WIP Australian Bren Gunner, 1942 - 1/16th scale

[tonydawe]

Hi guys,

Here's my latest project, a 1/16th scale figure of a Australian bren gunner in Timor in 1942, sculpted many years ago by my old mate and mentor Phil Walden.

I orginally painted this figure in oils (very badly) back in the late 1980's, and decided to give him an acrylic make-over for the new millenium. The bren gun will be slung over his shoulders and resting on top of his ammo pouches. The look on his face is one of desperate weary defiance.

The figure represents a member of Australia's 2/2 Independent Company, a small force of less than 300 men stationed on the island of Timor in 1942 to fight a desperate and brutal guerilla war against a force of 13,000 crack Japanese soldiers and paratroopers.

The surviving men of 2/2 Independent Company were eventually rescued after having tied down a vastly superior enemy force for over a year and inflicting very heavy casualties on them.

Hope you like it so far.

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Always nice to see a good figure revisited...

...be interesting to see how you go with sweat patches, general filth and wear and tear finishes on this figure! Your usual perfect balance between artistic and realistic, no doubt!

All your other work is of such a high standard, it will be pleasing and instructive to see how you work on it....

But I do have this mental image of there being a conveyor belt on your workbench, with steady succession of figures proceeding from one side to the other.. (may be pill time again)

cheers

 

[unknown01]

Hello tonydawe.

This is a nice figure.
A very wonderful style.
The facial painting is also wonderful as usual.
There is also a feature wrinkles of clothes.
I'm looking forward to completion of your figure.

 

[vergilius]

very nice pose !

 

[amcairns]

Tony,
He,s coming along nicely.Phil has the knack of capturing the character of a figure and this one is no exception as your painting shows .look forward to more.
Andy

 

[tonydawe]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your comments ,as always.

Jamie the production line is exactly as you imagined. Henry Ford would be proud.

Mitsutaka and Marc, thanks my friends.

Andy, I totally agree that Phil has a knack of capturing the character and personality of the Digger in his scupting. I wish he would produce more figures commercially. This one was orginally called "Dingo Harris" and produced by Masters In Minature, and came with a beret as an alternative to the slouch hat.

 

[Chas Young]

Great, this is one of my favourite 'Phil figures'! I love the rugged, tired, yet defiant look.

Can we expect another tropical vignette base? That would look awesome.

I'll be watching how you paint these large scale figures, it helps me even though my figures are 1:35.

Take care mate,
Chas

(Oh, and I'm still pulling strings to get along to a HMFS meeting one day!!)

 

[theseeker]

Tony,
Great start and I look forward to your updates.
You must paint around the clock!
Rocky

 

[tonydawe]

G'day Chas and Rocky,

I've been laying in the mid tone highlights and mid tone shadows tonight.

So many little folds and creases to get into.

Thanks for your comments. They are always appreciated.

 

[John Bowery]

Tony,
Coming along nicely.
Cheers
John

 

[honeycut]

Geez, what's not to like here Tony! You are putting a great finishing touch to what is, as already expressed a wonderful figure full of character....
Good stuff
Brad

 

[specmod]

Gidday Tony, been a while since l was on the planet, flat out at work. Great to come back on line only to see this current piece of work. Looking fantastic, cant wait to see the end result, lm sure it will be stunning.
Cheers Andrew

 

[PHIL WALDEN]

Aust.Bren Gunner 1942...

hello folks..
Dingo Harris,..I was going to call him Blue, so you would paint him as a red head...In the October issue MIL.MOD...Geoff Barnes, and old mate wrote a great story on the Australian independent Commando, using the figure Dingo Harris as his back ground within the story,for witch I thank him, the story is a great read as well as being very helpfull to any of the folk painting an Aussie in the Pacific War...
Dingo was one of those sculpts that was never a problem,..the art work of Ivor Helle and the books by Peter Pinney made it so, have every thing one ever needed to create an easy sculpt...
The Dawe, my son I will look forward to seeing him completed.....

Phil.......

 

[tonydawe]

Hi John, Brad, Andrew and Phil,

Thanks everyone for your comments.

G'day Phil, good to see you know how to switch on your computer mate!!

I'm very lucky to have still have this figure, you must have sculpted him 20 years ago. Still one of the best sculpted Aussie figures I've seen.

 

[Marcel]

Great start Tony looking forward to some next steps!

Marcel.

 

[1969]

cracking job on a cracking figure mate.

Steve

 

[tonydawe]

Hi Steve & Marcel,

Thanks for your generous comments fellas.

I've been working on the shading of the khaki shirt and trousers tonight. Just laying the colour in before I feather the edges and then add the upper highlights and deepest shadows.

 

[PHIL WALDEN]

Td,..Dawe,..morning my son, switch on my computer..if I was to do that I would not be on the bench sculpting away....anyway very little gose down the leg side that I dont see, I just dont swing at it...
My son a wee thought,.. if you've not finished the eyes kill them back a little, they look a little too wide and wee to dark, perhaps more of a squint look....

cheers cob..Phil...

 

[tonydawe]

Good call mate.

Less eye, more squint - thanks Phil.

 

[Dan Morton]

This is lookin' GREAT!

All the best,
Dan