Hello, Here are the Modern US PK figures. Their torsos are the same length as Tamiya but wider width. Heads and extremities are bigger than Tamiya (as most figures are). My dilemma is that only the Tamiya sitting figure will fit in any of the driver or front seats. The PK torso would fit but no room for the PK arms. Tamiya arms on the PK torso make them look like a T-Rex (way too small). So, my ideas are:

1. Either I need some legs that are standing to have the figures look like they are about to enter the front seats instead?

or

2. I need to get my hands on some more seated Tamiya figures (2-5 more????--it's not possible currently)

or

3. Move the steering wheel closer to the dash and sand the PK body sides in to get the arms to fit?



what to do? Please vote or give me an idea. Thanks amigos


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4. maybe an arm hanging outside the window.

I'd prefer everyone in the vehicles. Is it doable to cut notches in joints and heat-bend resin legs?

Tamiya "little people" have their reason for being..... Real people of course are soft and can bend and scrunch up to fit into tight spaces; not so with our little styrene friends. Next to the PK figgies, the Tamiya driver looks like a wood nymph, but he will fit. The best thing I think, at least the way I would approach it, would be to try to modify the resin driver to approximate the size of the Tamiya figure. It won't be possible to get this completely right, but but sanding down the outer parts of the figure, and cutting joints so you can bend arms and legs, you'll be able to get the bigger figure to fit.

The first thing would be to see just how much space you have to work with. If you are going to leave that door closed, you could consider cutting off the driver's feet and/or leaving off the vehicle foot pedals - anything to open up the space inside and cut down the vehicle. I don't have the kit, so I can't tell how much would be visible after the vehicle is closed up, but I'd bet from the photos you could cut off the feet and no one could see they were gone. Yeah, it's a pain, but the test of the model is the illusion it presents. If the closed up interior is so tight, and the figure is so large, that no one can see of the feet or pedals are there, then there isn't much point in worrying about that. Absent that,if you don't want to amputate, then try cutting down the size of the boots. It will probably be necessary to prepaint the figure and the interior before putting the driver in place. You can also cut down the seat cushion for extra headroom, and other tricks. This is why it's an art form.....

Bruce - You're the man!!!

I went back and looked at it and you gave me some new guts to try out amputation surgeries. I believe the problem is solved now with a narrower pelvis here, shorter legs there, etc. I'll allow the Tamiya leprechaun to drive the Tamiya humvee and cut in half his standing MG partner to use the PK upper torso (since legs will be hard to see inside the closed top Tamiya vehicle).

Thanks


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Hi Greg,

One thing I see about the PK figures that may or may not be right is that the pant legs look rather baggy even for the seated figures. Compare how the pant legs look with respect to the boots between the PK figures and the Tamiya figures.

Again, I don't know if this is right or wrong, but I sort of doubt if they're wearing armor under their pant legs (somebody please correct me if I'm wrong).

As Bruce said, real humans are soft and flexible. In the same way, real clothes are also soft and flexible and take on different appearances when a person is standing, sitting or prone.

My two cents,
Isamu

Hi Isamu!
I think you are 100% right. I have the 2 extreme ends of the scale going on here. Since PK is the majority, I have to cater to them. Maybe I can sand down some of those legs and eliminate the knee pads on certain figures where needed. Cheers

What about painting the smaller figures as FEMALES - women serve in harms way in Iraq and are a distincitive feature of the conflict. That would make their proportions look far more believable. Women and men are hard to tell apart in flack jackets and BDU's, but from a painting prospect painting them with lighter skin and rosy cheeks should convey the impression.

Konrad

Hi Konrad. A good idea, but I don't think it works here. As this 2003 Marine Recon unit is definitely a "combat" MOS with special operators (no GI Jane), and I don't think the US military is allowing females still in these roles. I could be wrong though. In the HBO Generation Kill series (my dio/TV pics), the women were in other convoys but not with them. Cheers

So what's the verdict on the PK figures? Are they worth picking up? They have an extensive range, but frankly the photos leave me cold (could be the paint jobs...). A lot of their conversion work looks good, but what I need (and 1.48 needs IMHO) are FIGURES...

Damon.

I think the verdict is - I wish I would have done it in 1/35 as the kits and figures are much cheaper and much better looking. I've sunk too far in to stop these humvees now, but hopefully Tamiya will add their humvee and figure sets to the 1/48 matrix in the future. I think the detail in the Plus model and PK figures are weak but we'll see after they're painted I guess. I'm really kidding about doing 1/35, but I do hope 1/48 improves/expands in modern sets. Cheers

Hi Greg , have you seen this website with modern US figures?

http://www.hlbs.co.uk/type.php?id=19

There might be something for you to use there.

Best

Paul

Hi Paul, thanks for the link. They remind me of 1/32 airfix in the single pose.