Back in country

                                           Vietnam New additions 

  Despite becoming side tracked with other bits and pieces I've finally managed to get some more figures finished for my Vietnam collection. I've a real soft spot for Empress Miniatures so what other figures could I possibly add to my collection. 

  I've added a few more civilians and of course one or two who are willing to pick up guns and fight for their way of life. Empress make both armed and unarmed versions of the same figures, so picking up arms and fighting is easy to do with these guys. 

                   The first pack of civilians 

I've only painted the two kneeling figures from the pack and the two matching figures from the armed pack 

The painted versions below

The bases are done so the figures are paired but I decided to make the civilian one more interesting.  The bits and pieces are from various  manufacturers, some I can name others I could hazard a guess. 

The next figures are just the civilian pack the armed versions will be a later addition. 

I love the expression on the kneeling figure, it's not so easy to see but once painted he sprang to life.

Once again I wanted one of the figures to look more at home in the Village, I'm not so sure of the chickens fate! 

Last but not least a small conversion, the figure on the right is the original figure. 

Not the most complex of conversions but I'm pretty happy with it. 

So my village now has a few more inhabitants, the buildings are awaiting a couple more to finish and a third still to be constructed. I've still got more to do but in what order I'm really not sure about so anything could follow next.

Well that's another post done, thanks for looking and all the very best.

   Cheers for now Russ 

 

   

     

German winter camouflage

OAK LEAF WINTER CAMOUFLAGE (my version)

OK so I posted my version Waffen SS of the New Fallschirmjagers miniatures in winter uniform and got asked if I could share my recipe for the camouflage. It's been a while since I did a "how to" on how I paint figures. I'm no expert and I'm more then willing to admit it, it's close enough and it's fun! is good enough for me. This focuses on the uniform element only. 

So on to the "how to" hopefully it helps someone in some small way. 

The figure ( a kit bash Waffen SS made with help of the bits box)
 

 Basic figure built and ready for undercoating 

White undercoat (no particular preference)

Gorthor Brown basecoat for uniform 

Watered down Agrax earthshade 50/50

Dry brush Gorthor brown 

Mix in a small amount of Pallid Wych flesh to the Gorthor Brown and dry brush to build up the detail. It's easy to over do it which is one of the reasons why I use an off white rather then just white. 

Using miniature paints Umber start to add the darker blotches of the camouflage. I use basically use a cloud shape, using a series of dots that overlap and make larger patches of solid colour. 

Now using Miniature paints Rust to start layer up the brighter colour on the camouflage areas. Once again using a series of dots that overlap, try not to cover all the Umber colour. This creates the first layer of the brighter colour. 

Add a small amount of Pallid Wych flesh to the rust to add highlight to the rust blotches. Once again it's a series of dots, some will be stand alone dots that don't merge into the larger block of the Rust colour.

The trousers

The trousers are a slightly lighter version or faded if you wish version of the camouflage. The base colours are the same but the camo blotches are a lighter colour. 

Using Dryad bark start adding the darker blotches of the camouflage. This is lighter then the Umber so you can if you wish add another further dry brush of the Gorthor Brown mixed with more Pallid Wych flesh over the trousers. 

Now add Pallid Wych flesh to dryad bark to add the highlights to the darker patches of camouflage. A series of dots that merge into each other but once again some stand alone dots.

Now add the lighter blotches of the camouflage with Minuature paints leather brown, then add a tad of Pallid Wych flesh to highlight. The leather brown is more toned down then the Umber so a lighter colour blotches works better. 

It's a quick guide to the camouflage, it's perfect for a table top standard. You could argue that it's not 100% accurate but it ticks the boxes for me. Hopefully this will help, so happy hobbying everyone.

The full 10 men and the Fallschirmjagers kit that donated the parts.

Keep looking I will keep posting 

   Cheers Russ