I have recently got a very good deal on a Verlinden vignette “Good Morning Vietnam” - set number 392:
After buying it, I started thinking: Who in his right mind would sit in the mud when he apparently has a lot of very cosy and comfortable crates to sit on? I need your opinnion on this, don’t you think this is kinda weird?
Other thing I have noticed, the M16 laying neatly on the jacket to the left of the Grunt is very big. I have done the math, the gun is in 1:29 scale.
The main part of the vignette that you get in the kit looks like that:
As you can see the detail is very nice most of the time. It just isn’t very practical to change the attitude of the sitting dude. But I think I’m gonna try it anyhow.
That is going to be a lot of fun! I agree that soldier probably wouldn’t be sitting in the mud when he had a crate available. There is even what appears to be a folded tarp in front of him that he could be sitting on. I suggest that you think of him sitting in the sand on a beach or on a river bank instead. You’re right that the rifle appears to be too long. You can maybe minimize that appearance by toning down the difference in color between the rifle and its surroundings so that it blends in a little with everything else. It might not stand out as much that way. You could also add something to the diorama that would partially cover the rifle to make it harder to discern the scale, maybe a towel, or a flak vest. I hope you’ll do a WIP. I’d enjoy watching this develop.
You know , … some time’s when the world is against you , and your tired and slightly depressed about your "lot in life " … you just dont give a rat’s *** where you sit !
I kind of think like LT, just in off a patrol, maybe ran into an ambush, tired, dirty, muddy, need some food. Crates make a good backrest, everything at hand without having to bend over to grab anything. Maybe do a lightly bloody field bandage on one upper arm, would add a little to the storyline. 2-3 days worth of beard stubble as well.
BarretDuke - I’ll definitely do a WIP when it comes to tackling this. But first I have to make some decisions to feel I’ve got it right. I think I’ll put a Playboy magazine or a map on the rifle stock, that should do it. I still can’t get over it - he’s got a crate and a tarp and still he’s sitting directly on the ground.
littletimmy - you’re probably right, maybe he’d sit like that if he didn’t plan on getting back up. I don’t really want it to get this pessimistic!
Griffin25 - you’re right. Like I wrote, I hope I can share my building with you.
goldhammer - that sounds right, but the reason I started pondering the issue at all was a short article that I read long time ago. I have found it again:
I always put that one down to Verlinden-itus, where a composition would be created, without recourse to references (or even basic physics) and then every “empty” bit of space used up with random “stuff.” Said stuff being placed for visual effect, without regard to its use or importance.
VLS was bad about Mermite cans. Those were used for delivering hot (ok, lukewarm) chow to units in the field. They belonged to the supoort units delivering the cahow, not the recieving units, of which there were more hungry units than cans to feed them.
So, aviation units tended to have the cans, because they flew them to troops.
Weapons and magazines were not left out on the dirt (or mud) artistically to fill up void spaces. Empty ammo cans had millions of uses, and were not discarded until they were bent beyond recognition, or rusted through.
Takes about 30 seconds to get your poncho out and use it as a ground sheet.
The “sprawl” of the figure is quite good, really right up to the VLS standards for figures. The setting, however . . .
Makes it a pretty expensive kit to saw most of the resin away just to get the figure. Who would look very much at home against a parapet of sandbags, or leaning on an ammo bunker next to a mortar or MG pit or the like.
Now, I was 13 in 1973, but was surrounded by folks who had been Over There, had Come Back, or were leaving to go. Something that had been true near my entire life, moving every 26 months. By 1978, I was being trained by prople only 5 years removed from their SEA adventures.
This business of unattended weapons strewn all over the landscape is a conspiracy started by the folks who sell scale sprues of them.
I’ve seens MP 43’s stuck through the grab bars on tanks, M16’s lined up along the gunwales of PBR’s.
My own particular peeve is artillery ammunition tossed helter skelter in the dirt. I think the Tamiya 88 started that one.
But the casting looks amazing. And the whole story revolves around that big battery powered transistor radio. You need to find a way to make it prominent. Maybe make the frame with chrome metal foil. I think a Playboy would make the viewers eye, umm, wander.
Capn - Verlinden-itus, that’s what it is! Nice to know about that can, but I think I’ll leave it in place here. I’m more likely to saw the legs out to retain the rest of the base. I’ve got more than enough legs to substitute something good instead if the need arises.
GMorrison - luckily we don’t have this much of a mess here. Lots of stuff but I wouldn’t say overloaded. I think you’re right about the radio.
BlackSheepTwoOneFour - Sure is!
Glenn - mail! Yeah, I’ve been thinlking about it after reading how important this was to a soldier far away from home. How would the envelopes look like? And does Danger Forward have something to do with the Big Red One?
Thanks a lot for your comments and have a nice day
Glenn - mail! Yeah, I’ve been thinlking about it after reading how important this was to a soldier far away from home. How would the envelopes look like? And does Danger Forward have something to do with the Big Red One?
The envelopes would look like any other mail but usually a little more beat up by the time you got them. Danger Foward was a glossy magazine put out by the BRO monthly. Here’s a mail call during a stand down.
There’s No Way I would set my Butt on the bare ground over there . Even if I had to sit on my folded poncho I had sumpin tween me and the bugs .The ones over there were Mean !
Gentlemen - thanks again for your comments, they motivated me to get movin’ on this one.
Glenn - thanks a lot for the clarification, and also big thanks for your photos from Nam - they are a great reference source. They are also good photos meant as a form of art, I like them a lot.
TB - Awright, you convinced me!
I’ve got together my man up pills, I’ve tightened my jigsaw and in less than half an hour I have made THE CUT:
As you see I didn’t lose any meaningful detail yet. All was done wet to avoid the dust from getting airborne. Now I’ll do the horizontal cut, glue the plug back into the hole and try to repose the legs to show the man sitting on another, third box.
Pawel, Really nice job on the cut! Careful with the legs. That resin likes to break in ways you don’t want. Now that the soldier is out of the way, I noticed that the wood grain of the crates is way too exagerated. Those would have to be some really old crates for the grain to be raised that much. You may want to consider filling or sanding the grain down to something more realistic. Barrett
Barrett - thanks a lot! For repositioning the figure I don’t usually bend them, but rather I do the repositioning by cutting. Of course in resin it’s harder to do than in case of styrene.
That woodgrain is this way for painting. I’ll try to tone it down a little.
Pawel, Thank you for your kind reply. I figured you had experience with resin and figured you’d be cutting it. I have had resin pieces break in unusual ways while I was cutting through them. That was my concern for you. May I suggest that you make your cut in the front of the knee so you control where the seam will be rather than from the back of the knee. You may already have made that decision. My apologies if I’m telling you things you already planned for.
Pawel - Thanks for the link on that article. Fun read. Totally amazed the wife and now my new lady with the “papa-san squat”, squatting flat footed. The couldn’t believe I could get down that far without falling over backward. Amazingly at age 65 can still do it, and stand up without touching the ground.
A little leftover from my time at Udorn, Thailand.
Barrett - I don’t mind the advice at all - even if I knew it there’s always a chance somebody else reading this thread could use it.
goldhammer - I’m glad you like it, I thought people would, that’s why I have shared it. Not only do we have a vet here who doesn’t mind speaking about his war experience, he’s got talent for that!
So after reading many times: positively no sitting directly on the ground! I had to make the cut. Glad I did it, too - it wasn’t very hard.
