French paratrooper bust, Dien Bien Phu, 1954

[tonydawe]

Hi Guys,

Here are the first pics of my latest piece, a superb bust sculpted by Planet Figure's own Philippe Parison (URIBULL) depicting a French Paratrooper of the 1er BPC (2ème Bataillon de par) at Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam 1954.

The face is largely finished, although still one or two final effects to add, and the upper torso is base coated in readiness for the application of the two colour camouflage pattern, known as "Tenue de Saut modèle 1947" (modified in 1952). It is unofficially known as "lizard pattern".

The scene I am trying to capture with this bust is one of desperate anticipation - waiting for reinforcements from the air, or for evacuation as the enemy closes in around them. His face shows the exhaustion and the resilience of the tenacious men who fought in this famous defeat.

 

[Sturm Grenadier]

Hello Tony, Excellent painting of the face, you really captured the desperate look of this soldier. I also like how you did his scragly beard, fits perfectly with the atmosphere your creating. Looking forward to the camo. Regards, SG

 

[Ron Tamburrini]

Great face

Ron

 

[megroot]

excellent work Tony.
That face is awesome

Marc

 

[Franckythefrench]

Very nice job Tony.

Phillipe is one of my friend and he have made some wonderfull figures in the past.

 

[smudger1960]

Great work Tony,really like the facial hair,

Brian

 

[FigureLover]

Nice one Tony, Great start on his flesh tones, good rugged look
Ben

 

[swralph]

In agreement with what has been said above, lovely

 

[URIBULL]

Excellent Tony !!

It's a honor for me to see this figure painting by other.

A real pleasure for me.

Philippe

 

[Zastrow.cuirassier]

Hi Guys,

Here are the first pics of my latest piece, a superb bust sculpted by Planet Figure's own Philippe Parison (URIBULL) depicting a French Paratrooper of the 1er BPC (2ème Bataillon de par) at Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam 1954.

The face is largely finished, although still one or two final effects to add, and the upper torso is base coated in readiness for the application of the two colour camouflage pattern, known as "Tenue de Saut modèle 1947" (modified in 1952). It is unofficially known as "lizard pattern".

The scene I am trying to capture with this bust is one of desperate anticipation - waiting for reinforcements from the air, or for evacuation as the enemy closes in around them. His face shows the exhaustion and the resilience of the tenacious men who fought in this famous defeat.
View attachment 152230View attachment 152231View attachment 152232View attachment 152233View attachment 152234

1er BPC means 1er bataillon de parachutiste de choc

Perhaps the best website, photos, history, videos :
http://www.ecpad.fr/tag/fonds-guerre-dindochine

 

[NickM]

Looking good, Tony. I love the tense expression.
Looking forward to seeing you tackle the camo mate.
Cheers

 

[Joe55]

Yup, great looking mug ! I'm looking forward to monitoring your progress on this one!

Joe

 

[tonydawe]

Rick, Ron, Marc, Franky Brian, Ben, Swralph, Philippe, Rigaud, Nick and Joe,

Thank you very much for your comments.

I'm especially honoured by your comments Philippe - its a great pleasure for me to paint one of your sculpts.

The second stage of the camouflage painting is to lay in the brown swirl pattern, which lies underneath the light green swirl pattern. The brown swirls end in a brush stroke splatter which is deceptively hard to replicate. The brown colours have been highlighted and shaded. I used a mix of 3 parts Jo Sonja Burnt Sienna, 1 part Burnt Umber and 1 part Provincial Beige as the base colour for the brown swirl, and added burnt umber for the shadows and Provincial Beige for the highlights

I've also made a start on the helmet netting.

 

[loosehead]

Looking good Tony
Waiting for that uniform to be beatin down and weathered to go with that face (which is bloody nicely done bro)
Nice stuff Bro
Chris

 

[tonydawe]

Cheers Chris, good to hear from you Bro. Thanks for your comments.

I painted the third element of the camo pattern last night, the green swirls over the brown swirls.

I then gave the jacket several washes of burnt umber to dull the colours down and create a grimy, dirty look to the uniform.

Sadly, I'm still using my IPhone to take these photos. I have a new camera but I'm still experimenting with it and haven't become proficient enough to show my pics here yet.

Here are the latest crappy photographic efforts.

 

[Mark S]

Great camo and terrific boat race Tony.

 

[tonydawe]

Thanks Mark.

Latest update pics. Nearing completion, just the helmet straps to do now.

 

[Wings5797]

Good work Tony.
The layer on layer of the camo has worked to good effect.
Cheers,
Keith

 

[tonydawe]

Thanks Keith,

The difficulty with camouflage is keeping the pattern distinct and clear while also shading and highlighting effectively.

I also intend to add some sweat stains using oil paints to round out the weathering effects, and these too will have to be subtle so they don't cover over the camouflage patterns,

 

[taff edwards]

Hi tony
Awesome job on the painting your painting and the sculpt angle of head all lends to the look of desperation .
Cracking job
Cheers Chris