Alpine Sniper Part II

As the subject is undercoated and I have achieved a base coat of tan on the fatigues that I am satisfied with I will begin to move on to the finer things such as the digital “MARPAT” Marine Pattern arid camouflage and the interceptor plate carrier. A note on digital patterns and camo in general, I am relatively inexperienced at achieving a successful camo pattern on a figure no matter the scale. This being said, I wanted to put down a basic tan under the dark brown Tetris like patterns and then apply those patterns in a single stroke. I have taken a moment to look up MARPAT in my references and can pick out more than two discernible colour, to this I add that I always intend to produce camo patterns that are, like real camo, meant to deceive the viewer. That is to say my camo is no meant to be a true representation of MARPAT but enough of a lookalike to “fool” the eye.

To achieve this foolery I will rely heavily on the fact that my subject is currently on a deep country combat patrol possibly during Operation Moshtarak which will allow him to realistically be utterly filthy with dust and grime. I applied the pattern to all parts using a mix of Vallejo Burnt Umber, Citadel Snakebite Leather and Citadel Mechanicus Standard Gray at a ratio of approximately 4:3:1. I took care to impose a certain randomness with the application of the pattern. Another key element is to make use of seams in cloth and natural folds. With these you should take care to not run one Tetris block over two separately manufactured pieces of cloth and when confronting folds, apply slightly larger less defined blocks in the recesses in order to make up for the lack of visibility.

On to the Interceptor, I mixed up a solid batch of basecoat using Citadel Tau Ochre, Administratum Gray and Vallejo Iraqi Tan at a ratio of 4:3:1 and applied it to the vest. Once this had dried I ran a wash of Burnt Umber, Citadel Snakebite Leather, Mechanicus Standard Gray and Chaos Black at a ratio of 4:3:1:1 in amongst the various recesses and MOLLE straps on the vest, I also took the opportunity to run the wash into the drop holster for the M9 on his right thigh. This will estabilish the boundaries and initial shadows for both the vest and the holster once details begin to be applied. Hical, James