WIP Alpine NCO US Infantry Europe 1944-45

[Kimmo]

Time to get back to the PF bench now that the worst of the summer is over and other things have been taken care of. Been meaning to do up the second of the Alpine/Vallejo sets in the stash that Vallejo had generously sent me a while back. I was hoping to have something else to go along with the figure but decided to just go ahead and whip up a base. I'm going to go for a wintry night scene. The figure is up to Alpine's usual superb standard, casting is nearly flawless and the parts all fit nicely. You'll just have to add a sling, which I did with pewter foil and some etch buckles and swivel mounts. For a look at what you get in the set, have a look here.


I did a quick base from foam, Vallejo ground pastes and then crumbled plaster for additional texture and stones. Static grass was applied in clumps for a rough patchy look. Scatter was added for more interest in the form of scrub and dead leaves.



















I then primed everything with a dark burgundy mixed from Vallejo surface primers and gave the ground work some different shades to help differentiate the various elements and set some values. After the primer had dried, I added some tall grass by dipping short lengths of violin bow string in PVA and then fine ground carving foam dust.


















I've been doing a bit more prep work with the base and am just about ready to start the painting fun. I have to make a couple of decisions regarding lighting but should be good to go shortly.


Kimmo

 

[Mike Stevens]

I like what you've done with the base.

 

[Nap]

Hi Kimmo

Great to have you back at the bench

Quick prep with this Alpine means on with brushes

I like the way the base "sweeps" down

Following with interest

Have FUN @ the bench

Nap

 

[Steve Edwards]

Violin bow string! What have I been doing all my life?

I really like your base. I'm planning on doing the Tommy's War French Infantry 1914 set. A base like yours would be perfect.

Now, where's that violin?

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Mike, Nap and Steve!

The violin bow was a happy accident while searching for something to do a straw roof with on ebay. It's quite cheap considering how much material you get, much more economical than cutting down house painting brushes. The only drawback is that all the strands are quite uniform, which makes it ideal for straw but not so great if you do a field of tall grass. You can of course use wire, stretched sprue etc to achieve the same effect.


Moving along, I gave the base a quick wash of black from leftover base primer to darken things up after adding some long plant leaves cut from thin paper which are all but invisible in the chaos now. The groundwork has to be dark to contrast with the snow. I think most, if not all of it, will be covered by snow Just in case some remains visible, I gave everything a go over with some colour, including the grass, followed by purplish washes. The figure was pre-shaded using Wolf Grey and Hull Red for the mids and highlights, Black, Royal Blue and a touch of Hull Red for the outlining and extreme shadows. I first gave it a light drybrush to set the angle of the light then smoothed things out and did a fair bit of edge highlighting. I forgot to mention that you can click on the photos for full sized versions.



















I think I'll do the snow first to give me a guide on how far to go with the contrast on the figure. This should be fun and messy.

Kimmo

 

[T50]

Looking great so far!!!

 

[NigelR]

Very impressive start!

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers T and Nigel!


I got some base colours down and some snow on the base. The colours look good so far, the snow is a bit off right now. I used Precision Ice and Snow and their adhesive shot out of a pump spray bottle. For some reason, it's reacted with the shrub clumps and something else and I've got green patches. I can sort of understand the green from the clumps, but not the other splotches. It might just need to dry overnight. As I suspected, most of the groundwork has been obliterated but it does make for interesting variation and a natural look to the snow laying on top.













The other thing that needs to be fixed is to add some blue to the snow to give it some depth and a nighttime feel. I'll see how the snow reacts to varnish tomorrow and go from there.


The figure looks like this now.


















I'm using some of the paint from the Nocturna Malefic Flesh set, I use them quite often as they have some neat shades that work well for dank and dark tones. Everything gets a bit of the purple to keep it all tied together. I added some darker washes to the deep shadows and did some outlining as well. The real fun will start when I get to grips with the base.


Here's a test sit









Lots more fun left.


Kimmo

 

[Kimmo]

A bit more progress today. I gave the base a coat of tinted varnish after using straight white on the green splotches. This caused the snow to "melt" a little bit so I think a new application is needed. The green is still coming through a bit more than I would like. At least now I have some definition and shadows to work with.












I got some more highlighting and a bit of definition done on the figure. It's starting to come together nicely, if not slowly. I need to be careful to not go too far in one direction or the other with highlights and shadows, that means watching paint dry. There is also a ton of detail in the sculpt that needs to be carefully picked out which is great, but slows things down even more.























And another test fit









I will need to correct the deep shadow as it is coming out too far right at the moment, the light is coming in at around 45 degrees from the top and front. More fun ahead.


Kimmo

 

[Nap]

Hi Kimmo

Catching up a bit ...you need to paint slower ...lol

This is looking good , liking the groundwork , looks natural, figures getting there

Thanks for updates

Looking forward to seeing more

Nap

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Nap! I paint as quick as I can, when I can...


Had a couple of off days and the snow effects were not working as hoped so I went to plan B which is using micro balloons and basically painting the snow. Hopefully will have an update later today or tomorrow.

Kimmo

 

[Mike Stevens]

What are micro balloons?

 

[Kimmo]

Mike, micro balloons are used to bulk up resin and super glue. As the name implies, they're super tiny hollow glass or resin balls and makes a pretty good fine snow when mixed into thinned PVA, gel, varnish etc. It's better than using baking soda as it won't yellow over time and won't absorb liquid.

Kimmo

 

[Kimmo]

More progress. The snow is now just about done, I need to check everything against a dark background to see how it's looking. As I alluded in the previous posts, the original idea with the snow wasn't working. I ended up redoing the shadows, then adding several layers of differently tinted gloss varnish with some micro balloons mixed in, then touching up highlights and shadows as needed.













I got a little more work done to the figure, mainly the jacket. Some more moon glow and a bit more shadow to the right side plus details is needed to be done.



















And another test sit













Getting closer, still plenty of fun left.


Kimmo

 

[Nap]

Hi Kimmo

Great to see the updates, nice work on the snow effects , looks very natural

As for the figure , liking the way your painting that with the moon glow effect ...will you push this further ?

Looking forward to seeing more

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Mike Stevens]

Looking good so far!

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Nap and Mike!

The answer to Nap's question is in the update below. More work done today, the details are starting to get picked out and the piece is coming together.



















And the obligatory in situ shots













Might be able to get this wrapped up over the weekend, still a fair bit of finicky stuff to do.


Kimmo

 

[Nap]

Hi Kimmo

That does look good , the painting effects work well , having to type with a coat on ....the basework looks freezing !

Thanks for updates

Looking forward to seeing more

Have FUN @ the bench

Nap

 

[NigelR]

This is looking really good. Putting the in progress figure in situ on the base is a really good idea because it helps show how far you need to go with the shading/highlighting in the context of the base.

Excellent groundwork as well, this will be great when finished.

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Nap and Nigel!


Gotten very little done in the grand scheme of things as everything that needs to be done is rather small and needs to dry before I can tell what's going on. The shoulder patch was giving me plenty of fits but I think I finally have that sorted. I had a close look at my brush and turns out the leading hair had come out a touch, a quick trim and things seem to be fine again. I took some shots against a dark background, the photos aren't the greatest as they are way over exposed, but do give me a good idea of how the light is hitting. Shooting against a dark background is always fun, can't just point and shoot for some reason. Even after editing, they are still not quite there so these will have to do for now.
















I think a few more touch ups and then I can glue him in place and get the light tent out and play with the settings.


Kimmo