Dave's Model Blog: Soldiering On - Constructing 1/35th figures

I seem to have concentrated on these 1/35 figures recently, I think it's because they go together well and, more importantly, quickly!

This is my first blog tutorial and I hope to show you some simple techniques and tricks on how I do things. These will not be difficult to achieve and this tutorial only took around 2 hours for me to complete including taking photos so it will not take too long.

The figures I am using today are the standing models from the Tamiya BMW R75 motorbike kit (35016).

The equipment you will need is shown below. Some things are worth spending some money money on such as the scalpel. You can get cheap disposable ones but I always find these to be flimsy and not accurate enough. I use a Games Workshop one, it is not the cheapest but it has a good weight to it and also comes with a ton of blades. Also brushes are important. I got the grey one with some others of the same type from an art shop as they are fairly cheap but better quality than the kit manufacturers ones you find in model shops.

The first thing I always do is to paint all parts of figures on the sprue including equipment. This helps make sure everything is painted and also that paint does not find its way into places it should not be. I usually paint the base colour (in this case green) and then add things like flesh and straps etc. This just means it is easier to paint as ye tend to be more careful when painting smaller areas. I don't mask these models as I find the time it takes does not justify the results.

Once everything is painted and dry I cut the parts off the sprues. I start with the main torso and then the arms/legs (the legs are part of the torso on this one). I will also fit anything that goes on the arms (weapons, equipment etc) so the arms can be positioned exactly.

I use a plastic plate from Ikea to keep a small amount of poly-cement on and a small pin to apply it. This helps to keep glue to a minimum and stops runs.

The main character is now complete enough to see what it will look like and to start to think about equipment placement. Now the instructions are a great place to start but they usually either show rigidly 'accurate' placement or completely inaccurate positions for these things. I prefer to look at images for this as you cannot get more accurate! Also colours for equipment can vary greatly the later in the war you get, 1944 you had Eastern and African front vets in Normandy and they would have old kit with them. Gas mask tins can be green, tan, grey or even white for Russian winter camo colours. Another piece of equipment which can change is the mess tin, they were issued in green or tan but can be personalised in the field and camo'd up or painted with personal details or unit logo's.