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"Corpsman Up!" USMC at Hue City 1968 - COMPLETED

JamesOLeary

Master at Arms
Had some computer problems so I wasn't able to post this until today. On 24 May I was looking at some of my many Bravo 6 figures and realized that I had a bunch of Marine figures just begging to be built. I then got an idea for a quick vignette that I might actually get completed in time for the show I will be attending next week. I did not want to use the figures the way they were originally posed on the box as I like to include a personal touch by changing the poses and heads to reflect the story I am trying to portray. I had to find a structure the Marines are using for a bit of cover, although they are a block or two away from the main fighting, and I found it in a part from the Callsign Miniatures Hue City set. Since this is a scene featuring Marines, this will be for the USMC ribbon.

Here is what my first thoughts were. A wounded Marine is being encouraged by his buddy and a Corpsman is being called forward to help getting the guy patched up. The standing Marine would be providing covering fire. These are the figures and heads that I am going to use for this scene.

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However, after working the idea for a while, I came up with this: A wounded Marine was pulled back to some cover, one buddy who is kneeling by his side as well as one who is standing are calling for a Corpsman. It was at this stage that I decided on the structure that would be present in the scene...in this case a damaged wall.

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Then I needed to choose some arms.

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Better views of the three figures.

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"Corpsman Up!" USMC at Hue City 1968 Vignette

In order to not mess up the figures after they had been painted, I decided to start on the groundwork before figure painting began. Here is the set up. I used Magic Sculpt for the groundwork, pressed the wall into it, textured the ground with an old toothbrush, pressed a set of boots that I use to make boot prints into various places on the base, made some scuff marks where the wounded Marine was dragged by others, and then built up a pile of rubble. Here is the placement of the figures on the base. These are pictures before I placed the rubble.

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Here is the base primed for painting.

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And here it is painted. I still need to add a bit of vegetation, some spent shell casings, discarded empty magazines, and some trash.

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"Corpsman Up!" USMC at Hue City 1968 Vignette

And now on to painting the figures. I know I had mentioned that I would do a step by step about figure painting, but due to the time limit I have to get this completed in time for the show, and the fact that many of my in progress photos turned out too blurry, it will have to wait for the next figure project which I will start as soon as this one is complete.

Here is the initial painting of the wounded Marine. I tried to convey the pain that he is in from his wounds.

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Here he is with his flak jacket painted and the base colors for his uniform put down.

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Here is the Marine consoling him with his flak jacket painted, skin painted, and the base colors placed in.

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And the guy standing with only his face painted so far.

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Now back to the workbench. I'm not sure when my next posting will be as I am trying to get this completed very soon.

Thanks for looking and have a great day.
Cheers,
James
 
"Corpsman Up!" USMC at Hue City 1968 Vignette

Thanks, Guys!

I finished the wounded Marine and got him attached to the base. For some reason, when I glued him down, the did not seat properly (flush with the groundwork) so I had to fill the gaps with some grass. I think I was able to make it look like he is displacing some of the grass by his body being there. Plus, I would think that if there was a place to keep a wounded guy out of the dirt, one would place him there.

You can see the wounded Marine grimacing in pain, a cut across his right cheek, some blood coming from his chest from a superficial wound where a piece of shrapnel was able to penetrate his body armor but did not go far into his chest, so no sucking chest wound, and then there are the pock marks of shrapnel in his right leg.

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Now on to complete the kneeling Marine, place some shell casings and empty magazines about the ground, and start painting the standing Marine.

Cheers,
James
 
"Corpsman Up!" USMC at Hue City 1968 Vignette

Things are moving along quite well on this vignette...for the most part anyway. Here are some pictures of the kneeling Marine attached to the vignette base. I still need to paint his helmet and attach it to the figure as well as his right hand holding an M16. That will be something for me to do tomorrow as I work on the standing figure. I think this figure turned out fairly well, but something I have learned about doing the groundwork before painting the figures is that although it makes painting and preparing the groundwork easier without having the figures attached, it is difficult to get the figures to go back to their original and intended positions if they are to be connected in any way like these figures were supposed to be holding each other's arms. It can still pass as the wounded guy grabbing for the kneeling Marine's arm while that guy is calling for the Corpsman.

Anyway, here are the photos of my progress so far.

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I think I will call it a night and start fresh tomorrow morning.

Cheers,
James
 
"Corpsman Up!" USMC at Hue City 1968 Vignette

Brilliant work! I really love this and I think you did perferct in re-attaching the two Marines. Just for fun, you might consider adding a scuff or scrape to the kneeling Marine's knee. That would help explain why his pants were torn like they are. Just a crazy thought. No matter; this is already a magnificent masterpiece in the making.
 
"Corpsman Up!" USMC at Hue City 1968 Vignette

Thanks.

Duke,
I was thinking that I needed to do something to explain why the kneeling Marine's trousers are torn like that. I was undecided between something on his knee or something around his shin. The knee would explain why the trousers are torn, but not why is right boot is only partially laced up. The shin might explain that, but why would the trousers be torn all the way up to the knee. I might have to think about it a little more. Perhaps I could do a little of both. Your thoughts?

Cheers,
James
 
"Corpsman Up!" USMC at Hue City 1968 Vignette

James
Out standing paint work and the base is very well done as well. :good:
As to the kneeling Marine's torn pant leg, My personal opinion is that there is no real need for his torn uniform. There is too much tearing in that small space. If it were me (SO easy for me to say) I would try to "repair" by eliminating it altogether( tissue paper and white glue). The pant leg at the boot could be "bloused" (re the other figures leg Or un-bloused (as happened in the heat of battle).

Please feel free to totally disregard the above. My only thought was to offer another view point. :smack
 
"Corpsman Up!" USMC at Hue City 1968 Vignette

James, I'm inclined to agree with you on doing both. There could be some kind of light injury down his shin, along with a scuff on his knee. That would explain both. Prop duster gives another option as well, although in that option I'd go un-bloused since this appears to be the heat of an intense battle like Hue. Such an intense battle would also explain a skinned knee and scraped up shin.
 
"Corpsman Up!" USMC at Hue City 1968 Vignette

James
Out standing paint work and the base is very well done as well. :good:
As to the kneeling Marine's torn pant leg, My personal opinion is that there is no real need for his torn uniform. There is too much tearing in that small space. If it were me (SO easy for me to say) I would try to "repair" by eliminating it altogether( tissue paper and white glue). The pant leg at the boot could be "bloused" (re the other figures leg Or un-bloused (as happened in the heat of battle).

Please feel free to totally disregard the above. My only thought was to offer another view point. :smack

Thanks for the input, Prop Duster.

There isn't much I can do about the torn trousers on the kneeling Marine as he is already completed and I was just trying to get this vignette completed quickly for an upcoming show. When I first started building the scene, I wasn't too keen on having two guys with trousers torn on the same leg, but I was fighting against time, so I went with how the figure was originally sculpted by Bravo 6 in regards to the main body part. With the scratches added, it makes a bit more sense now.

Cheers,
James
 
"Corpsman Up!" USMC at Hue City 1968 Vignette

Well, it is finally completed. I was not able to attend the Tulsa Figure Show like I had wanted to do, and for which I was rushing to complete this for, but some things came up and I was taken away from this project for a couple days. I was able to get it completed today, and if those things had not come up, I think I would have had it completed for the show. However, Soonercon 2017 is on the 10th, and it will be displayed there.

So, here are the photos. It was a pretty fun project and it was completed in 12 days (actually less because of being taken away from the project for a couple of days). I think it turned out pretty good.

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Now to work on the M132 Flame Track.

Cheers,
James
 
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