Thought I would go through how I prepare and paint a 54mm figure. As i have caught the WW2 bug in my modelling at the moment i thought i would go over this figure. The figure i have chosen is a 54mm US Pathfinder produced by the french company Nemrod. Here it is: http://www.historex.com/pgenemrod/images%20Neme/n35041.jpg He is the start of a series of figure i plan to do on airborne forces. I have a british para lined up next. I have just started on preparing the figure. I have cleaned the parts up use a small file. the worst theing has been to line up the arms so that the Thompson sits in the right place. He is going to need some filling and then an undercoat to check for flaws and once all that is done the fun will really begin. If i can get some in progress photos done i will Ross
Thanks Ross, I want to get back into it and seeing some inprogress pics should help me out. Keep em comin.
Well the figure is completed into its main sub-assembly. This comprises the head (the head is left off for the moment to aid painting), arms body and the main backpacks. He recieved filler in all the gaps caused by the alignment of the arms and is now for its primer coat. More to come soon . . .
Its been a while since i posted anything on this figure. After completion of the sub-assemblies i noticed the figure was missing something. That was a Anti-gas brassard on the right shoulder. US Para's wore these in normandy to detect the use of chemical weapons. It was sculpted on using Magic Sculpt putty and has been left to cure. Soon i will be undercoating it.
I finished the face on this figure the other day. It was undercoated with Andrea Acrylic flesh and the overpainted in oils. the mix for the flesh if i remember was Zinc White, Naples Yellow, Mars Violet (only a little, this is a very powerful colour), transparent gold ochre and Jaune brilliant. This was smoothed on and then shadows mixed up by adding a touch more into the mix. This was then added to the shaded areas such as the eyes, cheekbones, below the neck line etc. This was then feathered in wet on wet with a dry brush. It was then the turn of the highlight which was mixed by adding some more naples yellow and zinc white to the mix. this was then added and blended in on the top of the cheekbones ad the bridge of the nose. extreme highlights of pure zinc white was added sparingly to highspots. as a final touch some paynes grey was added to the area of the beard to give the idea of a fiv o'clock shadow. next up will be the uniform.
I've always thought there was something intrigueing about the "loaded-down" look every Pathfinder (Para) has. That's something I stress in reenacting - you don't need all sorts of gear, but it sure looks good when your pockets are bulging with food, letters, canopeners, photos, cans, gloves, scarves, etc. Sorry to be Off-Topic, but I just love that look.
