"Duck Hunter Camouflage" Topic

Maybe the title should have been, "oh the pain in my eyes", or, "how to become frustrated in twenty three easy steps".

So, I had some 36 28mm figures of the Indonesian Paratroopers by Commando Miniatures, that i painted up for Vietnam gaming in Duck Hunter camoflage.

A nice loam green base coat.
A brown, a mid-green and an ochre and toothpicks for all the cam spots.

The toothpicks,,, oh that took way more time than I expected. However, the ends really justified the work.
A little bit of mid eastern flesh for the skin tones to get that honey-brown look.

I actually had to think about painting the M1 carbines. Garands and BARs. Maybe I have been ainting those one colour M16s for too long?

Anyone ever painted duck hunter cam before?
Anyone ever painted using tooth picks before?

Do I up my meds?

I've used toothpicks for painting, but only in a very limited fashion.

I can't see any advantage to using a toothpick over a brush with a good tip. There are no bristles to hold paint for one. Dot size would be dodgy too I'm guessing.

with the vision I ave left, I think it would be near the point of having a brush with only two or three hairs beyond a certain point.

Might be a bit safer using a toothpick.

K've used toothpicks to do a sci fi version of flektarn. I thought they turned out oay and it wasn't too tedious.

Does a sharpened matchstick count? That was what I used when I started painting at 15 or so.

Cocktail sticks. You need to drink several Manhattans, Old Fashioneds or the Vodka Martini, dry with a twist, that only the London Joe Allen's can do. Keep the sticks. Forget the meds and trust the barman.

It needs the lightest touch and fairly dry paint. Press too hard and you get a leopard print dot, which is fine if that is what you want of course. Love to see them photographed. Modern phones have replaced the SLR for me, as much more forgiving in poor light. Depth of focus is the only remaining snag

I've painted duck hunter for some early war Vietnam CIDG figures. All camo is a chore. I can't really remember the duck hunter being particularly bad.

I think tiger stirpes are worse. Did beaucoup of those.

Tom

I just started trying the AK real color paint pens. I wonder if these would work- they are pretty cool I must admit.

I hear you Garryowne.

For the stripes I eventually settled on the overall look and impression coming from a band or two per sleeve or trouser leg, would do just fine from four foot away on the tabletop.

After Manhattans of Vodka-Martinis,,, I don't think I'll be in any shape to paint.

,,,that or tipsy enough to try to paint using those plastic swizzel sticks that look like little swords.

Of course, I'll be shaking too bad to paint because of my sugar levels of all those maraschino cherries.

I don't think that I've ever actually attempted duck hunter camouflage on a miniature. Now I want to. I think I'll stick with brushes, though, and not try to use toothpicks.

link

link

Tried the toothpicks due to a combination of bad vision and using nothing better than a pair of cheater 2.5x glasses.

I clipped the tiny ends off and flattened the ends a bit with some pliers to get some irregluar shapes that are not tiny, tiny specks.

Oberlinder, to try that to scale would be insanity. You are going for the look remember.

I came to theat conclusion when trying to paint tiger stripes. There is no way on earth I can paint all those tiny stripes as if it were to scale. So, instead go for the look by trying maybe two bands on one leg and one on the other. Eventually you do get the right impression. From three or four foot across a tabletop, all camofage is meant to blur and blend.

It also depends on how long you are willing to spend on each figure. Four hours on one figure,,, have at it and get the eyepieces you use for micro-surgery. But,,, when I am looking at platoons and companies of individual figures, four or five minutes average total for each is plenty.

I use toothpicks all the time to get precise dots, because brushes tend to splay -- but they have to be whittled down to the size of circles you want. Usually I want very fine points. And you need to barely wet them with paint (I use the paint lid or a drop of paint from a dropper bottle, just barely stick the tip of the toothpick in). And I test the dabbing first on blot paper to see how big a dot I can expect from the paint on the tip. It's often best to blot the first time on paper and THEN apply the pick to the mini. The excess paint on the point is used up by then.

Ah, but a blunt wooden stick, once worn out, is just brilliant for leopard spots. Many of them are seen now on a catwalk or indeed anny fashion store, but if you are sad enough to be as obsessed with Waterloo, as I am, then an essential aid for many a senior officer's saddle cover. Piper909 has it right otherwise

For me it is the Bay of Pigs Brigade outfit (some number but I forget). If you want to chuck dice refight that. Castro wins every time.

Love duck hunter camo. One of the first sets of camo I owned before my time in the army.

Have to bump a thread for Liam to post pics I sent him.

Be kind, I am not far from painting in braille.

Again I am sure Rob can offer some captions. Such clever conversion work though

Thanks Deadhead!

First two pics are of two of the four long clip boards on my stove top counter, each holding about a hundred 28mm figures each. Those fellos who literally role play and spend an hour on a single figure,,, it aint me.

Pictures 3,4 and 5 are of some of the duckhunter CIDG troops.

They are Indonesian paratroopers from Warbases range of Commando miniatures. Short and hand me down WW2 weapons, perfect for CIDG.

They are a figure with a bazooka, a helper with an M3 grease gun over his shoulder and a carry pack of rounds and then a command figure with an M3 grease gun at the thigh.

Lime green base and toothpicks to apply dots of mid green and red-brown and ochre. The harsh bright light really fades them a touch. Skin tones are middle eastern flesh for the darker betel nut look. They look better than i deserved or expected in normal lighting.