Build Log – Tamiya Steyr 1500A : Part 7

Catch Up With Part 6 : HERE

So the vehicle itself is pretty much finished as far as construction goes. It’s undercoated and put aside for the time being while I play with the stowage before getting into the final painting. So in the meantime I decided to start on the figures and start by tackling the two which are going to require the most work, the wounded driver and the guy pulling him free.

For these two I wanted the driver to be semi concious and his mate pulling him free. Obviously no-one makes a set that fits this bill so I have to make my own. First it’s deciding what I want. I tend to try and talk myself through what is happened till I get to a point where the pose is a snapshot that portrays what I want it to. Here the vehicle has come under fire, the driver has been hit, the rest of the crew are returning fire while one man pulls the driver free whilst under fire.

So the uninjured soldier has opened the driver’s door, grabbed the driver up high and pulled him over till the was leaning out the door against his chest, then grabbed his belt at the hip with his left hand, wrapped his right arm around his waist and heaved while pushing away from the Steyr. So he is sort of falling away as he pulls with his hastily slung MP40 sliding off his shoulder and remaining slung around his upper arm, all the while trying to keep his eye on the enemy position.

Rather than go down the road of sculpting them completely around wire skeletons I decided to take the quick and easy route by using heads, torsos, hands, feet and whatever other parts I could from the rather large box I have of “assorted body parts”. I found a set of legs ( actually from a U.S. figure so off with his feet ) that came close to the pose I wanted for the rescuer plus a couple of torsos, half an arm, four hands, a pair of short boots and a pair of long boots. Then it’s join them all together using wires for the missing limbs and to position the hands in the right place. Once the positioning is where I want it to be the bulk of the limbs gets built up using putty till I get it to the size and rough shape I want.

Here’s where I change tack from the norm, I use Mr.Surfacer 500 to then build up the cloth textures, creases etc. It takes several days and several layers, doing a bit at a time and then tweaking, sanding and redoing little bits till I get the result I want. But I find this gives me much more control over the result and when the Mr.Surfacer is 90% set you can use sculpting tools to nudge it around just like modelling clay.

The little details are added early on where possible, any equipment between them such as the G43 ammo pouches ( though heavily pruned to fit into position properly ), drilling out the mouth, ear canals, and the nostrils with things like the foliage loops, gaiter buckles, helmet strap, belt order equipment, and the hair added last. The hobnails on the boots were also added using Mr.Surfacer and a fine pointed brush ( I still need to add more to the centre ).

The weapon and straps are done last. The MP40 has had the barrel and front sight drilled out, a cocking handle added and the cocking handle slot cut into the side of the receiver. It’s also had the folding stock built from stretched sprue and the rear sling mount drilled out so the sling will feed through properly. The straps are 0.8mm x 0.2mm plastic strips thinned down about half and then positioned at one end first and left to set. When that end is set the strip gets a thin coat of thin glue which softens it and allows it to be moulded to where I want it before setting hard again. I prefer this method to foil or PE as it’s easier to work with and stays exactly how I want it. The helmet strap is done the same way.

So now these two are ready to be painted. One will get his parka done in Autumn Oakleaf, one in Spring ( that’s the plan anyway ), with the driver getting the pants done in the Italian M29 pattern.

Continue on to Part Eight …