I haven't painted Airfix 1/32ns scale soldiers in forever. My dad used to come home from work and have his hands behind his back. Me and my brother would choose a hand and we'd end up with different boxes - British infantry, Commandos, Afrika Korps, US Paratroopers, German Infantry - even Japanese infantry.
Special times.
Anyway - got me a box for Christmas and decided to try and paint them up.
Quality (of the mould) is very poor...but these are OLD - they say Vintage on the box. I have a box of US Paratroopers and whilst the figures are the same as I recall back in the 70s, these are made of hard plastic and pretty good quality.
Also - my painting isn't great - good - not great. I have kind of shaky hands a bit and my eyesight is poor...currently in discussion with the missus to get better lighting in the back where I do my modelling and painting.
(images hosted by imgur - thanks for the help UCG)
(https://i.imgur.com/5jy0quA.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/mfDTimh.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/IGpwNnX.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/VfL0a3e.jpeg)
gawd - looking at it close up it's awful - mould and painting.
He looks bloody good sitting on the shelf :ROFL:
Man...you're on a role!
Really nice story about your dad. I remember when my dad used to help me set up my toy soldiers on the carpet and then we'd use marbles to try to knock them down. It was one of the few things he'd do to play with me.
I had a desktop lamp magnifying glass combo
However it was difficult to get good consistent light and magnification so I switched to the following
https://craftoptics.com/
Still evaluating but so far it's really made a difference but I always need a moment for my eyes focal depth to adjust then I'm good to go
Longest I've painted with them on is about two hours
Con
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on July 10, 2025, 05:25:48 PMMan...you're on a role!
Really nice story about your dad. I remember when my dad used to help me set up my toy soldiers on the carpet and then we'd use marbles to try to knock them down. It was one of the few things he'd do to play with me.
Yeah - I decided to get my paints out for a bit - got a new airbrush too - not used on this guy or probably any others apart from uniform because I just don't have a steady enough hand, and the airbrush isn't small enough to do fine detail anyway.
Yeah - dads were kind of busy and when they weren't busy, they were trying to relax from their days - I guess.
My dad coming home with these gifts was not a regular thing - we didn't have much money as kids, but when he could, he would.
We'd also paint them using Humbrol paints. I still remember that smell - I used them when I first got back into modelling about 15 years ago and when I opened the tin, I just closed my eyes and was right back at the kitchen table with my dad and my brother.
My brother and I would do exactly the same thing as you - Germans facing off against British commandos or something - although we'd use a pen (get more down). The bastard was the machine gunners. For some reason you had to hit them in such a way they flipped over at which point they'd be dead.
Nice, innocent times.
Quote from: Con on July 11, 2025, 12:17:58 AMI had a desktop lamp magnifying glass combo
However it was difficult to get good consistent light and magnification so I switched to the following
https://craftoptics.com/
Still evaluating but so far it's really made a difference but I always need a moment for my eyes focal depth to adjust then I'm good to go
Longest I've painted with them on is about two hours
Con
I'm not quite there yet - but getting there for sure.
I actually have a decent light in the room - it's just in the wrong place and so creates shadow at times. These would certainly help with the light attached...but I'll look for something cheaper at the mo.
I do have one of these (no idea how to make that link smaller!)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/COVVY-Magnifier-Magnifying-Detachable-Electronic/dp/B07P957H9Z?crid=1FMNG75BP24IC&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._NTfPEO81gG-TxEVSCG4Wpb9QIO3bX3EH0UNr3Z2fXml_k6a7B71GY2ZO-ovqa7f_n3u45PXORrWirXqvgR3JQOnu1QdWo8tl60ZQHj9oxCw0t_EKlFRNQfaez6SYsK_UUgr6fw0iKSg5AtG_q4IC-3V2zKkolgI15aX5Qn3FtjgiiMa3DT0AHT0Ge3hMit70YgYfuR2CccJflqLRCaoXukJLgHOBdqanLxRHeQXy1c-M2UI8P3l9PtZWaquccOv3GlHrZXsM78A22oFL44texINrqX_75QuXSSdl78kZEM.IklM-PBb6PH3ZiEIhn9RQHHFtknXn-oZLsu2VCbM7i8&dib_tag=se&keywords=magnifying%2Bheadset%2Bwith%2Blight&qid=1752212474&sprefix=magnifying%2Bhead%2Caps%2C77&sr=8-10&th=1
but the light broke off (probably sat on them looking for them) - so I may just replace these for the moment.
They have decent swappable lenses on them though the light wasn't great as I recall.