1:35th Tamiya Frenchman

[kansas kid]

Here are newer pictures of a 1:35th scale figure from one of the Tamiya
sets of figures on WWII French Infantry. . . with those neato helmets.
I altered the figure slightly re what he is carrying in both hands, and used
a Hornet head. I painted this figure with acrylics and then oils over that.
Then I sprayed Testors Dullcote with my airgun to knock out the sheen of the
oil paints.

Durn burn it, I painted the eyes with acrylics at least 7 times, trying to get
rid of the "deer in the headlights" problem. But finally gave up. The eyes
were originally blue, and ended up light brown. Still not what I would have
like to end up with.

I took this figure to the IPMS/USA Nationals in Phoenix, Arizona, USA in
early August. As some of you know, figure modeling isn't considered one of
the main genrés of interest with IPMS members. But that is OK. Because it
was so close to 1:32nd or 54mm, the judges moved my Frenchman into
the category with the figures in that scale. Oh well, . . . but he did get a
third place. How? I have no idea. Comments pro and con are welcomed.

Miami Jayhawk

 

[gordy]

I dig it Rick! The flowers look great! What on earth did you use for the flowers ? The two-tone grass is a great touch that adds just that much more realism

 

[1969]

Ah ha Frenchy... so glad you posted him at last Rick and i agree with Gordy the flowers are just great and add the very needed colour part of the scene to contrast against the brown uniform of the soldier.
Deer in headlights is something I had trouble with a couple of days ago on the 90mm Cairo figure and it took me several tries to correct it so I know the frustration that can cause, yours look just fine now though mate.

take care Rickster,

Stevo

 

[kansas kid]

Hi there, Gordy . . .

Thanks for the kind words, Gordy. The groups of blossoms are from a
scenery company in Deutschland, or Germany perhaps is a better term, here.
I am not a Railroad modeler, but I believe this company makes all kinds of
scenery products and actually is well know. Noch is the name of the company.
And these little bunches of blossoms come in a clear pak package with yellow
blossoms, red blossoms that I cut into smaller "clumps" and also white
blossoms. There are approx. 252 bunches of blossoms in individual dimples
in the clear acetate part of the package. In Kansas City at a new business
close by that sells Noch scenery, I paid $22 American Dollars, about a month
ago. I'm sure there must be an on line site. Maybe someone can chime in
for you Gordy and give the web site address.

Thanks again,

Rick

 

[kansas kid]

Hello Stevie:

Thanks for taking a look, my friend. . . and taking time to post your
comments. Since I was using the French Tri-Colour in my name plate on the
front of the base, I felt Red Poppies would help to compliment the colour
scheme. . . ah . . . and . . . dare I say it??? Help create the essence of good
colour harmony! Of course, most all browns, and certainly the browns in that
Soldiers uniform (. . . "Kinda like What Can Brown Do For You." And no I don't
work for the United Postal Service.) have a lot of red. And red is necessary
to make the colour brown, along with yellow and blue.

Mate, I understand about that Cairo figure. I'm working on that same figure
as I write this. But don't let my photos fool you, Steve. My good friend, Ed
Boll states that Model Photography is the great leveler. And I agree, that
photos can make things look better than they do with nikkid eye, . . .
could be, . . . . Thanks again, Steve,

Rickster

 

[PhilinYuma]

Well, that wasn't very hard: http://www.discounttrainsonline.com/Noch-Flowers-Flower-Petals-4-Colors/item528-7170.html

 

[unknown01]

Hi! Rick.
You made a wonderful work.
I liked the color of the uniform very much.
Japanese makes much AFV in TAMIYA.
But they make almost no figure of TAMIYA.
A scratch is done or a resin figure is made.
You're great.
I congratulate completion.

Mitsitaka

 

[kansas kid]

Hello Mitsutaka:

Oh my goodness, Mitsutaka, thank you for the very kind words. Very much
appreciated, fellow Planeteer. I realize in order for me to improve, I need
to put some concintrated (sp) effort into 1:35th figure. And I'm working on
about 3 others now; in hopes of doing better work on the faces, eyes,
and skin tones.

Thank you so much for the encouragement,

rick

 

[gordy]

Thanks Rick, that's the kind of thing that planetFigure is good for

 

[Mike Stevens]

Hey boss I have to agree with the others. The ground work and base are very co0l and nicely painted. I also like the uniform color.

 

[kansas kid]

Hey PHil. . . in Yuma?

Hi Phil:

Thanks for posting the web site that shows Noch products. Not very
difficult at all, oh yeh!

Lookin' at your sobriquet, makes me wonda' if you're located in Arizona, USA.
As in Yuma?

Thanks for chiming in with that information,

Jaybird

 

[kansas kid]

Correctomundo, Gordy

Roger that, Gordy. . .

 

[kansas kid]

He Comes from Big D, my oh yes. . .

Hey there Michael from Dallas:

Thank you for the kind words, Michael. I appreciate you taking time to
have a look see. Oh yes, for the younger Planeteers re that "headline" at
the top saying "He comes from Big D,. . . " et cetera. I was an amateur
musical comedy performer, and a big fan of Broadway/London type of music.
Frank Lessor (last name not spelled correctly, sorry) who wrote a musical
entitled "Most Happy Fellow". And that line come from one of the songs in
the show that became very popular; along with "Standin' on the corner
watching all the girls go by." Hummm, seems I spend some time doing that
as well, when not on the stage, of course.


Jayhawk

 

[pmfs]

Dear Rick, what a fantastic surprise, this little guy are gourgeous, even this is not my "beach" you done a great job on the French soldier...
Great groundwork, the base is diferent and I like her..
I hope my English make sense

Cheers,
Pedro.

 

[kansas kid]

Aw Pedro: Five by Five, my friend

Oh goodness yes, Pedro:

Roger that, my friend. You're coming through "loud and Clear" and five by
five. I understand you perfectly. So good of you to comment, Pedro.

Gee, I don't know, maybe I just was looking at the project for so long, starting
back in early July, as the dealine was the end of July. . . for the August
IPMS contest.But I sincerely do appreciate the kind words of encouragement
from you Pedro.

Altho I think I goofed up some of the prairie tufts re the colour scheme, when
I added oil paints to those "clumps" (meaning the green colour was too
bright, in my opinion) I guess other viewers don't notice those glaring errors
that I still see. But perhaps this is my best ground work/terrain so far.
Still so much to learn. . .

Thanks again, Pedro. Wishing you a great afternoon,

Ricardo Jaybird

 

[Ferris]

Hi Rick,

You seem to be back at the production line...

I think the figure looks very attractive, but I especially like the creative base!
It seems you are on a program of building up your experience with groundwork; it's quite a big base for such a small figure.

One piece of minor criticism would be that it's not completely clear (to me at least, so it might just be me what the good fellow is doing exactly.

Question Rick: why not paint a really well-sculpted figure next time? Tamiya is nice, but not even close to matching eg. Alpine quality. Your skills have evolved far enough to tackle them, and I even think you'll actually have an easier job as IMO it is a lot easier to paint a well-sculpted figure than a....ehm....less well-sculpted one. And in absolute terms, a 1:35 figure even from Alpine is not that expensive.

Everybody has own his preferences of course, and please do what you like best, but I just think you are ready for the major league figures now!

Cheers,
Adrian

 

[kansas kid]

Adrian: you are definitely right

Adrian:

I agree with everything you said, Adrian. I do have some Alpine, 1:35th
figures. And a number of Hornet heads. I believe I picked this set of French
WWII infantryman from Tamiya because that set is different than what we
usually see. For some reason I really don't want to render the same figures
and models that other people find so popular. And that is what drew me to
the WWII French Infantry set. Same for the Zvezda 1:35th Russian Mtn.
Figures set, I bought recently. I would love if Alpine offered some different
1:35th figures besides Wehrmacht. But I realize they have to sell these
figures, and Wehrmacht really sells.

Also, I agree that the base is too big for the figure. And I knew that when
I first picked it up at Michaels. I was hoping the different treatment
with those wood dowel rods would counteract that.

I will say that I sincerely do appreciate you candid remarks, Adrian. That is
how we learn. You have a skill for pointing out problems but you do it in
a very gracious way. That is a very good attribute to possess.

Thanks again,

Miami Jayhawker

 

[Meehan34]

wow, a 1/35th. Nice work on this small scale. The ground work is really cool. it is always nice to see your work.

 

[Jamie Stokes]

well,
great to see this figure

- French WW2
- great colour work
- like the base, hints at defenses and trenches, while the flowers hint at spring/ summer

- and in (for most of us) a small scale.

Thanks for sharing,

 

[kansas kid]

Tulsa, Top o' the Morning to ya' . . .

Hey Mike:

Thank you for your comments. I do appreciate it. Hope things are going well
with you down there in the red earth of Okla-Homa. Hummmm, sounds like
a song title. But I digress. . .

Whoa, Nellie, you've written over a 1,033 comments? My goodness, that is
perhaps more "writing" than what Aldus Huxley wrote.

Have a great day, Mike,

Jayhawker