discussion Tamiya 1/16 German Machine Gunner

[Guest]

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This is another one I've made innumerable times, but don't currently have a version of in the cabinet. I intend to do an out of the box job on it, with no messing about. It's one of the very few greatcoated figures available at this scale.

Lots of lovely parts:

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The equipment sprue also includes an MP40 and ammo pouches as an alternative to the MG42.

 

[Jim R]

A golden oldie. One of these should be in your cabinet.
Jim

 

[rtfoe]

Yup, a golden oldie alright and should be in your cabinet. What were the greatcoats made of and if it was textured with heavy woven fabric or smooth tight weaving?

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Guest]

Jim - Hopefully this will be the one.

Richard - They were made of a tightly woven wool.

The construction is done:

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Quite an involved build with 36 parts in all, a lot for a 1/16 figure. The fit was good overall, though some filling was needed at the joins of the coat skirts.

 

[rtfoe]

This will be jolly good for painting. One of the better Tamiya figure poses.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[SteveH]

Morning Peter

Another one not in the cabinet, again surprising!

Good start with the construction, a fair slab of field grey to get over this week.

Hopefully the head will be OK today?

Not to much to paint with the balaclava/snood!

Another frosty start.

Have a good day with the head

Regards

Steve H

 

[Guest]

Peter I shall join if I may, might well need a coat like that if it gets any colder and we have more snow !

 

[Guest]

Richard - I bet this has been the most popular figure in the series by a long way.

Steve - Very cold and frosty here, but no snow. On to the head today and the only problem with it is that the pupils are modelled into the eyes, limiting the options. Still, I've managed to paint it several times before, so......

John - Not sure a German greatcoat would do you much good. They were made of pretty thin cloth and became thinner as the war went on.

 

[Guest]

The ever lengthening days have meant I've been able to get quite far with this one:

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The face went fairly quickly for once, so I decided to continue painting and managed to complete his top half. I used Vallejo Grey Green for the tunic collar and German Uniform for the coat, the latter being the greener shade of field grey.

 

[Steven000]

Love the colors, I also find your approach interesting, finishing in a sort of 'sub-assembly-manner' in stead of painting the hole figure at once, if that makes any sense. Have fun!

 

[Guest]

Thanks Steven. I find it preferable to paint large scale figures in sub-assemblies, as that way you can get up close and personal with the detail, particularly on the equipment. It also means that there are fewer harder to get at areas than there would be with the equipment in place.

 

[SteveH]

Morning Peter

Great progress and a good head considering the moulded in pupil issue.

Surprising that this is another absentee from the cabinet!

Looks like he will be getting a place somewhere in the mid shelf region with the current progress.

I guess your view of your work can be quite brutal for your victims, especially if there is a spectre of previous issues on their shoulders, like the Luftwaffe pilot.

Perhaps 2021 will be a year of new successes for all the ones that failed to make the cabinet in previous reincarnations?

Looks like the snow might be back later this week, after a little mild weather tomorrow?

Enjoy the remainder of the greatcoat and equipment.

Your leather work on the Y braces is superb too.

Regards

Steve H

 

[adt70hk]

Peter

That really is a great start. He looks kind of melancholy from the looks of it and you've caught it beautifully.

As Steve has said, you've completed the leatherwork beautifully.

ATB.

Andrew

 

[Guest]

Steve - I'm having a lot of fun painting this one. The challenge is to make all of that field grey interesting, and fortunately Tamiya have provided plenty of folds and creases to exploit. I've got into the habit of 'cabinet sessions' for an hour or so before going to bed, where I try to look at my work objectively and figure out where the improvements need to be made. It's a difficult task, as my eye is always drawn straight to the niggles with each figure, making it almost impossible to assess the thing as a whole. A worthwhile exercise though. Katherine and I went for a walk on the downs yesterday and almost froze to death - looking forward to the forecast warmer weather.

Andrew - I think the expression has come from the sideways glance, as it makes him appear as he's looking downwards, deep in thought. Glad you like him so far.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Another great job in the making. The drapery and leathers are top notch as always. The face is excellent as well.

 

[Guest]

Top rate Peter .

 

[Guest]

Tim and John - Thank you.

The main part of the figure is now finished:

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The coat skirts were done wet-on-wet to try and get smooth transitions between the light and dark of the folds. The highlights were more easily built up dry in increasingly lighter layers.

 

[outrunner]

Another one to be proud of Peter, the thought of painting figures scares me but I like looking at something well done.

Andy.

 

[SteveH]

Morning Peter

Super work on the greatcoat and all the field grey.

It does look good and the drapery is so well sculpted.

I can see why it has been so much fun to paint.

Perhaps with your cabinet review, you could challenge yourself to find 1 good thing you like about each piece to try and balance being drawn to what you think are faults?

Just a way to balance the bad with the good.

Have a good day with all those accessories

Regards

Steve H

 

[Guest]

Andy - Thank you. Why not give it a go?

Steve - With the greatcoat done I can now have fun with detailing the equipment. My aim with the cabinet sessions is to try and look at my work objectively and not see the faults, and I think the best thing to do now is to not look for a while and try and develop a fresh eye. Unfortunately for me I came across a flawless version of this figure on the internet, where the painter had even added a stippled wool texture to the entire greatcoat, and it made me realise how far I had to go. We strive.....