Takom Mk.IV Male "TV build"

[Guest]

Well, I'd just about given up on my figures for this vignette and suddenly they turned up!
Ok, not turned up exactly. I was picking up another package at the post office and the girl recognised my name. (which isn't uncommon to be fair )
She had a package sat there since the 10:th with my name on it and as usual nobody told me - but there was a small box and my hope suddenly got rekindled and inside were my Imperial German Army Stormtroopers from Meng!!! About bloody time too...

So now I have all the pieces for my vignette, albeit a bit late since they were supposed to arrive first week in November... sigh.

Not so great post service like I've told you a few times...

[Guest]

Nice one mate so glad they turned up for you! Looking forward to seeing he diorama get finished now keep us posted

[Guest]

Nice one mate so glad they turned up for you! Looking forward to seeing he diorama get finished now keep us posted

Cheers!
I've almost forgotten what I had planned to do so I'm also looking forward to see how it turns out
Luckily I made pretty detailed drawings as I was building the base for the vignette so I have a pretty good understanding - I hope (?!) - after reviewing those drawings tonight...

Ordering stuff from Asia is sadly no longer a viable option for me which is not good, but I've got 40+ unopened kits in the stash so it's, in a way, a good thing too because I won't be spending as much money on every cool kit I see on eBay... hehe...

I haven't painted any figures since October at least so it'll take some getting used to again. I was getting there towards the end making acceptable, not great, but acceptable figures so I hope I don't have to start from page one again?
I've only had a quick look at the sprues but the figures seems very detailed, very little flash and very well made accessories like rifles, grenades, helmets, mines, flasks etc.
You who are a really good figure painter should have a look at Meng figures too because I think you'll like them! Very reasonable price too, which I've found Meng are throughout their product range.

I will build more Meng kits in the future for sure!

Wish me good luck getting this stalled and stone cold project again!

[Guest]

Good luck my friend

I've not seen many meng figure kits so they do much ww2 stuff? I've only ever seen modern figures and a few ww1 sets? I'll have to have a look. I'm also tempted to go resin at some point! Just a bit expensive but might splash out if I see a figure I really like.

[Guest]

You're right Jack, they don't do that many figure kits - and the ones they have aren't all listed on their webpage.
I think they've done 13 figure kits in all, some WWI, WWII and modern + a couple civilian ones. Most of them are for a specific Meng kit, or a range of kits I think.

Good quality for the price regardless!

I've now built the two figures that I'm going to use in the vignette, apart from helmets. I will begin the paint process tomorrow eyes permitting.

[Guest]

I wanted to try something new on these figures and that was to spray white primer after the black in the direction the sun would shine on them to make it easier to create realistic shadows, and it looks promising! I saw a figure painter on YouTube do this and it seemed like a cunning plan.

Here are the two figures I've planned to use in the vignette. One trying to lob a grenade on the tank and the other running as fast as possible in the opposite direction...

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I've corrected the seam line on the grenade guys trousers and boots after the photos were taken. Helmets are painted separately, as some of the accessories, to make it easier.

I haven't painted figures since October I think so it's going to be a slow start...
Life in the trenches was probably very dirty for the soldiers so I will weather them quite a lot. Photos taken in the trenches were probably arranged so they had time to clean up first...? There aren't many "action" photos for obvious reasons so I have very little reference to go by.

Putty was required for these figures, and some detailing, but I like them a lot and they're very detailed! :smiling3:

[Guest]

I see what you mean about them being really nice quality! The detail looks very crisp indeed! Nice idea with the white too. I do the same thing with painting the helmets separate. Makes painting the faces a lot easier! Nice work so far matey following with interest

[papa 695]

Just caught up on this one Jens, some great work and I'm really glad you've finally got the figures.

[Mr Bowcat]

The figures are very nice Jens, worth the (incredibly long) wait.

[Guest]

Just caught up on this one Jens, some great work and I'm really glad you've finally got the figures.

I almost had to start by scraping off the patina from the figures from being lost for so long... :smirk:

Well, I finally got them and now I have to get back on track with this abandoned project, but after (again) finding the right places on the vignette I felt the creativity come back so I hope to finish this before something else decides to put a spanner in the machinery?! :tongue-out:

[Guest]

I'm getting there with the figures but right now I'm not so sure it was a great idea to paint the helmets separately because it wasn't until after gluing them on last night that I discovered that they were a couple sizes too big?!
Perhaps the helmets were bigger in WWI but this much?

See for yourself...

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I only wish my figure painting-fu was stronger but it is what it is. They're going to be weathered before I add them to the vignette and I hope they turn out acceptable...
The eyes on the grenade lobbing chap looks like a zombie after a discrete wash... That needs to be fixed for sure!

I've surely waited long enough to get them!

[Guest]

Look good mate I don't think the helmets look ut of scale from the pics of ww1 Germans I've seen the helmets do look a lot bigger than ww2 helmets.

Great job on them so far they will compliment the tank really nicely

[flyjoe180]

I'm liking your figures Jens. Regarding the helmet, I always thought the WW1 version was larger anyway. Found this pic to show the size differences:

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[Mr Bowcat]

Probably of little relevance, but the British Fig. 14 (Huns Head) target dates back to the Great War and was used to teach squaddies how to identify and shoot the enemy when there heads popped over the parapet of a trench.

It's still used today in Civilian Service Rifle (CSR) & McQueen's competitions.

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[papa 695]

I think they look Good Jens, better than what I could do.