RP productions Major "Blondie" Hasler

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
So yet another figure painting project from me
This time it won't be a female fantasy figure but a historic one
The figure is that of Major Herbert "Blondie" Hasler
He was the commander in the field during Operation Frankton
A Royal marine commando operation on a port during WWII
The kit comes with 2 figures and a canoe
During the mission 6 2 man canoes where used to get close to some freightships and plant explosives on them
The mission was called a succes but in the end only Major Hasler and his number 2 Bill Sparks survived the mission
2 other marines died of hyperthermia and the others where caputures and shot

So what do we get in this kit


The boxart


A guarantee of authenticity
It seems i have number 117 out of the 300 kits that are made


The parts of the kit


The heads
The upper one is that of Hassler and the lower one should be Sparks


The bodies


The arms
For some reason unknown to me one set is cleaned and the other is still on the casting block


The hands and paddles



The canoe

For this build i want to recreate the box art
So some parts will get airbrushed ,like the canoe and paddles
The other stuff will get brushpainted
My idea is to make a small base with water as that will look better then just putting it on a stand once it is painted
I also want to try some water effects like drops on the paddles and canoe
And maybe if i am in a crazy mood i will try to make a background from styrene sheet te resemmble a part of a ships hull
But only if i can keep that small enough
I don't want to end up with a entire diorama that will fill up a complete shelf in my display cabinet

And that is all i have for now
I prepped everything for priming but the last couple of days it was a bit too hot at the bench
So i didn't prime it yet because i don't want to risk it with the primer drying too fast and maybe it cracks or peels off because of the heat

Thanks for stopping by and having a look
Untill next time
Cheers
Mark

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
I think it is time for a update
By now most of the painting is done on the 2 figures and the canoe
So i have enough for a update and i think it is best if i start with the figures
That way i can show the canoe (wich is simple and would be short) and the base for a second update

So here are the figures of the 2 Royal Marines

After a coat of Ultimate primer i sprayed the first skin color
It is base 2 from the Andrea skin set
I sprayed this all over the face


Once that was dry i switched to the second color
This is base 1
I sprayed this head on so i can't fully hit the shadow areas
Like the part underneath the chin


And finally i used highlight 2
Wich is the brightest color from the set
It was sprayed from the top downward
This way i can only hit the actuall highlighted parts of the face like the top of the cheeks and forehead
I have chosen to use only 3 colors because the figures will get camouflage paint on their faces so that would hide most of the face colors anyway
Otherwise it would look better to use the full set of colors


After looking at a photo of Major Hasler (he reached a higher rank later in his carreer though)
Allthough it was a black and white i could see his eyebrows where rather dark and his moustache is light/blond
So i used some brown for the brows and buff for the moustache


I also used some dark red for the lips
This was done on both gigures but the Hasler figure shows it less then this one
I only paint the bottom lip on these figures
Mainly because it is very easy to over do it when you paint both and you get chimpansee lips
Besides that just look at someone and you will notice the lower lip is more visible then the upper



So with the faces done i moved on to the facepaint/camouflage paint
I thinned down some black and drew the lines on the faces
One thing that i wanted to do is have them a bit different fron each other so i made the lines on the Sparks figure more transparent
This way they won't look the same and it gives the idea that maybe one guy sweats more and the stuff wears out or that he just applied less


The hats where painted with a dark blue as a base color


The jackets where painted with a mix of canvas and buff to get a sand color


And the dark green stripes where added


I then added some highlights on the sand color
I used the color buff and apied that on the edges and higher areas of the jacket
The hoodie shows it the best in this photo


Some dark brown was used for the shadows in the creases
With a bit of help from the natural shadows this will look darker in the end


It is hard to see but i used 2 shades of green to add the shadows and highlights on the green


Thehats where highlighted
Ssbut i already received a tip to do a bit more on them
But that will be done later on


Finally the paddles where added to the figures



And just to see how it all would look i placed them in the canoe
They aren't glued in yet but it gives a idea on how it will look in the end


And that is all i have for now
Next time i will show the painting of the canoe and the small seascape i am making to put the canoe it once it is done

Thanks for stopping by and having a look
Take care
Cheers
Mark

[AridTalons]

Excellent work! Love the hats and gloves. They're so vibrant.

[MarkVerploeg]

Thank you
They where a bit boring at this point
Mainly because i only used 2 colors so i did some extra work on them after i posted the update
But i will show that in the next update

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
Today i have the final update for this little build
I finished it a couple of days ago but i haven't found the time for the update yet
So for today i will show the work on the canoe and the small seascape that i made as a base for the canoe

So here are the last steps of this build

The canoe was first basepainted
I used tamiya black to spray it black while the dark green stripes where brushpainted
In real life they where black with the stripes brushed on so i figured i would do the same
I used canvas color for the tarp and some light brown for the rope



I then added some chipping
Allthough these canoes where pretty new the Royal Marines did train with them so they where already used
So some damage to the paint would be expected
Besides that it looks better


Because the canoes where made fron aluminium wich can easily be damaged they have a steel reenforcement on the bow and stern
I painted that with mr metal color stainless steel


I then used some sand colors to add shades to the tarp
After that i used Mig prod neutral wash and brown wash
The brown was used on the rope and tarp and the neutral (light grey) was used on the canoe itself
It was then coated with some ultra matte varnish from AK to finish it


Finally some dry brushing to make the edges stand out a bit


I then added the Vallejo clear water texture gel to make the sides of the canoe look wet
It is white but dries to a clear glossy finish
But at this point it is easier to see
I also made some splashing and dripping effects on the top where water would drop from the paddles/oars

And now that the canoe is finished it is time for the little seascape


To make the seascape i used a picture frame and some blue foam sheet
The sheet was cut to the required size and i made a little step on it
The step will fit in the frame but only the centre will fit the inside the rest is for support



I then made a hole for the canoe
Seems to fit pretty good


I then used my dremel tool to make a basic shape for the waves
They should only be small as this operation was in a harbor


I then covered the base with a thick layer of the Vallejo water texture and left that to dry for a day



Then i used some blue and green paints to add color to the water


And a layer of the clear water gel was added


After it was dry i turned back to the paints to make the colors a bit nicer
The first attempt wasn't really what i wanted so i just tried again


And a second coat of the clear water


Once the first layer was dry i placed the canoe and added a second layer of the clear water texture


Once the second layer was dry i decided to add a smaller layer on the tops of the waves to make them stand out a bit


Because the Sparks figure has the paddle in the water i had to make a small hole for it
This was then filled up with more water texture gel
And finished the same way as the rest of the water


Here the splashes are a bit more visible


The paddles/oars where also covered with the clear water to make them look wet


And finally i placed the seascape in the picture frame and called it finished

And that is all i have for this build
I will post a reveal in the gallery section to complete this build

So thanks for stopping by and having a look
Take care and untill next time
Cheers
Mark