Special Feature Article
By Dave Barrett
Intro from Geoff…
It’s always great when I come across something just that little bit different for whatever reason – subject, scale, features – all models are unique to the modeller that made and finished it and so it was when I came across Dave’s great piece you see above. You don’t often see larger scale figures in a unique setting and Dave has kindly agreed to share his journey with you.
There’s a lot to enjoy and learn from in this build, not least from all the scratch building and this isn’t an area that you get much opportunity to read about in any paper scale model mags because of their restrictions on pages and high levels of advertising. No such problems in SMN as you are by now surely aware!
So, here we go, I hope you enjoy Dave’s project as much as I have…
Getting started
It’s been a long time since I’ve made a 1:16th Allied figure, so when I saw this in my local model shop I thought ‘why not’, I know it’s an old kit but I’ve been making too many German figures in both 1:35th and 1:16th scales. The kit was produced by Dragon of Hong Kong; it consists of 30 or so pieces, cast in a pale grey plastic. The detail on the casting was good, as are all Dragon kits.
Once the kit was washed I started to make it up and when I’d assembled the body, the boots were added, these being pinned before they were added to the legs. Once dry I started to add the other bits and pieces; the pockets where trimmed and filed to fit the legs, there is a tie around the legs this was missing where the joint is, so out came my Magic-sculp. This completed the ties – I then added the M1923 Garand pouches onto the belt, there was 5 either side, starting from the front near the buckle, (they don’t meet at the back of the belt).
It was at this time I thought of doing a little customizing to the figure, I never have liked the head on this piece, I just wish that they would add an M1 helmet in the kit. So out came my spares box, a suitable head was found, this is screaming just like the original but he has his mouth open just that little bit more, this was made by Verlinden, it comes from one of their spare head sets.
Because I wanted an M1 helmet on his noggin, I’ve had to make one, this was done with Magic-sculp, the net is made from a gauze pad from my first aid kit. This was pulled apart, the pad comes in 8 layers, one piece was glued over the helmet, attached on the underside of the helmet with superglue, the real net goes between the helmet liner and the outer shell; I also added net scrim this was made up of cheese cloth off cuts. It was at this point that I got thinking what else I can do to the figure to make it more interesting.
What’s missing?
What was missing, well a knife for one, I sorted through my spares box and came up with an M1 carbine bayonet, this was a spare bit picked up from a show along with a lot of other pieces, it’s close enough for what I wanted. The first thing that I did was to make up the correct M6 scabbard, this is a leather scabbard compared to the plastic one of the bayonet, I filed this down to an approximate thickness, also removing the bayonet ring from the cross guard. I made up the new scabbard and cross guard with M/S. It can then be put on a ceramic tile that was talcum powder sprinkled onto it, and left to dry. I’ll paint the rest of the details such as the rivets later on. The knife was to be strapped to the right leg with a canvas strap for the top and a leather thong for the bottom. These where made up from M/S and 1 amp fuse wire, I had to remove some of the trouser leg to make the knife ‘sit’ right on the right leg, it had to look like the strap had been pulled tight around the leg.
.45 Colt pistol holder
I also made up a .45 Colt pistol holster; this was done with M/S and would be later glued to the right hip below the Garand belt followed by the M1910 water bottle and M42 first aid pouch. The Musette pouch was test fitted and found to be a very snug fit, it wouldn’t need much filing or filler, and this was left off for awhile whilst I filled any of the body joints that showed. You can see that I’ve added a ground roll/poncho to the outside of the pack, this ordinarily wouldn’t be there, but the Airborne where known for customizing their uniforms and equipment – so this is one possible alteration.
Whilst I had the pack on the bench I thought of adding the M1 Garand bayonet to the side of it, the kit has it on the muzzle of the rifle, but it didn’t look right to me, so I cut the blade off the bayonet and added the hilt to the scabbard. I also had to remove some of the pack with a rotary burr in my model drill, on a slow speed, almost at a stalling speed. The bayonet can then be added to the pack and left to dry before attaching to the trooper’s back.
This was just about it for the figure, I thought I’d have one last look in my spares box, (which I might add is getting a little sparse at the moment, so I might start to look for spares at car boots and shows again). In the bottom corner of the box was a grenade; this would look great hanging from the ‘D’ rings on the suspenders, (not the lady type lads) these are the straps that go over the shoulders to support the ammo belt and packs. The ‘D’ rings are situated just above the pockets on the figure’s chest and can be added after painting.
I also have added the rank of corporal; the rank badge was painted on as an afterthought.
