic's I found of kind of what I had in mind.
My understanding is at least 4 sets of tracks were laid down for the construction, so that would add a lot of interest to a dio of the construction.
Man, I'm having issues even painting one. Just awe inspiring seeing your master pieces come together
James
Thank you Sir!
If I remember correctly, few years ago, IBM's motto was "Think BIG". Personally I think you think bigger than anyone I have ever heard of in this modelling world (not saying that I know everybody of course).
350 figures ? Correction ....350 figures at THAT standard ? Plus the vehicles plus plus plus... all at THAT standard ?
Enough said -
Laurence
I don't think anybody knows everybody on the modeling world, however, as far as I know, there are only three other modelers who build as large dioramas as I do. Lewis Pruneau, who coincidentally lives about 50 miles, (80 km), from me and is a close friend, and two others. A guy from Luxembourg named Claude Joachim has built a model of his hometown during WW II in 1/35th scale. It is huge. He was a member of this site previous to when it changed names. Although I have never seen his book, I heard he published one in Europe about the building of it. Also, there is a guy in California who builds models for the movie industry. I have only seen one of his dioramas, but it was quite large, maybe half the size of the one I'm doing all these figures for.
Over the years, I have heard several modelers say they were going to build one on this scale, but I never saw them.
Bob
Logistics, The Figures Updated Feb. 9, 2014
Adam,
That's been done and long before the Soar Art kit was released. Two friends of mine have scratch built that model. First, Lewis Pruneau Built one back in 1985 and included the two mobile gantry cranes. It was featured on the cover of Fine Scale Modeler during 1986 I believe. Then, in the mid 90s, another friend, Bob Waltman, from Pensacola, Florida built another one. It won best of show at one of the Mastercons back then. Both were beautiful models and were amazing work for their time.
BTW, I have one of the Soar Art kits in my stash as well.
Bob
Adam,
That's been done and long before the Soar Art kit was released. Two friends of mine have scratch built that model. First, Lewis Pruneau Built one back in 1985 and included the two mobile gantry cranes. It was featured on the cover of Fine Scale Modeler during 1986 I believe. Then, in the mid 90s, another friend, Bob Waltman, from Pensacola, Florida built another one. It won best of show at one of the Mastercons back then. Both were beautiful models and were amazing work for their time.
BTW, I have one of the Soar Art kits in my stash as well.
Bob
Logistics, The Figures Updated Feb. 9, 2014
My main motivation and drive?
As far back as I can remember and that's a long time, I have been almost an extreme type "A" personality. I didn't set out to practice that, it is just there naturally, I have no control over it. It surfaces in everything I do and have ever done. I started building models in 1945 when my father came home from the Pacific theater at the end of WW II. I have modeled every year of my life since. I've went through many, many phases in modeling. For years I built only planes, hundreds of them, then for more years, I only built cars, more than a thousand. I was never an armor fan, but after I started building dioramas, I have built dioramas with aircraft, ships, cars and so on, but armor and figures tend to lend themselves better to dioramas than all the other fields.
Toward the end of the 70s, I was playing around with some buildings I had made in 1/35th scale from cardboard and matt board. Up to that point I was more or less a closet modeler. In other words, I never knew anybody else who built models other than myself. A buddy dropped by and was so impressed with the realism of the buildings, he said I should build a cityscape. I had built a couple of small dioramas and had seen a few in magazines. I decided to give it a try. For whatever reason, most likely because plywood came in 4' X 8' sheets, that was the size I chose.
When finished, three years later, a guy who worked in a local hobby shop who had seen it convinced me to enter an IPMS national convention that coincidentally was in St. Louis, my home town, that year in 1982. That guy was Wes Bradley, who is a member of this forum, and we have been close friends now for 34 years. I did and when we carried it in, there were hundreds of people in the model competition room and you could have heard a pin drop. Shep Paine was the head judge and it did very well in competition. By chance, the editor of the brand new magazine, Fine Scale Modeler, Bob Hayden, was there and it ended up on the cover of their second issue. Within months, it was in magazines from Japan to Europe and I became "that guy who builds those huge dioramas" all around the globe. From that point forward, huge became the expectation for my work. Nobody wanted to see a small diorama from Bob Letterman, so I was sorta "Type cast". I stopped competing in 1984 after only two years. In fact, The Winds of War, my very first "Superdiorama" was the only one that size I ever entered into competition.
I guess you could say my motivation for building big dioramas is because they are expected of me, but mainly because I actually love to build them. Before I retired 8 years ago, I used to tell my wife that my dream was to lock myself in the basement workshop, with plenty of Cokes and snacks, a good supply of war movies to listen to while I worked and she could slide my meals to me under the door. That way, I could work 24/7 on a project. Something the only other guy I know that builds on this scale, Lewis Pruneau and I, have discussed at length, is what we call "getting on a roll". We have both experienced it many times. When on a huge project, on a day that is going well, after hours of work, all of a sudden, I get a kind of second wind, and it seems everything I do turns out just the way I want it or even better and I just never want to stop. The first big project I worked on after I had started VLS, my employees came to me and said they were concerned because I had been putting in 18 hour days to finish the first Legacies and I apparently looked sick to them. I guess what I am saying is I can get so caught up working on these that I focus so intently I lose track of time and everything else.
Most of my modeler friends love kits, owning them as well as building them, and almost all have a sharp focus on a particular area. I have a pitifully small collection of kits, I have never been an enthusiast of any area of modeling, I am just as happy making a Japanese Garden for my daughter's birthday as I am building an airplane, a figure or a locomotive. To sum up, I would say my motivation is that I love to build this stuff, I always have and, as long as I am able, I always will.
My main motivation and drive?
As far back as I can remember and that's a long time, I have been almost an extreme type "A" personality. I didn't set out to practice that, it is just there naturally, I have no control over it. It surfaces in everything I do and have ever done. I started building models in 1945 when my father came home from the Pacific theater at the end of WW II. I have modeled every year of my life since. I've went through many, many phases in modeling. For years I built only planes, hundreds of them, then for more years, I only built cars, more than a thousand. I was never an armor fan, but after I started building dioramas, I have built dioramas with aircraft, ships, cars and so on, but armor and figures tend to lend themselves better to dioramas than all the other fields.
Toward the end of the 70s, I was playing around with some buildings I had made in 1/35th scale from cardboard and matt board. Up to that point I was more or less a closet modeler. In other words, I never knew anybody else who built models other than myself. A buddy dropped by and was so impressed with the realism of the buildings, he said I should build a cityscape. I had built a couple of small dioramas and had seen a few in magazines. I decided to give it a try. For whatever reason, most likely because plywood came in 4' X 8' sheets, that was the size I chose.
When finished, three years later, a guy who worked in a local hobby shop who had seen it convinced me to enter an IPMS national convention that coincidentally was in St. Louis, my home town, that year in 1982. That guy was Wes Bradley, who is a member of this forum, and we have been close friends now for 34 years. I did and when we carried it in, there were hundreds of people in the model competition room and you could have heard a pin drop. Shep Paine was the head judge and it did very well in competition. By chance, the editor of the brand new magazine, Fine Scale Modeler, Bob Hayden, was there and it ended up on the cover of their second issue. Within months, it was in magazines from Japan to Europe and I became "that guy who builds those huge dioramas" all around the globe. From that point forward, huge became the expectation for my work. Nobody wanted to see a small diorama from Bob Letterman, so I was sorta "Type cast". I stopped competing in 1984 after only two years. In fact, The Winds of War, my very first "Superdiorama" was the only one that size I ever entered into competition.
I guess you could say my motivation for building big dioramas is because they are expected of me, but mainly because I actually love to build them. Before I retired 8 years ago, I used to tell my wife that my dream was to lock myself in the basement workshop, with plenty of Cokes and snacks, a good supply of war movies to listen to while I worked and she could slide my meals to me under the door. That way, I could work 24/7 on a project. Something the only other guy I know that builds on this scale, Lewis Pruneau and I, have discussed at length, is what we call "getting on a roll". We have both experienced it many times. When on a huge project, on a day that is going well, after hours of work, all of a sudden, I get a kind of second wind, and it seems everything I do turns out just the way I want it or even better and I just never want to stop. The first big project I worked on after I had started VLS, my employees came to me and said they were concerned because I had been putting in 18 hour days to finish the first Legacies and I apparently looked sick to them. I guess what I am saying is I can get so caught up working on these that I focus so intently I lose track of time and everything else.
Most of my modeler friends love kits, owning them as well as building them, and almost all have a sharp focus on a particular area. I have a pitifully small collection of kits, I have never been an enthusiast of any area of modeling, I am just as happy making a Japanese Garden for my daughter's birthday as I am building an airplane, a figure or a locomotive. To sum up, I would say my motivation is that I love to build this stuff, I always have and, as long as I am able, I always will.
Adam Baker
Active member
Logistics, The Figures Updated Feb. 9, 2014
Yea, it doesn't surprise me that its been done, and done by greats like that.
I suppose if it should actually happen some day, it'll put me in good company, haha.
I'll have to see if I can find the pic's of them.
Yea, it doesn't surprise me that its been done, and done by greats like that.
I suppose if it should actually happen some day, it'll put me in good company, haha.
I'll have to see if I can find the pic's of them.
Logistics, The Figures Updated Feb. 9, 2014
Thank you for your reply. I hope you dont mind and that I have not overstepped any forum rules here (if I have I apologise and will remove it asap), that i posted your reply on our local IPMS forum in Norway, as I thought your answer was so good that I wanted to share it with our local members.
Thank you for your reply. I hope you dont mind and that I have not overstepped any forum rules here (if I have I apologise and will remove it asap), that i posted your reply on our local IPMS forum in Norway, as I thought your answer was so good that I wanted to share it with our local members.
Logistics, The Figures Updated Feb. 9, 2014
I have no problem at all, and I don't think the webmaster or moderators of modelersalliance.com would.
Bob
I have no problem at all, and I don't think the webmaster or moderators of modelersalliance.com would.
Bob
Logistics, The Figures Updated Feb. 9, 2014
Ed, be sure to link back to us also, would love to have more folks up sharing with us. :drinks
Ed, be sure to link back to us also, would love to have more folks up sharing with us. :drinks
Prop Duster
Member
Logistics, The Figures Updated Feb. 9, 2014
Bab
You make more sense in a few paragraphs than most people make in a lifetime, in regards to modeling. Then add in your skills making the discrete parts of your work come together after years, is most impressive.
I am inspired by your work, to keep putting my bits of plastic together, to make a model come to life.
So to quote someone from somewhere "Model On" and Thanks for the instruction
p.s. I think the guy in the third row of the box just over, there has his fly open or it could be just a shadow, depending on your realizm :laugh:
Bab
You make more sense in a few paragraphs than most people make in a lifetime, in regards to modeling. Then add in your skills making the discrete parts of your work come together after years, is most impressive.
I am inspired by your work, to keep putting my bits of plastic together, to make a model come to life.
So to quote someone from somewhere "Model On"
and Thanks for the instruction
p.s. I think the guy in the third row of the box just over, there has his fly open or it could be just a shadow, depending on your realizm :laugh:
Logistics, The Figures Updated Feb. 9, 2014
Thanks Randy,
The guy who I believe is the absolute best at painting and color is my old partner, Francois Verlinden. He was absolutely incredible. Whatever differences we may have had, it doesn't matter, He was the greatest!
Bob
Hi Bob, Always a pleasure to see progress from your bench
Your skill with color and paint is just plain awesome!!!!
Randy
Thanks Randy,
The guy who I believe is the absolute best at painting and color is my old partner, Francois Verlinden. He was absolutely incredible. Whatever differences we may have had, it doesn't matter, He was the greatest!
Bob
Logistics, The Figures Updated Feb. 9, 2014
Thank you Luiz, We are both a team of the mutual admiration society! :laugh:
I love your work too!
Bob
Thank you Luiz, We are both a team of the mutual admiration society! :laugh:
I love your work too!
Bob
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