WIP French Poilu from Model Cellar

[MattMcK.]

Hi Matt

Love the presentation on this very clever indeed , the helmet really works .....what's the story behind it?

Nap

I have no idea of its origin, but the helmet has a nasty V shaped gouge in it that was banged back into place at some point. I hope no one was wearing it at the time. I found it on eBay from a guy parting with his grandfather’s collection.

 

[Warren SMITH]

Excellent work.. a Piece to be proud of..

 

[Steve Ski]

Way too kind. Let’s see if I can make it the final mile

Na, you got this in the bag, great work!

 

[MattMcK.]

Adding some water…

 

[Nap]

Hi Matt

As Steve says " You've got this in the bag "

Water effects look really good .....a peaceful moment among the horrors of war

The figure looks so right in the setting

Thanks for sharing

Looking forward to seeing more

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[MattMcK.]

My wife says more dirt and grit on and around the sandbags. Any other suggestions?

 

[JasonB]

I agree with your wife. I am in the midst of a 1/9 figure in a trench section with sandbags, and I made sure to put some dirt between and on top of the bags to set them into the landscape. I just pushed some magic sculpt in the cracks and stippled it with a stiff bristle brush and painted it when set. For dirt on top, I just used some baking soda mixed with acrylic paint to make it chunky and muddy, and gobbed it on. Once it was dry I added various mud colors to make it a combo of wet and dry and blend a bit into theSandbag.
Brilliant vignette BTW!

 

[Mike - The Kiwi]

My wife says more dirt and grit on and around the sandbags. Any other suggestions?

Phenomenal scene Matt & within the Poilu helmet adds extra poignancy to him. He doesn’t look happy at all!
Agreed with sandbags, more gunge - I like pastel mixed paint to soil up the bags.
Would also recommend adding muddied prints where his feet have wandered about given the pool of water snaking through the trench line. Inspiring example which would have all us WW1 modellers calling ModelCellar for our copy of Kaz’s figure.
Thanks for sharing.
MikeTheKiwi

 

[NigelR]

This is looking fantastic, a very clever and evocative setting. Agree with your wife and the comments above, just a bit more gunge and debris to tie the sandbags into the scene better, and maybe a bit between the wood of the trench supports.

 

[MattMcK.]

Completed! The finished work is posted over in the "Completed" forum. Thanks all for the support and advice!