Thursday 16 July 2020

"I think now, looking back, we did not fight the enemy;

we fought ourselves. And the enemy... was in us."
A huge thank you to all those that suggested ideas for rules systems for the 'In Country' project.  At the moment, I am looking at Fistful of Lead, which looks as if it will meet many of the initial requirements, certainly from the point of view of fewer miniatures and quick, intuitive play.  I will keep you posted as I start to roll dice in anger. 
In the interim, I have been enjoying some painting time as a way of relaxing into the summer holiday and have managed to complete a number of movie related miniatures, the first of which I present here.
Bearing a striking resemblance to Staff Sergeant Barnes and Chris Taylor from Oliver Stone's Oscar winning film Platoon, Sgt. Burns & PFC Noble are from the 'Wargames Illustrated' Giants in Miniature range.  Added to the group is a character miniature from the 'Assault Group', completing the unholy trinity as a stand in for Sergeant Elias.  It's interesting seeing the three together and the discrepancies in scale, not something that seems to worry me unduly anymore. 
Given that these were my first foray in to 'Nam, the realisation suddenly dawned with regards to just how little, I actually knew about the era, uniforms and combatants.  Falling back on the idea that this was to be a flavour of the cinematic world of the Vietnam conflict, as opposed to a historic representation, I brushed aside the often crippling considerations to palette and reached for the green, lashings of it!  Washes were employed for shadows and an occasional highlight helped to pick out a detail or two and before I knew it the first three were done.
Expect more in due course, perhaps something inspired by Stanley Kubrick's work?

36 comments:

  1. Great looking trio Michael, the size discrepancies actually makes them look more real, as everyone's not the same height. Look forward to seeing what you do next

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    1. Thank you Dave, there was a time when I would only have entertained miniatures by the same manufacturer on the table at any one time, not any more. If it fits my need, it's in!

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  2. Excellent figures! What a great film that was.

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    1. Thank you Ray and it certainly was, I remember going to see this one at the cinema too.

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  3. Wowzers! Awesome paint-jobs Michael.

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    1. Thank you Simon, once I stopped worrying about which shade of green to use, it all came together nicely.

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  4. I will second the Fistful of Lead rules. The Core Rules pdf is well worth the money and is easily customizable.

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    1. I picked up the PDF download and, as you say great value. I have only just started getting in to it, but love what I have read so far.

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  5. Nice work Michael if you haven't watched it there is a very good documentary on Nam on Netflix

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    1. Thank you Matt, I will need to go and hunt that down, any idea what it might be called?

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  6. Lots of green is the order of the day, dark patches due to sweat stains, dirt, and camouflage creams, anything to blend into the jungle.

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    1. Thank you John, I became obsessed with finding the 'correct' green, but as you say what with sweat, dust etc. not one uniform was, well, uniform. Quite liberating really.

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  7. Lovely work and looking forward to what else you do with it!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thank you Iain, I just need to spend a little more time with the rules and hopefully I get get a game underway.

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  8. A great start! Here's hoping for a Private Pyle to come!

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    1. Perhaps not Private Pyle, but expect Joker and Cowboy! Just finished them, so hope to have them up before too long.

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  9. Vietnam's a blind spot for me, as well. so I'm looking forward to the project!

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    1. Hoping to have more to show soon, just need to get a post written up.

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  10. Sorry for the late comment Michael, don't know how I missed this. Lovely work as always, really looking forward to seeing how you develop this.

    Cheers Roger

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    1. Absolutely no problem, especially given how late I have been on posts recently.

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  11. Wow! What great looking character figures, Michael! Amazing recreations of a cool movie. I can even see the scar on Berenger's face.

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    1. Thank you Dean, I was helped by some very nice sculpts.

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  12. Some instantly recognisable charachers there, well done Michael bringing them to life.

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  13. Nicely done, Michael, nicely done! :)

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    1. Thank you Tamsin, really enjoying this diversion.

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  14. Fantastic recreation ... the paint job look great.

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