I am just starting to work on a CAD model for a technical[1](which is based on the Toyota Hilux) at 144th scale. (I may do more than one, eventually, we'll see.)
The big question that arises is about the MGs. As a rule, with my models, I have always done MGs as just the guns, like turrets, not depicting the hatches open with blokes firing. This is because it would make turning the turrets incredibily difficult to handle and also because modelling people is something I can only do crudely, given the limitations of both print and my own set of skills.
But, the MG on a technical (or jeep, which may be a future commission) is not on the top of a turret with a hatch.
So, then, the question becomes whether I should just do the gun on its own (which might look a bit odd) or to do a fairly crude bloke holding it.
Or split the differece, and have the gun as a turret like in my other models (the more parts the same the better, as far as I'm concerned) and model a bloke sat down near it or something.
Now, I have done infantry before -
- but only for sci-fi, where I can ascribe some of the crudity to full body armour (though to be fair at 144th scale, it's sufficiently small you can't see a lot of details anyway), and I know UshCha has gotten away with very crude figures in the past.
(For instance, when we still played 25/28mm, he made some landrover wolves with MGs out of layered cardboard with crude stick-figure humans and they didn't cause too much comment.)
My question is then thus: what do people prefer in this instance, at this sort of scale? MGs with men or without?
(My ultimate aim is eventually to do a scifi version of the Global Liberation Army from Command and Conquer Generals, because I will take any excuse to be able to quote that game – I once made a Cyberpunk character with the character goal of eventually being able to shout "AK-47s for *everyone!" But before I do that, I thought I should at least start with a modern one so as to have some idea of what I was looking at!)
[1]No, I won't apologise for the title pun, I'm not sorry!
Edit: I will, however, apologise for the typo in the title, which – of course – I noticed about two seconds after clicking "post…"