WIP Critique Soviet tanker (1/35)

ausf · Jan 11, 2011

After a long hiatus due to back trouble, I'm finally getting back to the bench (after a few alterations to both me and the bench

).

This is a piece I almost completed (my first), but have decided I didn't like the pose of the arms or the thickness of the overcoat. In the original, the arms were clasped behind his back as he leans forward a bit looking down, designed to be used with a turret.

I'm leaning towards changing the pose to a prisoner interrogation, left hand outstretched with papers in his hand.

Does the coat need to be padded a bit? I've since seen some photos of these fur lined coats that appear pretty bulky.

Any thought or comments greatly appreciated.

Ferris · Jan 11, 2011

Wow if this is your first figure this is really impressive!

Not sure about adding bulk....it looks quite all right to me.
Maybe the waist belt needs to sunk in a bit more to suggest thick padding?

Looking forward to following your progress!

Cheers,
Adrian

pmfs · Jan 11, 2011

First one? Impressive.

ausf · Jan 11, 2011

Thanks guys.

Yep, it's my first figure. I've been using Aves for armor modeling for a long time and I used to do makeup effects for film over 20 years ago, so sculpting the human form isn't foreign to me, just the size is.

I messed around with sculpting a few heads, then tried this figure. It took a lot of trial and error with a huge learning curve. I spent more than a few hours just trying to form the little star on his headgear. I tried everything short of photo etch, ultimately just sculpting it (which I still don't like). Turning the buttons out of brass, forming soles of the boots, etc were all parts of a long learning process that I hope will make the next easier. Not to mention the pressure pots and everything else that was a new experience.

gordy · Jan 11, 2011

Nice work Jeff, very impressive for a first timer!

If I might suggest one thing :

The tangent of the coat hem start at the apex of the right buttock (show here)

At preset it's too conformal and implies a heavy direct wind.

ausf · Jan 11, 2011

Thanks Gordy.

Sculpting clothing is still a bit of a mystery to me. I guess I was thinking that the wine bottle in the pocket and the forward leg would pull the back taut, but you're right, it looks like it's being pushed in.

I can easily fix that when bulking up the coat.

gordy · Jan 11, 2011

Your welcome! , with the wine bottle still possible to make that fold - just straighten out the curvature a tidge so it's not "cupping his bottom"

Michael Tse · Jan 12, 2011

Hi Jeff I think you are onto something very compelling here.

I especially admire that you are keen to assess the need to bulk up the coat. This shows respect to actuality, whereas in practice it can be quite common for the creator to just carve it as he sees fit. Personally I am all for bulking it, but i am no historian.

It will come out a speechlessly accomplished figure sculpt. I am sure of it.

T50 · Jan 13, 2011

Great looking figure... especially the first try!

The face looks great!!!

As for sculpting the uniforms, it is always recommended
that you look at photos of real thing being worn by
re-enactors or WW2 pics. These sheepskin coats are very
thick and usually roomy.
What I do is to take pics of myself wearing a jacket in
similar material and cut from all different angles.

If you try to come up with these details from your imagination,
you will end up with just that, "imaginary" details...

Good luck!

ausf · Jan 13, 2011

Thanks Michael and Taesung.

This was probably the wrong coat choice for a first attempt. I could find few adequate photos of it in use and photos of it flat doesn't help with sizing. The original idea was actually from an illustration in a Russian magazine I picked up at AMPS. I guess I struggled with the bulkiness because I didn't think they could be too big and still allow climbing in and out of a T-34 hatch. Warm is one thing, trapped is another.

Great tip on looking at re-enactors, it seems quite a few of my ref books use them as models, but I didn't think to web search specifically.

I bought a few different reproductions of headgear and gloves to get an idea of how they actual fit, but stopped short of getting overcoats, etc. (a wool German M43 tankers cap is very warm while shoveling snow by the way

).

Padding out similar clothing is another gem of a tip, thanks!

WIP Critique Soviet tanker (1/35)

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