"I Got One!" Republic of Vietnam 1967

[James O'Leary]

Hello All!

Life has been pretty hectic ever since we received our extremely short notice for our upcoming deployment so the time available for me to work on this project has been quite minimal. Because of this, I opted to forego completing the dead NVA/VC that I had started to sculpt for this project and went with creating a wedge-like part of a dead VC to give the viewer the impression of a dead enemy Soldier while keeping within the limits of the base. Finally it is done! I wish it could have been completed by the time of the Lone Star Figure Show so I could have had my wife enter it by proxy since I had to be at Camp Shelby at the time of the show, but at least it is finished. Unfortunately, this will be the last project I complete until I return from deployment.

Below are pictures of the vignette from various angles and sizes. The American Infantryman is wearing the 2d pattern jungle fatigues and standard M1956 web gear along with jungle boots and a locally purchased ERDL camouflage boonie hat. The ejection port cover is still open and the bolt is forward after having fired some rounds at the VC that his unit came across while on patrol. It took a little while for the exchange of gunfire between forces ended allowing a pool of blood to start forming under the dead VC. He is giving the "thumbs up" sign to one of his fellow Soldiers to indicate that he made it through the firefight OK.

In the pictures you can see the exact pattern of the ERDL camouflage that I had copied directly from a boonie hat that my father brought back from Vietnam, the markings on the smoke grenade, dirt on the uniform, dirty scuffed up boots, exit wounds coming out the back of the VC, and the pool of blood forming under him.

The groundwork is terra cota miliput textured with an old toothbrush, paper jungle jungle plants from J's Work, and various dried flower and plant products from craft stores.
Here are the pictures.





























Take care and have a great day.
Cheers,
James

[panzer]

James
Looks good! stay safe!
What is your MOS and what unit are you with?

Mrosko

[James O'Leary]

Thanks, Chris.

I'm an 11B and am the S3 OPS SGT for 3-144 IN of the TXARNG. I'm AGR, so even when not deployed, I'm essentially an Active Duty member of the TXARNG that makes sure the unit has it's training areas, ammo, and is conducting it's training to standard.

I saw the photos you and others took of the Lone Star Figure Show. I really wish I could have been there. I was signed up for Anders' sculpting workshop and everything, but ended up having to go to Camp Shelby, MS for a planning conference instead. Bummer

Cheers,
James

[alexwencho]

***moved to vBench***

[alexwencho]

James O, "props" my brother.

Respect and Love your style.

thank you

AWD

[alexwencho]

...on pafb and patf.

thanks

AWD

[Steve Ski]

James, beautiful finish Bro. That face is killer, great flesh work and 5 o'clock shadow, and I love the ground work too.

I'm short on time too, spring and all the outside work. The bunker is on back-up lighting till late Oct or the first snow fly. Bummer, oh well, but I'll be watching for more of your work Bro.

Cheers, Ski.

[James O'Leary]

Thanks, Alex and Ski.

I painted the skin tones with Reaper acrylic paints and was pretty pleased with the colors and how the skin tones turned out. I used several colors by themselves pretty much right out of the bottle without mixing except for the lips and five o'clock shadow.

I hear you about the lack of time due to the work outside. My wife is trying to get me to do as much as I can prior to me leaving for deployment.

Hopefully I will be able to get some time to do some sculpting during any down time that I have over there.

Cheers!
James