Panzerart USMC Tank Crew

[Kimmo]

Next on the workbench is a small jungle vignette with one of Panzerart's resin figures in 1/35 scale. This is my first from them and will definitely be getting some more in the future. Well sculpted and cast, even if there was a bit more seam cleanup needed on the pants then one would like. You get two head options, with and without helmet. My only niggle here is the chin strap is too thin with no buckle detail, but that could be replaced if you wish. The cover should be a bit more lumpy for total accuracy, but will suffice. The uniform looks fine for a P41, and the shotgun looks good to boot. Nice change of pace there. The base is made up with cork bark, twisted wire for the roots, fine scatter for moss, Kamizukuri plants and the ground work is bark residue (from me having to grind off a good chunk with a mini burr) with some acrylic resin dust from sanding down the fill with bits and chunks of stuff thrown in, topped off with leaf scatter. The scene is pretty much set, the leaves will be re-positioned once the painting is done, and I will probably add more moss and leaf scatter once I see how this looks under paint.











A bit more cleanup with the fill on the sides of the base and I can get priming.

Kimmo

 

[1969]

Really like the base you have made for the figure, very nice.
Steve

 

[Viking Bob]

Following this one, excellent groundwork.

 

[Chris Oldfield]

Thanks for the detailed SBS on how you made the groundwork Kimmo, very informative.
Watching with interest!

 

[Nap]

Hi Kimmo

Just pulled my comfortable chair up watching this closely

Like the concept on the piece ...good to hear what you used on the groundwork and it certainly looks really effective

Is this based on a picture perhaps ?

Following as always .....do you normally keep to the smaller scales ?

Nap

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Steve, Bob, Chris and Nap! Nothing like a good sized audience to keep you on your toes...


Nap, my default scale is 1/35 since I've been building a lot of armour and whatnot in that scale for ages, it's the best compromise for size, cost and variety. These days you can find pretty much anything and everything under the sun. My goal is to really improve in the groundwork and face painting department over the next year. Painting in larger scales gives me a ton of useful info and practice, then the trick is to scale it down which doesn't always work just like that. The scene is just me and my imagination run amok. I was originally toying with a riverbed and mangrove scene, but not enough vegetation to work with, and the tree would take some time as well. This was an easier option since I have plenty of good sized cork bark to work with and some laser cut plants to play with. If you ever get a chance to grab some larger chunks of cork bark, do so, fantastic stuff for natural rock face especially in this scale but works well up to 75mm, and all the off cuts and crumbly bits work well for debris and so on.

Kimmo

 

[Babelfish]

Love the basing. Twisted wire for roots is a great idea (*makes a mental note). Never seen the figure before, looks good.

- Steve

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Steve!

It's the same as making a wire tree, wrap around, double up as needed. I coated everything with a mix of PVA , Surface Primer and some of the grit from the groundwork for texture. The glue and primer remain flexible so you can bend to shape after the fact.


Finally got some paint down, and things are looking good after a good 3-4 hours. I wanted to get a pale skinned guy with a bit of dirt and sun but not saturated so I started off with a base of Cork and Light Skin from the Malefic set. It has a bit of a purply tone and gives you a nice pasty look when combined with cork brown. I added washes of reddish brown, violet and some camo black brown until I got the shading and tones I was after. Then the usual highlighting and more toning down. I haven't done 5 o'clock shadow much but decided he'd probably need some and am pleased with how that's come out. Violet, camo black brown and stipple away. I went over it with a mid skin tone and then another glaze. I decided not to go overboard with the fading on the uniform so needed a good green to start with and chose Yellow Olive, mix in US Tank Crew highlight and deck tan to lighten it to taste. More violet is used in the shadows. The base got a quick and dirty 30 minute session to block in the colours, you do not want to be terribly neat at this stage, nor use a good brush. Work quickly and use thinner and glaze medium so you can wet blend and much about. Even with the workbench lighting, this looks pretty darn nice.










And colour references










Still a fair ways to go, but I'm more than happy so far.

Kimmo

 

[Babelfish]

Still a fair ways to go, but I'm more than happy so far.

And so you should be! Even if you called time on it now, it'd still be a tremendous job.

- Steve

 

[Nap]

Hi Kimmo

Can't beat a bit of vegetation eh ! .....really starting to come already along ...and so quickly

Thanks for sharing the paints and techniques you use for base work

Look forward to more from the bench

Happy modelling

Nap

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Steve and Nap!

This is moving along surprisingly well and fairly quickly, even though there was a lot of fiddly stuff to be done today. I got the helmet more or less done, something's not quite right and need a think with fresh eyes. I brought in Dead Flesh and Military Green for the base colour and darker splotches, the browns and tan were mixed up with what was on the palette. I gave the EGA and USMC a shot, not the greatest and will have to try and clean it up a bit or redo it. Fortunately it can be faded down if all else fails. The groundwork got a bit of definition as well.











Still a couple of sessions at least.

Kimmo

 

[Nap]

Goodness you are painting quickly on this

Think the helmet needs a bit more definition

Groundwork is looking good now ......dare I suggest a water feature running down .....

Happy session time

Nap

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Nap!

I decided to redo the helmet, I think it looks better now. The annoying thing about painting camo this small is that the pattern does a distressingly good job of what it is supposed to do, namely break up outlines and confuse the eye. The figure is almost done now, I added some light "dirt" glazes to the uniform and went a little heavier around the knees, shirttail and butt. I might add some more when I've had a chance to look at things with fresh eyes. The groundwork wasn't really touched except for a few highlights and shadows, inks will be needed for the next phase, and there might just be some moisture involved...













Kimmo

 

[Nap]

Hi Kimmo

That helmet looks so much better now , sure you will sort the weathering out to your satisfaction

Another piece nearly finished , you must have a great collection

Nap

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Nap!

Not much of a collection, I try to get stuff sold off because I have no display space. I don't get too emotionally attached to any of my projects, better that they go to someone who can display and enjoy them. Plus, there's never too much money at hand...

Got the foliage mostly sorted out today, a few touches here and there on the base and the figure. The greens need a bit more oomph.











The overhang on the left will most likely get trimmed off like so





I'll try and get the inks down tomorrow, then I can probably glue him in place and make adjustments as needed.


Kimmo

 

[Nap]

Hi Kimmo

Another good update and another nearly finished ...I agree ref the overhang

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Nap!


I think we're just about done. I touched up a few things, did the inks and played with varnishes. The inks really helped bring out some tones and add a touch of depth. I used a bit of gloss to simulate moisture/water around the moss and down cracks in the rock face, made sure the uniform was dead flat and gave the leaves, skin and weapon a light coat of satin. The sweat stain also got a thin line of 50/50 mix of matt and satin for added dampness. It doesn't quite show up under the bench lights, but it does make the skin look moist in real life and obviously gives a bit of a sheen to the other stuff that should have a sheen.











The base sides needs a coat of varnish, and then good photos after one final fresh eyes check.

Kimmo

 

[Steve Brodie]

very very nice

 

[Nap]

Hi Kimmo

Good finishing touches , good use of the inks and varnishes

Thanks for SBS ..enjoying to follow

Look forward to the next

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Kimmo]

Cheers Steve and Nap!

Got photos taken and am in the process of whittling the pile down from the original 100. I tend to get carried away and take as many as I can in the hopes you get 4 or 5 really good ones. I used a white and a black background and noticed how the camera's sensor reads either background really differently. I've understood for a long time that the exposure needs to be dropped for a dark background, but hadn't appreciated how much the tones will change as well given that the light source, angle, aperture and focal length is the same in both cases as seen below.







I'll get the edited pile of 34 down to a dozen in the next day or so.

Kimmo