That armour is looking great!!

Hold on though Mike, MAA's "ripstop" BDU's weren't screen accurate in material, and his colors where inconsistent from one run to the next. If someone wants to buy MAA stuff they've got to be very specific in what they are looking for, and will need a fair amount of patience.

That paint job is outstanding. Great job man!

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

Nick, thanks so much, means a lot coming from you. Soon you might just hear from our team regarding motion tracker kits and Gerber knives.

Thanks retrogarde for the praise and the specific info regarding MAA's BDUs. Is that (MAA) what people called HORPAT or do I confuse things a bit here?

Next step in painting camo patterns has been taken, there is now sand color on the armor parts.
I seemed to have gone through that sand tin quicker than I have with the greens and brown, one tin is not enough for everything including the greaves, so I have to order more Humbrol.

Here's a pic:


Boy does it ever look yellow in that light. It doesn't in person, you all know Humbrol 63.
Grey next, I am already very very high on Humbrol fumes, it's a good high though.

HORPAT is a name given to a theoretical product that a former member here tried to peddle. It is a contraction of "Horrocks" (the peddler) and "Pattern", and is a play on word of "MARPAT" describing a Marine Pattern uniform. The usual nickname for the USCM BDU's is "Frog & Leaf".

Never should you call it "HORPAT".

Yeah, I know - I thought MAA and HORPAT were one and the same. Never seen or heard of MAA, will use the search function to educate myself a bit more. But for now it's back to painting.

Men At Arms was a previous selelr of the USCM BDU. The only existing (reputable) seller is now Spat.

Thanks for clearing that up, MSgt Baldwin. All things point to Spat then, good thing I'm already in contact with him.

man that armor is sharp. How much time do you have into the paint? Hope this isn't a stupid question but are you using a brush to do it? I see a stencil sheet under your belly and cod armor, I just printed out one just like it.

I am doing it all free hand with brushes, yup. The stencil sheet is just a test for size, will make a real stencil from sticky foil and carefully cut out all the letters with an exacto blade.
I have been painting camo the biggest part of the last 3-4 days, I have a week off from work and this is what I do.

Coming along, I am doing the final bits of grey wobbly lines and they really make the rest of the pattern pop. This is so much more exciting than white stormtrooper armor all the time!

Here's the final camo pre-weathering, sand Humbrol did not suffice for the greaves so they'll be finished later.
Lighting in my room sucks, that's why the pic from the back seems all kinds of yellow, but you get the idea:




It's based on Wierzbowski's torso and ab pad plates, Frost's shoulders and epaulettes, some Apone belly details (the Propstore London one) and a bit of filling in the missing areas myself to get the screen seen camo down but still be individual as PFC Hahn.
The helmet is based on one from Harry Harris collection, couldn't place whose helmet it was based on the ref pics I had but it looked snazzy.

Looks like I'll have to buy some MIG powder ASAP.

Better daylight photos, also the neck trim is added and I got my name on it.






Fellows, this might be a slightly stupid question, but...did screen used helmets have the name stencil on the back or is that just a fanmade interpretation? Freeze-framing the movie mostly showed me only helmet covers without any name, and I have a few pics of helmets that did not have the stencil on the back, e.g. this one:

Nice paint job on the armour.

One thing with posting pics hosted by others such as Harry Harris: always ask permission first and mention that you have permission when posting.

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Thanks!
Whoops, my bad, I was not aware of that rule. No copyright infringement was intended, this pic is just meant as a comparative and explanatory device. Will remove it immediately if I broke any rules!

I'll dig up my screen grabs tomorrow when i get back on my pc, but the names were on the backs of the helmets. I have a shot from a behind the scens image showing the names even on helmet covers.

As for why it might not appear on a helmet: 3 full sets of armour were made for each character. Maybe the little used/un-used sets were a little lax on the details? Also it's possible they didn't paint names on the ones they knew would have covers on them?

Thanks a bunch bigbisont.
Here's a quick comp pic of my camo with an archive pic from the BluRay box:


Close enough I'd say.
Enough pics for today, back to fiddling with the armor parts.

Nailed it! I would say

Bang on...

(Anyone noticed how they've spelt 'Ski's name wrong on the label they're holding next to his armour?)

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Thanks, fellows!
How did they screw that up with 'Ski's name? It's standing right there ON THE THING THEY ARE LABELING!

As promised, and for "peace of mind" that the names actually were indeed on the back of the helmets.

Even the helmet covers

These pics are awesome, and they do provide "peace of mind" indeed.
Name on helmet it is, then! Thanks man.

Any time.

Man, that paint job is making me want to give mine a 3rd overhaul! Very nice. I don't recall where I read this, but I had seen somewhere that there were 3 (maybe even 4?) different painters for the various armor sets. That is why you see different styles where some have very complex thin & winding layered effects (Like Ski and Frost) and others are more simplified, bulky and mostly green (like Dietrich). The story goes on to say the painters all worked their initials into the camo patterns somehow.

I really dig the look of 'Ski and Frost, so I had to go that route. My greaves are a little on the bulky pattern side, since they are further down and would maybe seem to busy were they as intricate as the rest. But I'll see that they match up in the end.

Great theory BTW, never heard/read that. Makes sense, though: many sets of armor, multiple painters.

No MIG powder or such product at my local model shops, so I'll have to resort to ebay or something. I need to get this weathered and chipped soon, makes me itch if I don't finish it soon.

I used ground up artist charcoal on mine. Worked pretty good so long as you seal it with dull coat. I also hear boot polish works well.

I like that story Terran! I wish we had photos of all the sets of armour front and back so that we could look for hidden initials...

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Soon to come: Kango power drill thingy with Hama thingies on it. Also, a nice Seiko and a Pentax 110 if all goes well.

Guys, where do I find accurate OD padding for lobster plates and shoulders/epaulettes etc.? Yoga mats and such just don't do it for me.