"Not Happy About Getting a Haircut" completed

[JamesOLeary]

Hello, All!

It has been a while since I have done much modeling due to some serious health issues that my wife is having. Sometimes I can manage to get in some modeling in 15-20 minute increments between having to do things for her. As a result of this, and a busy past year in general, I have not done much modeling in the past year, and what I have done has taken quite a while.

In 2020, I had posted some photos of figures I had sculpted for production. The company I had originally sculpted them for did not pan out as the owner was in an accident at work and suffered a head injury. Some of those figures are now going to be produced by Custom Dioramics. For the background for the box art of one of the figures, I decided to build a facade of a bunker. It then morphed into a diorama where a bunch of grunts on standdown are hanging out watching one of their buddies receive a haircut before heading back out into the bush the next day. That Soldier does not appear to happy about having to get a haircut.

I started off with a block of wood that I cut down and then started adding framework for the doorway with balsa wood and a tarp covering the doorway made from Magic Sculpt. After that had dried, I started laying down the sandbags which were also made of Magic Sculpt and were textured with the back end of a modeling knife.

I attached a piece of sheet styrene to the back to smooth out the transition.

 

[JamesOLeary]

After the sandbags had cured, I painted them to match the sandbags of the bunker that was outside of my dad's tent when he was in Vietnam. He was supposed to go into it during mortar and rocket attacks, but never did. He slept through the first mortar attack. The guys that went into the bunker got stung by scorpions and one guy got bit by a snake, so my dad figured he would take his chances during later attacks. There is some variation in color. Some sandbags were a darker khaki color, some a lighter khaki color, and some had a blue green tint to them. The tarp is made from a thin piece of Magic Sculpt. On the real bunker, it was placed there after the first monsoon rain and it was discovered that the roof leaked. Additional layers of sandbags were added to keep the tarp in place. When I am closer to adding the figures and completing the groundwork, I will weather these a bit.

 

[JamesOLeary]

And this is the proposed layout for this diorama. First is the painted figure of a guy popping open a beer with is a figure I fully sculpted. Behind him will be a conversion of a Bravo 6 figure who will be holding a beer. Then the guy relaxing in a chair cushioned with an air mattress which is a Royal Models conversion that I have posted in another thread. Standing in the doorway is another figure I sculpted which is one that is being produced by Custom Dioramics for which this diorama will be serving as a backdrop for the box art. Then we have the guy who is not too happy about getting a haircut who is a conversion of a Bravo 6 figure. The barber is a conversion of a Bravo 6 figure as is the guy leaning against the bunker.

I am currently working on the various Bravo 6 conversions. Because of how I have to fit in time to model, it may take a while and there is the possibility that I may change out the figure leaning on the bunker with another. We will just have to see how that turns out.

Thanks for looking.
Cheers,
James

 

[moon puppy]

Hope your Bride is doing better James.

Great to have you posting again, this looks swell!

 

[JamesOLeary]

Hope your Bride is doing better James.

Great to have you posting again, this looks swell!

Thanks. She has good days and bad days. Hopefully she will start having more good days.

I am glad to be posting again...and modeling again.

 

[JamesOLeary]

Some progress on the figures. We have the smiling squad leader figure that I added some hair to his head and some patches to his uniform.

This fresh casting of the figure I sculpted of the guy in the doorway will be used for that figure. Note the two puncture spots on the can where the church key can opener was used to open the can.

Then we have the unhappy Soldier who is being made to get a haircut.

Here is the barber with hair. I have a new right arm for him and put scissors in his hand but hadn't taken a photo of it yet.

And last but not least, we have the Soldier leaning up against the sandbags. I added hair, cut away the shoulder holster, and added breast pockets.

I drilled holes into the bottom of each figure's feet so I can mount them onto platforms for painting and hopefully I can get them primed by tomorrow.

 

[JamesOLeary]

I still need to add a right arm to the squad leader figure. It will be holding a beverage can.

 

[JamesOLeary]

A bit more progress...got the right arm attached to the guy giving haircuts. The scissors are photo etched brass from the Bravo 6 WW2 German figure set of a similar subject.

 

[JamesOLeary]

I got two more figures painted for this diorama...

The smiling NCO who is the only one of this group wearing a patched uniform and who is enjoying a cold beverage.

 

[JamesOLeary]

And the guy holding a cold beverage with his other hand in his pocket.

 

[JamesOLeary]

The line up so far...

 

[Iron Mike]

The barber sort of looks like Kramer from Seinfeld. Nice work James!

 

[moon puppy]

Gitty up
Amazing work James.

 

[JamesOLeary]

Got the barber done. 3 more figures to go. Yeah!

 

[moon puppy]

 

[JamesOLeary]

Today was a pretty productive day. I was able to complete the guy receiving the haircut as well as the guy leaning against the sandbags. I had started the latter a week or so ago, so all I really did was shade and highlight the right leg and right sleeve along with painting the boots, so that was no big deal. For some reason I don't think this guy looks as good as the others in this diorama so I am not sure that I will use him. The folds and drapery of his clothing just seems too choppy.

 

[JamesOLeary]

I am pleased with how the guy receiving the haircut turned out, especially since I dropped him last night and his head broke off. Of course a stream of obscenities was uttered. Luckily the break was fairly clean and I glued the head back on. The only bad thing was now there was a visible crack where the head was attached to the torso, so I filled it in with several layers of paint. I was surprised at how quickly I was able to paint this guy. I must be getting more proficient at planning and executing my 15 to 20 minute sessions.

 

[Duke Maddog]

The folds and drapery of his clothing just seems too choppy.

I don't know James. To me they look like brand new fatigues; perhaps he ran into something in the bush that tore up his old ones so he got replacements. Maybe he's the new EL TEE who just came in and is watching the crew cut this guy's hair that he just ordered.

Maybe I'm wrong, but choppy looks like brand new fatigues not quite broken in yet. Especially the way you painted them.

 

[JamesOLeary]

I don't know James. To me they look like brand new fatigues; perhaps he ran into something in the bush that tore up his old ones so he got replacements. Maybe he's the new EL TEE who just came in and is watching the crew cut this guy's hair that he just ordered.

Maybe I'm wrong, but choppy looks like brand new fatigues not quite broken in yet. Especially the way you painted them.

The new fatigue angle is plausible as they all are pretty much wearing new, or at least clean, uniforms. I will see what he looks like standing among the other figures and see how noticeable the choppiness looks. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[JamesOLeary]

Yesterday was not as productive as Saturday, but I did get to work on some accessories that will be part of the diorama. I took a grenade crate and stacked a mortar round crate on top oil f it to make a table of sorts for the guy relaxing in the chair. On top of it are two Coke cans. The crates are from Armand Bayardi and the cans are from the Tamiya ACAV kit with decals a friend of mine made for me. I also painted a cooler from Value Gear and decided to use a Bravo 6 ammo crate for the guy getting his hair cut to sit on.