Collecting and creating G.I. Joe in miniature

[josta59]

A new hobby I started this year is collecting 15mm miniatures and painting them to recreate the 1982 line of Hasbro's G.I. Joe toys in miniature. I have one piece so far, which I displayed here: wargamingdropzone.proboards.com/thread/18/soviet-anti-aircraft-gun-15mm

Today's my birthday, and no one bought me any minis. So I went to the Flashpoint Miniatures website to order the Vietnam US Army mortar platoon, just $18! One of my first Joe figures was Short-Fuze, the mortar soldier. This would get me him and probably a few other Joes.

Once I put the platoon in my cart, I entered my location to calculate shipping. I suddenly had a thought--what if this cost me like $37! 

And then I got the result from the website--$43.99!

Turns out these guys are in Australia. There's no way I'm spending $44 on an $18 product. Sorry, Flashpoint.

Most of the minis I want are from Rebel Minis. And they're in Chattanooga, where I live! So I'll probably get all my Joe figures from them. They have a great range! Heck, maybe I'll contact them and see if I can visit in person.

[josta59]

I spent quite a while shopping for mortar teams yesterday. Battlefront has some good looking Vietnam minis for Flames of War, but they're plastic, which isn't my preference.

I decided to go with Khurasan Miniatures, which I've had my eye on for a while but hadn't bought anything yet. I placed my first order with them yesterday. It's not Vietnam, but it's metal and looks really good. It's a modern U.S. Army M224A1 light mortar section with two mortar teams.



$4 for four figures, plus $8 shipping. I think this will make a good Short-Fuze. Even if I can't use the other figures because they're all kneeling, I feel like it's worth it. And if I mess one up, I have spares!

[Whiterook]

Nice! I think they look absolutely fine for ‘Nam. And I hear you on shipping… it’s been worse too, because of the shortage and demand on the shipping industry; but overseas shipping cost is always a crap shoot! I’ve had great luck with England, France, and even China.

[mikeh]

Cool! And don't worry about having extra kneeling figures, I bet you find a use for them down the road with like a heavy mg team or other crew served weapons. Really cool project Scott, enjoy the journey.

[josta59]

Thanks, guys! Yeah, I've bought miniatures a few times from Miniature Figurines and Irregular Miniatures, both in the UK. It's always extremely affordable.

[josta59]

I thought about posting this in Paint Shop as a thread entitled "Painting is hard." 

Here are my newest additions to my collection, with a new base coat on them. I find painting these tiny guys so difficult. I don't know how y'all do it. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. It doesn't help that I can't get a good picture of them with my phone so you can really see how they look. Here's what I can share.




This is Short-Fuze, the mortar soldier, and Breaker, the communications officer. I went with Breaker because one of the four figures I purchased from Khurasan Miniatures a few weeks ago looks like a guy using a radio.

Hopefully when I touch these up the details will turn out better.

[josta59]

Ok, touchups did help! And I'm figuring out the photography, too.

So meet Short-Fuze and Breaker! Thanks to Khurasan for the fantastic miniatures.

[Whiterook]

Yes, it is hard, so give yourself a lot of credit for trying… a lot of people are too scared to try! …because it’s hard! And it’s a process that you build skill through good old fashioned trial and error. At the end of the day, a mini with paint on it is better than a mini without, so you’re already ahead of the curve in trying!!!

Yes, absolutely start a thread in The Paint Shop   …it’s great having the bigger picture thread/posts here in the Build section, as it shows the greater approach to the minis in your project, and a thread for each mini. On the Paint Shop, a more focused look at the painting portion so others can learn from your example is wonderful, and members can post their thoughts and answer your questions. Tie the threads together with links 

I’m about to start threads on my 15mm Vietnam minis, so stay tuned for that for examples of how I approach all this.. but ‘til then, my approach when I did my Stargate SG-1 miniatures was similar to yours, using craft acrylics for the whole shebang (start to finish). It’s a viable method, but with limitations:

1. You’re working in a much smaller scale than my 28mm SG-1 dudes, so paint coverage can be an issue in not only detail, but also in thickness of coat…you want to be careful not to loose too much detail in paint coverage.

2. The first paint coat should be an actual primer, and it should be super thin. I used, and I think you’re using craft acrylic paint for the first layer of paint. The problem with that is, the paint atop stands a good chance of flaking, cracking, and peeling in the future… not always, but it can happen depending in handling and how many layers of paint you out on. My SG-1 figs are still perfect so, it’s a grain of salt thing… just relaying what I’ve read on the subject. I use Vallejo Primer now, and I airbrush it. It’s acrylic.

3. Put the base coat on the mini… usually a dark color in line of what the darkest coloring of the uniform is. For my Viet Cong, it’ll be black. 

4. Highlights: the lighter shades of the uniform are generally dry brushed on… like blue in the black of the VC uniforms. 

5. Details: faces, hands, guns, shoes, etc., all get fine detail paint, with a super fine Artist brush… it’s worth the investment ans you can get them at craft stores with a substantial coupon (like Michael’s at 40% off every week)

6. Washes: buy some Citadel or similar wash (or you can make your own… I’ll make a thread on it!), where your brush an extremely diluted muddy color on… when it dries, it adds depth to the figure by making it look more battlefield stinky!

[mikeh]

The smaller the figure the less detail you have to worry about. You are doing fine. And you do not always want good close up pictures, you will not believe all the little mistakes you will see on your figures that will go unnoticed on the table at playing distance looking with the naked eye. Relax and enjoy, it is supposed to be a fun hobby to relieve stress, not create it.

[josta59]

Thanks, guys. I really appreciate your voices of wisdom!

[Whiterook]

It can seem a little daunting and frustrating at first, but honestly, mistakes and less-than-loved results are the only way to get better at it   Eventually, you will discover “the feel” and you kinda go on automatic…that’s what I discovered with my Stargate project, which involved dozens of miniatures of the same type figure…it was almost assembly line paint, which I’ve heard Frizz (Derek) use as an express several times.

Planing is key as one step builds on another, especially in the latter stages… the end colors are depending on the earlier colors for support 

It’s easier in the beginning ‘cause all your deciding is whether to use a black Primer or a lighter one. Dark roomier will bring out the dark folds in clothes and cloth materials, for instance. If you go light, like I do with gray, it then requires *filling in* those dark folds later, with a wash color. The way you think about that is, the fast and easy way is with a black or very dark primer; but adding folds colors later gives more control of the varying colors of those folds.

Basecoat needs to be thought of in this way: What color is seen over the majority of the figure? Say your doing a figure that is wearing a lot of medium hue blue battle coat… you’d want a super dark blue as the basecoat, followed later by a thin lighter blue coat of paint for the Finalcoat… the dark will show through the lighter color, and yiu can also leave some of the lighter color in place in high spots.

Primer, Basecoat and Finalcoat colors all work together… finished off with highlights, and sometimes, dry Bro shiny and washes.

Though that sounds like a lot of work, but it becomes the joy of turning a miniature into a work of art!

[josta59]

I'm starting to think the figure I thought was using a radio might just be a loader covering his ear while he leans away from the mortar. Depending on the later sets of figures I get, I might decide a different figure would be a better Breaker.

Now I have a 1980s-90s US Army mechanized squad with heavy weapons on the way from Khurasan. This will get me my other first figure, the machine gunner Rock 'n Roll, as well as the bazooka soldier Zap, which was one of my brother's first figures. Probably a couple others, as well.

[mikeh]

I think you're right about the loader.

[Whiterook]

For the figure you now think is a loader. You could glue a small block-like addition to his back as a radio, and even a small antenna? 

[josta59]

May 3, 2022 20:54:06 GMT -5 Whiterook said:

For the figure you now think is a loader. You could glue a small block-like addition to his back as a radio, and even a small antenna? 

Yep, absolutely. I'd rather have a figure that's meant to be a radio guy, which shouldn't be hard to find. But I know I'm going to have to modify some figures anyway. For example, I'm going to need a woman with a crossbow to be Scarlett! That will be one of my biggest challenges. I'll also need to create a jetpack for Grand Slam! I'm starting with the easy stuff. It's going to get a whole lot harder later on.