Showcase"Bugs, Mr. Rico!"
Written by Jeff Junker
Photos by the author and Phil Novak
Scans by Brian Hirsch
Once in a while an oddball figure in an oddball scale will pop off the casting line to capture the imagination of modelers who ordinarily might not consider straying too far afield of their main interest. Fort Dusquense managed to pull off such a feat with their 150mm 101st Spaceborne,2010. Cast in the traditional yellowish resin, this figure is a galaxy apart from the usual fare offered by the company that brings us Augie Rodriguez-sculptured figures and resurrected the D.F.Grieve line.
David Clarke's Space Marine
Eerily reminiscent of the Bug Hunters of Robert Heinlen's Starship Troopers - as well as evoking images of Ripley's deadly minuet with the Alien - the Fort Dusquense Space Marine appears ready for action after making a "jump" onto hostile terrain. Presented here is how three modelers approached the task of helping Mr. Rico solve his bug problem.
"I just got tired of doing figures that had to be historically factual," commented David Clarke on what attracted him to the Space Marine. "Nobody can say it's inaccurate."
Most of the figures he has painted previously had been of the World War II genre, where critics seem to delight in point out alleged flaws.
Clarke primed his figure with Floquil light gray, then undercoated it with a mixture of Humbrol green. After four attempts at painting the camouflage, he settled on a futuristic version of the Tiger Stripe pattern from Vietnam. He used light field gray for the splotches.
The gun was painted with US Army Dark Green. He added the hydraulic attachment between the upper arm and gun using Evergreen Styrene. Rod and tubes were used to simulate the metal piston and sleeves and hex patterns were punched from sheets for the connecting points. This maintains the robotic motif suggested from the hydraulic system, molded on the legs
The base was washed with an earth color, then drybrushed with Khaki drill.
The palm frond is from Verlinden.
"The face was not molded well. There was a seam of extra resin on it that was hard to carve off without screwing up the face." he added.
He went on to suggest that some of Verlinden's oversized 120mm heads would be a good replacement on this 150mm figure. The highly reflective visor was painted with silver, followed by Tamiya Clear Green.