Thoughts
of the sculptor”
Manufacturer: The Body
Scale: 1:35
Catalogue number: 35009
Material: resin
Parts: 9
Decals: -
Manufacturer's website: www.thebodi.eu
For some time manufacturers and sculptors are producing mainly static poses. The reason is, that these poses are usually neat, heroic, full with strenght and self-confidence. In the past couple of years become noticeable, that – presumably due to thorough utilization of poses looking right or left, with hands on the hip, etc – sculptors tend to move towards a more expressive direction of showing action, making their figures more interesting and marketable. So far there are only a small number of such figures on market, wich are seated, one of the reasons is that they are not looking so attractive as a standing pose, with less detail of the uniform and equipment, especially in smaller scales (1:35, 54 mm) our soldier shrinks to 30-40 mm. Despite the above mentioned, I have to say, that the subject of this kit was an excellent choice of the manufacturer.
The kit contains two heads, and umbrella and a walking stick, providing variability for the construction. The pose of the figure is very lifelike and natural, the movement, the attitude is very aristocratic. The kit is of best quality, no casting issues, only a little clean-up required.
When I had the opportunity to see the master, I've already liked the inattentive elegancy of the figure. In my opinion, the idea of the sculptor of the 'typical English' feeling is spot on, what we get is a real English gentleman, who is, by the way fighting in war. When I started the work, I faced the problem of what kind of setting to create for this figure, as placing the Officer into a suitable environment is not so easy... I wanted to find a solution, so the figure keeps the attitude of Englishness, but also to express, that he's an active, fighting soldier, who is having 5 o'clock tea in the middle of a desert operation (in the end the tea was abandoned...). After I had the idea of the setting, prepared the figure for basecoating.
Recently I paint black basecoat on my figures, which has it's advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are, that the dark basecolour darkens the end result of painting, the overall effect, as the basecoat infulences the colours, the intensity and depth of further layers to a certain degree. Disadvantages are caused by the properties of black, making it difficult to spot any (casting) flaws, or to see fine details of the figure. Honestly it become very popular recently and wanted to try it....
After basecoating I painted the eyes, then the fleshtones. For the skin I use the following Vallejo colours:
Brown sand 876
Basic skintone 815
Burnt Cadmium Red 814
With these 3 colours it's much easier to work, than with the previous colour combination I used, as it's not necessary to mix the basecolour of the skin and the combination of these 3 colours is enough to achieve realistic results. With the previous colour scheme I mixed the base for skin from 4 colours, to keep the proper ratio was essential, with this combination it's not necessary anymore.
As soon as the basecoat was properly dry, applied the base skin colour Brown sand 876 to the face. For good coverage – keep in mind, that we paint on black! - apply 3-4 thin layers to flesh areas. Next step is to add some Basic skintone 815 to it, this is the first highlight. Simply, with the mix of these two colours I go on with 3-4 gradually lighter layers, the top highlight is painted with pure Basic Skintone. For shading I use the basecolour Brown sand, with a small amount of Burnt Cadmium Red 814, adding a red tone to it. The shading is done similarly in 3-4 layers. Regarding to the subject of the kit - a soldier fighting in the desert, the skin was painted darker, supporting the atmosphere and the climate.
The officer's cap was painted greenish brown, with brown leather strap and brass buttons. According to reference literature there is a choice between light khaki or yellow brown colours for the shirt and the tropical shorts, I've choosen the latter. The basecolour for the uniform was US filed drab 873, which was highlighted with German camouflage beige 821, the top highlight was mixed with a bit of white. The vest was mixed from brown and green, the socks are painted khaki with white stripes. The laced shoes got black colour, highlighted with brown and yellow. To the most exposed parts of the shoes I mixed only yellow to the black for wear and fading of the leather. The Officer then got an umbrella of similar colour to the uniform's and wooden handle.
The place is the North African theather, therefore I decided to seat the figure on a German fuel drum. The drum was basecoated black as well, and painted with desert yellow and brown. Then oil leaks and rust washes were applied to make it look used and worn. The „wasser ausgabe” sign comes from Verlinden's cardboard 'Desert Signs' set, and glued it to a suitably sized wooden stick. I over painted the whole sign, the printing quality wasn't realistic enough, it required some extra work to make it look right. After this done, a placed the figure reinforced with a pin to the base and glued it.
Summary:
This kit is highly recommended not only to armor fans, but also to figure painters, who appreciate interesting WWII subjects.
Olivér Kovács
koliver@citromail.hu
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