Swash Designs 1:35 Field Nurse

[Cadman]

I had previously assembled and painted this excellent 1:35 scale resin figure, then used her in my "Rage: diorama.

Photo (a)

12-Feb-2017

US Field Nurse Mk1                                                 

 

Never content, (as usual), I decided to source another example and try to improve on the first effort.

It's surprisingly difficult to find this particular model on the vendor websites I normally use, (perhaps not so surprising given the quality of the figure), so I ended up ordering one direct from Swash Designs in Japan, which duly popped through our letterbox last week.

 

She's a small figure, even for 1:35, and probably scales out around five feet tall, which is fine....but.... 

....I always considered that the M1 helmet supplied with the kit was too small -- and in real life they only came in one size.

It's difficult to see it in this photo of the "Rage" dio, but every time I look at her and "Wardaddy" together, I'm always struck by the difference in the sizes of the helmets they're wearing. So I decided to replace it with one out of my spares box. An additional thought was that by giving her a larger helmet, it would tend to emphasize just what a petite wee sweetheart she is....

Photo (b)

Rage Diorama

12-Feb-2017

 

This is what I started with on Thursday.

The original helmet is on the left of the ruler and the replacement on the right.

Also in this photo is my new set of "Broken Toad" brushes, sizes 2, 1, 0, and 000.

I've seen good reviews of these on-line and this would be my first try at using them. 

Photo (c)

2-Mar-2017

 

The figure was now assembled. The grey color at the shoulders is some Mr Surfacer 500 run into the joints to fill them in a bit.

The replacement helmet was hiding too much of her face and needed to be tilted back slightly, so it had to come back off.

Photo (d)

2-Mar-2017

 

So here's where I was at on Thursday night.

Removing the replacement helmet provided the opportunity to take a photo of the wee field nurse next to another 1:35 figure and illustrate the difference in size between the original M1 helmet that comes with the kit and a correctly scaled 1:35 example.

Photo (e)

2-Mar-2017

 

Here's where I'd got to by Friday evening.

Looked a bit like Night of the Living Dead at this point, but that's okay, she's not finished yet.

Gave the paint a chance to settle down and dry out a bit overnight.

Photo (f)

3-Mar-2017

 

And this is where she was at around lunchtime today.

Photos (g), (h), (i) and (j)

4-Mar-2017

 

 

 

 

So, is she much of an improvement over my Mk1 effort?

Hmm, I'm not sure.

There's clearly a little bit more work to be done along the side of her nose. Her cheekbones need a bit more definition as well, and I just noticed there's parts of those trousers need attention, particularly at the back. The replacement helmet definitely works though, and her late-style Mackinaw coat ought to look better once I blend in some of those poorly done shadows.

I've nothing else planned for tonight, so I'll get these remaining jobs done and then slap on an overall protective coat of matte varnish tomorrow, and that'll be her finished........hopefully.

 

Cheers

H

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 4, 2017 by Cadman
grammar

[Grey Beema]

I think the improvements you've made certainly go a long way to showing up hermsmaller stature.  See what you mean about the trousers, could do with a couple of low lights and maybe worn/dirty knees..

[Cadman]

18 minutes ago, Grey Beema said:

I think the improvements you've made certainly go a long way to showing up hermsmaller stature.  See what you mean about the trousers, could do with a couple of low lights and maybe worn/dirty knees..

 

Yup, I don't know how I missed that gob of green paint at the back on her trousers -- and there's a few other things to sort out as well, but they won't take long.

One of the beauties of digital photography is that it offers the opportunity to spot mistakes that could otherwise go unnoticed.

Here's a quick snap of both Nursing "Sisters"....it's just a temporary situation however as Field Nurse Mk2 is destined for a different diorama, in a different war.

[Cadman]

Hi Guys,

 

I've been really struggling to get decent photos of the finished Field Nurse.

Tried different locations, natural light, camera flash, 5K bulb lamps, white background, no background -- nuthin' seems to work.

Here's about the best I can get, even though the colors are being washed out by the light streaming in from the right....

 

Lessons learned? Well, other modellers seem to be able to do it, but while I can do 75mm or 1/24 scale faces to a reasonable level, I find 1/35 scale faces the size of the letter "o" on a laptop keyboard to be "challenging" at best. Still and all, I'm doing these for dioramas and from normal viewing distances the worst of my screw-ups won't be immediately apparent....

 

And I think I'll try to simplify the figures in future as they're holding up the AFV's I want to get on with....