Completed Red Trousers Against Machine Guns

[DaddyO]

Hi Nigel

Nice to see you posting on here and great to se how this is shaping up
(I had a good look at the St Chamond dio Nigel made recently and it's fab. If you ever get the chance to look at it you'll have to guess how much barbed wire Nigel hand knitted for it. . . . I'll guess you'll be out by at least a factor of two!)

Back to the current program which is progressing very nicely if I might say so. For what it's worth I think the officer in front is a bit of a distraction from the main event which is the horror of the man watching his comrades being mown down, so I think the first grouping with the five charging soldiers, but without the officer works best (He's a nice figure that would stand alone anyway so nothing lost) Try covering over the image with your thumb to see the effect. (I wouldn't even add the standard bearer to this grouping because the colour will be another distraction IMO)

With the other soldiers behind looking ahead only our hero and the viewer realise what is happening. You could enhance the effect by having the falling figures in the foreground very slightly lower so the eye is lead up to our hero and subdue the colours or faces of the figures behind going for maximum contrast on the horror of the central figures face.

Inspiring stuff keep it up
Paul

 

[MattMcK.]

Fwiw, perhaps consider sloping the vignette, showing them coming up a berm into the line of fire. I agree with most of what Paul said above, though I would have a hard time eliminating the officer

 

[NigelR]

Good points both. I should have added that I will have the line of figures at the back on a hill so they are above the officer figure height-wise, and that the central figure will be on the highest part so he is the focus.

Good idea on the lighting Paul, I could try to have the central figure more brightly lit (and the groundwork around him), but I am not sure my painting skills are up to that. I'll give it a go....

I think I will get a rough standard bearer figure together, carve a base that is more representative of the hill and then post some more photos, with and without the officer, also with and without the standard.

These are the kind of ideas I need at this stage before I go too far with all the conversion work, thanks.

 

[Bundook]

Do you think he'd really have time to turn and register "horror" on his face while the man is still falling, though? Are you going to have men lying already hit too? They would likely not even know right away that they were being taken under fire by an MG, nor where it was coming from. A crackling sound, some men apparently stumbling, then a distant and nondescript "thumping" sound (this is why they used to say that "you never hear the one that gets you").

 

[NigelR]

Do you think he'd really have time to turn and register "horror" on his face while the man is still falling, though? Are you going to have men lying already hit too? They would likely not even know right away that they were being taken under fire by an MG, nor where it was coming from. A crackling sound, some men apparently stumbling, then a distant and nondescript "thumping" sound (this is why they used to say that "you never hear the one that gets you").

I'm not going to have any figures on the ground because they wouldn't have hit the ground while the others are starting to fall (those figures would be further to the right of the first falling guy). If I had made this a bigger piece I could have included some guys already on the ground and that would emphasize the line gradually being mown down, but it would be too much work.

There's definitely a bit of artistic licence going on to tell the story. Maybe the machine gunner paused to change the belt, which is why the guy in the middle just turned to look what was happening to the right of him...... Or maybe rather than charging ahead he has just hesitated and his falling comrades have caught his eye and in that split second he realises he could be next.......

I might change the position of the casualties because one is closer to the ground whereas the standing one looks like he has just been hit, so that way round they might fit the story better. Definitely some experimentation is needed.

 

[NigelR]

OK, some more compositional ideas. I sculpted a bit of a contour out of foam to give an idea of how I intend the finished vignette to look. I came up with four variations:

Version 1: This has the officer in the front corner with the rest of the figures coming over the hill.



Version 2: Same as above, but with the officer moved slightly higher up the base.



Version 3: Same as above, but with the two figures at the rear swopped around




Version 4: This one has no officer and the figures are a bit more central. The base would need to be a bit smaller if I went with this one.



I think I favour version 3, but maybe with the officer in the front corner. I think the officer helps give a feeling of movement.

I have decided not to add a standard bearer, as I think this will create a focal point that will draw the eye away from the guy at the centre of the story.

Thoughts and comments gratefully received......

 

[Andrew Belsey]

My own preference would be to make the base a little shorter and have the officer closer to the other ranks. It’s a good group though.

 

[Ferris]

My own preference would be to make the base a little shorter and have the officer closer to the other ranks. It’s a good group though.

Agreed, but only by about 2 cm or so. The officer’s distance to the rest of the group very well suggests movement.

Adrian

 

[NigelR]

Thanks Andy and Adrian. I think I will keep the officer, have him in the lower quadrant (so he is downhill) but a bit closer to the rest of the figures.

I will work on the figures now and do the final tweaking once they are done. They will be a bit more bulky when they all have arms, full kit and rifles, so that will also impact the layout.

This will be on hold now until after Scale Modelworld, I'll report back when there is more progress.

 

[NigelR]

Back from Scale ModelWorld and slow progress is being made. Here's the results of a bit more putty pushing and assembling of the figures, posed roughly on the base. The foam block is sitting a bit low in the base, this will be raised up level with the edge.

There is so much kit to assemble for the French infantry it will take a while to get to the next stage. Those poilus certainly had a lot to carry!!

 

[Warren SMITH]

Excellent work... keep at it..

 

[JasonB]

Just my opinion, but I think having the officer more turned to be looking back at the troops to clearly show he is "encouraging" them forward would look better. As it is, he seems to be a bit alone and yelling off into the distance. That, or have him looking forward and have him holding pistol up in his right hand encouraging then forward in the classic "charge" pose.

 

[NigelR]

Just my opinion, but I think having the officer more turned to be looking back at the troops to clearly show he is "encouraging" them forward would look better. As it is, he seems to be a bit alone and yelling off into the distance. That, or have him looking forward and have him holding pistol up in his right hand encouraging then forward in the classic "charge" pose.

Good thoughts. I will be painting him so that he is clearly looking over his right shoulder and I can turn him slightly so he is angled slightly more backward. I will try repositioning his arm. I've already moved it forward slightly (as previously it looked like he had shot the guy on the end!) but I think it's now in a slightly odd position. So having it raised might work better.

I have two spare officer figures, I might try this on another one to see if I can get a better pose all round.

 

[Bundook]

... I will try repositioning his arm. I've already moved it forward slightly (as previously it looked like he had shot the guy on the end!) but I think it's now in a slightly odd position. So having it raised might work better...

Then how about giving him a sabre instead of the pistol, like the officer in the painting you posted upthread? It surely can't be too hard to scratch build a sabre. It would even add a deeper note of futility to your scene, having him charge emplaced and pre-registered machine guns while carrying a sword and a silly walking stick.

 

[NigelR]

Then how about giving him a sabre instead of the pistol, like the officer in the painting you posted upthread? It surely can't be too hard to scratch build a sabre. It would even add a deeper note of futility to your scene, having him charge emplaced and pre-registered machine guns while carrying a sword and a silly walking stick.

You read my mind. The officer was the first figure I did so I was trying to keep him close to OOB but as I have done a bit more hacking about, I'm getting a bit more confident in converting figures. I like the look of the officer in that painting and I might try to replicate that figure. I'll see what the original officer looks like with his arm repositioned.

 

[NigelR]

Finally, a bit more work on this. I have been working on a Wingnut Wings Sopwith Dolphin, then there was Xmas, but I am back on this. I have four figures finished and ready for paint, so I thought I would post updates before paint so the conversion work is evident. I am finding this quite challenging, so hats off to all the converters/scratchbuilders on here! Also, the ICM figures come with loads of beautifully cast equipment, but getting it all attached to the figures so that it hangs reasonably convincingly I have found a challenge.

Here's the completed figures (although note the rifles are not permanently in place). I tweaked the officer's arm from the earlier version so he is waving his troops on.....





Here's the two figures I am still working on. I am approaching the casualty with some trepidation as I will have to model the bottom half of his coat entirely from MS/GreenStuff which I think will be stretching my abilities....

 

[Scotty]

This is really looking great, I have every confidence that that boys coat will be immaculate! Will the ground be churned up or was it still pretty green at this point? I look forward to seeing it finished.
Scotty.

 

[Merryweather]

Looking great Nigel.
As for the coat, don't think too hard,just dive in and if it doesn't work out treat the first one as a learning experience. It's not an exam, there's no pressure other than your own high expectations. You just don't have the experience yet, so treat it as such. Who knows, you may surprise yourself?

 

[Ferris]

Don’t fear the coat. The trick is to roll the putty thin, then wait at least an hour. The partial hardening gives the putty sheet more strength, enough to represent free-hanging parts of the coat. You can fix it to the figure with a bit of cyano glue first, then fold the drapery.

Good luck!

Adrian

 

[NigelR]

This is really looking great, I have every confidence that that boys coat will be immaculate! Will the ground be churned up or was it still pretty green at this point? I look forward to seeing it finished.
Scotty.

Thanks! The ground will be pristine, this is August 1914, no heavy artillery in use at this point, just machine guns and field pieces.

Looking great Nigel.
As for the coat, don't think too hard,just dive in and if it doesn't work out treat the first one as a learning experience. It's not an exam, there's no pressure other than your own high expectations. You just don't have the experience yet, so treat it as such. Who knows, you may surprise yourself?

Thanks, I have been following your work and it really helps seeing how you have done things.

Don’t fear the coat. The trick is to roll the putty thin, then wait at least an hour. The partial hardening gives the putty sheet more strength, enough to represent free-hanging parts of the coat. You can fix it to the figure with a bit of cyano glue first, then fold the drapery.

Thanks, good advice. I will definitely try the cyano glue approach (I've had trouble getting "pure" putty to stick). I may do it in three sections, a back part and two sides, mimicing how the original coat was constructed. Next week's job.......