I’m making my first run at building an armor diorama around a T-34; pretty basic stuff, but I figure I have to start somewhere.
I’m using figures from a Tamiya set of Russian Mechanized Infantry; the gonzo guys who hung onto the back of the tank until enemy infantry was encountered, at which point they leapt into action. Most of them are carrying PPsh-41s, although one guy has a light machine gun on a bipod. None of the guns has any kind of carrying strap (nor loops where same would have attached), which doesn’t seem right to me.
So, can anybody point me at photographs of troops carrying these sorts of weapons, and perhaps some idea of the best technique for reproducing the straps? Thanks!
I use wine bottle foil, a heavy, very malleable type found on a few brands, especially from Italy. This is relatively strong, holds it’s shape well, is easily cut with a #11 and accepts paint. You can make wire or buy photoetch buckles, but in 1/35, this might be superfluous. Just making a loop and super gluing the foil should get you by.
Thanks for the advice - I’ll see what I can find in the way of thick foil.
As I should have realized much earlier, Google is the place to look for images of just about everything. I found any number of pictures of a PPsh-41showing how where the sling attaches.
If you want a sheet of this foil, I can send one out if I get a self addressed stamped envelope. E-mail me at ajlafleche@aol.com and I’ll give you my ground address.
Paine sheppard covers gun strap making in his book on How to make model dioramas.
If you’re really into making your own straps it might be worth while for you to check it out.
Take care,
Doug
Doug and Al,
Thanks for the advice! I have sent Al email to see about getting some of his foil, and I’ll be looking into the Paine Sheppard book as several people have suggested it.
Ralph
Al,
Put a SASE in the mail for you today - thanks again for the offer of the foil. I’ll try to use it wisely [;)]
And it arrived in fine shape today - thanks again! I’ll post some pictures when I get it turned into straps.
I got the foil from Al and it worked well. I just wish I could say the same for the guy using the foil…
Here are a few pictures of the first figure I did using the foil (also the first figure I’ve ever painted, so please be gentle). I managed to attach one end of the strap directly behind the trigger rather than halfway down the stock (as shown in the picture I myself posted - doh!), but given the way he’s holding the gun the mistake is not too obvious.
If these were supposed to be competition-quality figures I’d be bummed, but as part of a vignette I’m trying to put together I’m actually pretty happy with the way this guy turned out. It may also help that my eyes are only so good.
The facial tones look a little dark, especially for someone of eastern European background. The rest looks pretty good for a first figure.
I agree with the dark facial tones point. In fact, the face is overall the worst part of the project, partly because the original figure does not have a very smooth surface to it. I think I’m going to need to invest in some good acrylic paints for the next set of them, as the enamel ones are too shiny and a bit difficult to work with.
I also used a tempera paint wash on the whole thing, and while it did a great job of adding contrast and shadows to the face, it also darkened it up more than I would have liked. I think the next time I’ll try a thinner wash and perhaps use less of it on the face for this very reason.
I’ll try to experiment with several alternative choices for the face tones and see what I can come up with.
another way you could make straps is outta paper (its alittle thicker and looks alot like leather when painted) i some times use FSM subscription cards (that come with my subscription) they work well for me…
the figure looks great!! use the same color as u did for the base and add some white to it and drybrush over the details
I’ve been using Andrea/Vallejo, (same paint, different labels) best acrylics around. For caucasian base color, their beige red is almost a perfect match. Adding some browns for shadows and using their light flesh for highlights has been giving me very good results.
Here are some examples:
http://photos.kitmaker.net/data/14514/f.JPG
http://photos.kitmaker.net/data/500/earp1.jpg
http://photos.kitmaker.net/data/500/v5compposite.jpg
http://photos.kitmaker.net/data/500/591three.jpg
Note the strap on his shield in the picture above is the same type foil I sent you.
http://photos.kitmaker.net/data/500/5911vacav.jpg
I am not worthy [bow] However, I did get the Shepard Paine (sp???) book on dioramas in the mail yesterday and have decided to try his suggestion of using oils. I already have some oils that I was going to use for washes, so it shouldn’t be too expensive to get the other few colors I need. Since I have a box of 17 other infantry figures I can afford to experiment with some of them.
Thanks again for the foil - it really works nice, and is easier to bend into a realistic position than cardstock would have been.
If you go with oils, you can get good results with burnt sienna and titanium white. Adjusting the relative amounts of these two colors will give you everything from shadows to highlights. A big advantage is if you have to touch a flesh tone up, you have only two varialbles and can get back to the exact shade muchmore quickly and easily than a 4 or 5 color recipe I’ve read from others.
Actually the facial tones don’t look too bad to me, just looks like he’s been traveling in the rain and mud. I think the facial tones on the THOR figure I’m working on now seem a bit dark, but oh well. I MAY redo it, I may not, considering it is now enclosed inside the halves of the head which has been painted up. Heh. Might still lighten it up a bit by mixing lighter flesh tones. Not sure how to get it lighter and still look good. I used what I could remember about mixing up flesh tones from an Artical Scale Auto did on painting figures awhile back. I used grey, red, and yellow. You can see my results in the threat Ihave posted. Anyway, if you are doing a rainy scene then considering his crouched position I think the facial tones look fine. It all depends upon the weather he is in.
Michael
Time Life Books did a series on WWII and there is one volume covering the Partisans and another on the Russian front (Operation Barbarossa). Both have many excellent b&w photos of the PPSH and other Russian made individual weapons.
Also, I recall a back issue of FSM that called for using lead foil to produce realistic straps for 1/35th scale weapons. You flatten the foil, cut to size, fit, then paint. You might also try taking some modern microfiber fabric, saturating a small piece of it with white glue, then shaping it as desired. Let it dry, then you can paint and fit it to the figure.
MrFigure
Don’t forget Squadron/Signal and Osprey’s books on the subject. Great resources for photos as well as great color plates.
Europa Militaria has a great book of models (the kind that make billions looking snotty on the cover of magazines, not the plastic variety ;^) ) posing in real Soviet WWII uniforms and equipment. Good source for uniform color as well as realistic positioning and settling of straps and kit. It’s book No 14.
BTW, these particular models are not the kind making billions doing anything. Not sure what the connection is but they probably know the author or work for the publisher. No hot chicks posing in just a cammo recon parka, wielding a PPSh41.[:D]