More Tamiya Therapy: Three 1/16 Figures

[Guest]

After realising that the Miniart Roman was never going to be a front of cabinet piece, I've decided to work on some Tamiya figures instead. These three arrived this morning courtesy of John, and I thought I'd build them on one thread, partially to stop clogging up the lists, but also in order to offer some working comparisons. I've made all of these a number of times before, but it's always good to see if one can improve on one's past efforts.

I'm going to start with the great-coated machine-gunner. Here are the sprues:



These include an MP40 with ammo pouches as an alternative to the MG42.

This was an absolute joy to put together. Everything fitted extremely well:



Only a very little filler was needed on a couple of the joins, and cleaning up the mould lines was achieved without too much effort. The detail on the figure and equipment is superb, with the MG42 far surpassing Dragon's offering at this scale.

This is more like it!

[Guest]

First in for once :thumb2:.
Nice idea Peter.

[Jim R]

Second in. I would have been first but the wife had me doing the washing up!!
Jim

[Dave Ward]

Peter,
you've really got the production line rolling! - that MiniArt Roman was a bit too much? - I'm thinking of starting the Athenian Hoplite, I'm going to desprue the parts, and see what the fit is like................
Dave

[Guest]

John - Welcome, welcome.

Jim - Take a seat. My wife's away for the weekend so I can indulge in guilt-free modelling time.

Dave - A bit of quality control with the Roman - it was never going to be very good. The Miniart Greeks are OK, but they do require a bit of sanding and filling to get them into a paintable condition. - I ran a thread on one that is somewhere in the pre WW1 figures under construction section:

[ATTACH alt="100_4901.JPG"]374566[/ATTACH]



There is no assembly guide, but they have to be built from the legs up - the tunic skirt, leather apron, then the cuirass stack on top of each other. Also, tassels for the back of the shield are provided, but you'll need to make your own cords:



Why not give it a go?

Give it a go.

[Dave Ward]

Peter,
this may be a stupid question, but doesn't he have his sword on the wrong side? He's right handed, holding his spear, to draw his sword he would have to perform contortions! I reckon the cords on the back of the shield are to hold the shield. He passes his arm through the loop, then grasps the cord.....................
Dave

[Guest]

Hi Dave. If he turns his wrist with the thumb pointing down, it's do-able (that's what the Roman's did - they also wore their swords on the right):

[ATTACH alt="unnamed.jpg"]374569[/ATTACH]

The shield was held by passing the forearm through the loop in the centre and grasping the loop at the edge with the hand. The circle of cords would be pulled into a loop for carrying the shield on the back.

[Steven000]

A real production-line Peter!
Have fun :thumb2:
Steven

[Guest]

Steven - You bet!

So after that short diversion into ancient armour, I decided to start by painting the greatcoat:



I decided to use Vallejo German Camo Extra Dark Green as the base colour, as it gives a slightly warmer hue than field grey. It was considerably lightened with off white. The torso and arms took as long as usual to paint, but the skirts of the coat went on pretty quickly, as I worked very wet, and with a large, flat brush in order to blend the tones.

[Richard48]

Sorry for my abscence,No doubt i will be put on a fizzer by Captain John Race.Been busy with stone commisions.Done 10 this week for paying punters.Still doing great things Mr.D mon ami.
Rich.

[Guest]

Hi Richard. Glad to hear that you're busily re-painting Clacton beach. Glad you like this one.

[SteveH]

Morning Peter

Lovely work on the great coat and webbing.

Its such a big area and when its done well it looks so real, and usually just gets passed over for the MG 42/head/equipment.

The better it is the easier it is to overlook as it creates the canvas for everything else.

Another frosty morning here, everything is white!

We have had 3 Corona virus cases too, but all from travelling back to the UK, not a ""home grown"" one yet in West Yorkshire!

It will only be a matter of time!

I am stopping inside as much as possible to avoid any possible contact with anyone!

Have a good day painting

Regards

Steve H

[Guest]

Steve - It's very hard to make the coat look interesting, and I've gone a bit OTT of the sleeve, which I will tone down.

The Coronavirus thing is getting scary. I don't think there have been any cases here yet, but like you, and as a dibetic and with hypertension, I'm going to avoid going into town - my wife, as a doctor, laughs off my fears!

I think, after sorting out that sleeve, I'll start on the equipment next.

[Steve Jones]

Great to see this trio on the bench. Will you be putting any of them together on one base??

[Guest]

Hi Steve - I don't think any of them really go together - the officer is a bit under-dressed to join the machine gunner in a winter scene.