troopwo  | 22 Jul 2025 9:43 a.m. PST |
I got around to basing my Force of Arms Vietnam figures and am left with eight or nine figures where the end of the M16 barrels have broken off. The joys of exceptional detail bite back.
Sadly, I think that they are sculpts that stand alone as infantry figures in the the sculpts are kind of unique with all the kit and ammo weighing them down. Also, the company is gone and there are no more figures to come. So they are way too fine a thing for my vision and skill to drill and put barrels in. Can i use them on the table top anyway? I figure you won't even see the problem until you take a close look anyway? I am certainly no painter of showcase figures.
Good enough to look fair on a table and dull coated enough that I don't have to live in fear of pizza and fried chicken fingers. So the question is, is it ok to base them and paint them anyway? How do you deal with this? |
| Titchmonster | 22 Jul 2025 10:16 a.m. PST |
Just paint them and use them. If they are individually mounted it pains you a bit, but the joy of the game overcomes the missing barrels |
| Frederick | 22 Jul 2025 10:25 a.m. PST |
In similar circumstances I have tried a repair which was more rough than ready, but then again I like scratch building – and no one really notices a few shortened barrels |
 Sgt Slag | 22 Jul 2025 10:32 a.m. PST |
This happens to too many of my bowmen: 1/2 of their bow breaks off. I typically base my figures in 1, 2, and 3 figures per stand, so I try to put the broken ones in stands of 3, to hide them a bit. Perfection is great, if you can achieve it, but I can't, so I accept the broken in my figure ranks. Cheers! |
| robert piepenbrink | 22 Jul 2025 12:22 p.m. PST |
I agree: base and paint. Few things in life are 100% perfect, and as you say they aren't replaceable. To the degree it bothers you, use them only when you need the numbers, and remove them first when you take casualties. |
| troopwo | 22 Jul 2025 12:27 p.m. PST |
I expect storage will break as many in the future as well. Based they will be. |
| Zephyr1 | 22 Jul 2025 3:08 p.m. PST |
You can glue a hairbrush bristle to the gun (along the top or side), with the end sticking out (you can snip off the excess after the glue dries.) Once painted, it blends in pretty well… ;-) |
| 79thPA | 22 Jul 2025 3:50 p.m. PST |
Use them. As you start taking casualties, swap them out for other figures if you want to. |
| Bunkermeister | 22 Jul 2025 6:09 p.m. PST |
There are several early M16 versions that had no barrel past the handguard. The M16K, the CAR15 with a very short barrel. Some just have enough barrel for the front sight. Several thousand were sent to Vietnam for evaluation. Mike Bunkermeister Creek
Bunker Talk blog |
| huron725 | 23 Jul 2025 5:15 a.m. PST |
This is right up there with broken bayonets. Paint 'em and play 'em. |
| troopwo | 23 Jul 2025 7:48 a.m. PST |
Done.
I hid one figure away per infantry section. By reducing from ten man sections/squads to just nine I flushed out the company to three platoons of three sections each. The platoon HQs gets three figures with a radio and the company HQ gets four figures including two radios. |
| Oberlindes Sol LIC | 23 Jul 2025 9:32 a.m. PST |
I agree with the other posters, and have done the same myself: paint them and play them. |
returns from Mexico with a new vision for making palm trees from scratch.
