Masterbox US Paratroopers

[Kimmo]

Trying to figure out what to do next, I decided on a somewhat simple painting exercise using a pair of Masterbox's paratroopers in 1/35th scale I'd picked up from the used section of my local hobby shop for 3 euros, a steal really. It's not a bad set, there is room for improvement as is the case with most injection molded figures, one major plus is the inclusion of decals. The Garands are okish but the trigger guards are awful (the BAR for the third figure looks good though), and the canteens are in fact Marine issue, which is rather bizarre, Tamiya to the rescue. The uniforms seem to be a mix of details between M42/M43 and the helmets look a touch bulbous to me so they got swapped out for Dragon spares. It seems that every manufacturer has their own idea of what an M1 helmet looks like. The one piece of kit that is readily available and rather cheap to procure is the one that is most often wrong. The Dragon helmets aren't great either, but sit better to my eye, Tamiya's offerings are a touch undersized. The pouches and gear are so so, but the straps and buckles surprisingly crisp, and the inclusion of tie down straps for the cargo pockets and knife are nice touches. The heads are Hornet and Armor35. Some minor fiddling with fit was expected, a few gaps filled in and details replaced as needed. I goofed with the torsos so made more work for me than should have been needed, and I think the poses lean forward a bit too much, not sure if that's me or the figures. The slings were made from pewter foil (almost accurately) and copper wire hardware with Aber doodads for hooks. The helmet mesh is made from pantyhose, which could actually be glued down using sparing amounts of Tamiya Extra Thin cement, a pleasant bonus. I chose to not add a bandage to our limping chap's leg, we can presume he's wrenched his knee or twisted his ankle instead. A real simple base was made from foam on a 50mm base, casting plaster/Celluclay mix with fine sand and plaster rocks. I'm still deciding on what kind of ground cover to add, maybe foam scatter for loam/moss/clover/heather as this is nominally set in Holland.

















Kimmo

 

[bigtodd]

NICE! Looking good I can't wait to se the painting in progress. I love love love the netting on the helmets. The size looks spot on.

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Todd! I was lucky enough to find a good weave from the selection of hose at my local store, got a few odd looks while studying the swatches...


First session done, laying down the basic uniform colour, initial shading and some blocking in. I'm using Vallejo Yellow Olive mixed with Bronze Green or German Fieldgrey for the basic green. I read that the uniforms tend to grey out as they get washed rather than go tan. Black, German Camo Dark green, Brown Violet, Desert Yellow and US Tank Crew Highlights make up the rest of the palette. Things might be a touch dark right now, I'll know better when I plop them on the base to see how the light hits.















Lots of fun left.

Kimmo

 

[Kimmo]

Been a bit too warm to get much painting done, but managed a decent session in today. Starting to pick put more details and did some more shading. I think the lighting is about right.

















Now I can start cleaning up and defining the webbing and gear and refining the shading.


Kimmo

 

[Kimmo]

Starting to get there now. A fair bit of refining and smoothing, more work on the details and the boots have gotten off to a good start.


















I'm hoping to get another short session in today to get the decals on. No point painting them if you've got an easier option.

Kimmo

 

[Kimmo]

Almost had a major disaster on my hands while trying to get the decals on. The supplied decals are horrible. They refuse to snuggle down properly, shatter and don't really stick either, to add insult to injury, they were out of register. In short, get some replacements or be prepared to paint whatever markings you have in mind. Fortunately, I have a set from Passion, which are somewhat better, yet still not quite what I would call good, because they are also rather difficult to get to snuggle down. I decided on going with the 82nd as it seems the 101st gets all the love these days. I did end up using the rank decals from the kit, in an interesting turn, they are outlined only. Seeing as the lighter colour is usually a not too accurate guess and might need a repaint, this isn't a huge problem.

















And a peek at what's going on under the helmets.




Still a bit to do, another couple of sessions might be enough.

Kimmo

 

[bigtodd]

maybe a little wash over the decal to cut down brightness?

 

[Kimmo]

Todd, there was a bit of shine coming off the lights, and it also needed another coat of flat. It may still need one more application or a bit of stabbing to get rid of the tiny bit of slivering between the text and patch. In real life it isn't noticeable, but under my work light it shows up on camera.

Getting closer and closer, I might just get this done tomorrow. Still undecided on ground cover, I can leave it as is, add some leaf detritus or a combo of leaves and moss or moss alone. I'm choosing the location as the Groesbeek heights, and it seems to be a sparsely wooded area with no real grass to speak of.














It's a bit of a shame the faces can't really be seen from most normal viewing angles, they have perfect expressions. On the plus side, I don't have to be super fussy here.










Other than the ground work and a couple of touches here and there, it's pretty much done.

Kimmo

 

[Kimmo]

Got the groundwork done, and I think I'm almost there. I'm going to try and get the netting to stand out a little more, other than that, I think this is pretty much done.

















I will also need to take some good photos, I'll add a gallery link when that's up.


Kimmo

 

[bigtodd]

Love it, Love it, Love it !!!

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Todd!

Finally got around to editing the photos, the light seemed to want to pick up every little flaw or tiny speck of dust and lint that didn't look to be there to the naked eye. It may be time to invest in new reading/painting glasses...I'm really happy with the groundwork, I will have to do a few more bases this way.

A teaser, and gallery link






Thanks to everyone who followed along and commented.

Kimmo

 

[Nap]

Hi Kimmo

Apologies ...catching up ....nice Detailed SBS from you , good modelling and a good result on both figures

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Nap!

Kimmo