Painting Vietnam-era US Marines - The Rubicon Plastic Kit [How I Paint Things]

The Vietnam war is a historical conflict that's gathering steam among wargamers, and there's a score of excellent metal ranges out there to cover the forces involved. How do the Rubicon Miniatures range compare? The short answer: Yeah, alright! They're a bit of a mission to assemble, but once the glue sets and they're ready for paint, they look the business!
00:00 - Intro
00:40 - Lightning Quick Kit Review
02:03 - Priming
02:41 - Basecoats
07:01 - Shading
07:52 - Highlighting: Mixes
12:10 - Pencil Painting?
13:01 - The Finished Marine
Thanks to Producer Patrons Alan, Kyrie, Andrew, Jimmy, Rod, and Phil - as well as all the other Patrons that made this video possible, and Exit23 Games for recording equipment that helps keep the channel ticking over! Find out more at the following links:
/ sonicsledgehammer
/ sonicsledge
/ sonicsledgehammer
ko-fi.com/docwholigan
exit23.games
THE BASE: Stirland Mud from GW, drybrushed Golgfag Brown then Tyrant Skull. Add static grass to most of the base, then superglue tufts of your choice on top. Paint base rim in German Camo Black Brown.
PRIMER:
Premium Grey (Vallejo Spray Primer)
VALLEJO:
Green Grey
US Dark Green
US Olive Drab
Middlestone
German Camo Beige
German Camo Pale Brown
German Grey
Black
Deck Tan
Pale Sand
Ivory
CITADEL:
Agrax Earthshade (Shade)
Lahmian Medium (Technical)
Cadian Fleshtone (Layer)
Kislev Flesh (Layer)
Flayed One Flesh (Layer)
Carroburg Crimson (Shade)
ARMY PAINTER:
Tanned Flesh
VARNISH:
Matt Varnish Spray (Army Painter)

[@RobbieB2606]

Dare I say one of your best ever paint jobs? Extremely realistic, well done

[@loupiscanis9449]

A Very Special Thank you , Troy . 🐺

[@loupiscanis9449]

HEY EVERYBODY ! , Troy enjoyed painting this mini , Opps sorry it slipped out 🙂 . 🐺

[@Alex-cv6iv]

Is that you John Wayne? Is this me? Great detail. Looks like Sergeant Major made our Devil Dog get a new blouse from supply. Great catch with the helmet band detail too, a lot of people don't know about the tire inner tube helmet band.

[@gregmurray4169]

You really nailed that helmet cover.

[@mikemodels928]

I love the thumbnail easter egg 😁 greatly done tutorial.

[@kamilsawicki7095]

Dude first, I love your work! Loads of inspiration and ideas. Thanks! I recently have bought 3d printed small four men police unit minis and Im courious if you maybe could help me with US Police uniforms color scheme? Dark blue pants, dark blue jacket and light blue shirt.

[@SamuraiGuy1600]

Some folks are born made to wave the flag

[@theredestshirt9726]

Oooooooh that Red, White, and Blueeee.

[@Strawfoot]

Another great tutorial! Thanks Sledge!!!

[@theministryofminiatures]

Yes, yes, yes! Just hoping what’s next matches this theatre and era.

[@irishtom30]

Great looking model, I was eying that rubicon box. I really like the true scale, especially for historical figures.

[@theandf]

Awesome paintjob as always! Bookmarking this for reference. A couple of thoughts though: an acquaintance told me the plastic Rubicon uses is not like say GW's (it's "ABS", not "PBS" apparently) which makes it less amenable to cutting and gluing, and I wouldn't know if plastic cement works with it. Another thought: these are definitely more accurate and better proportioned than heroic minis, particularly their kit and weapons, but this is still not realistic scale... if you scaled them up to human size, you'd end with a bizarre stocky human with a huge head :P

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

The ABS plastic requires a different glue to assemble, but otherwise it's not all that different to regular plastic kits. It's more brittle to cut, but weirdly enough it feels slightly tougher against things like flexing and bending - good properties for those diddly little M16s!

[@MrPolicekarim]

Some people use 2 glues, Humbrol and Tamiya Extra Thin. They slather the 2 parts with the Humbrol, then when pressed togeher, re-inforce with the Tamiya.

[@alexandrasukeforth3337]

Only criticism is we wore jungle boots with sides of green.

[@huwtindall7096]

That helmet is outstanding mate

[@tylayton6897]

Great tute. Been looking for a Vietnam era paint guide.

[@machinegundevildog5097]

I love these minis they are a pain to assemble but look so nice

[@simdoyle]

Very helpful.

[@mgentile7]

Gringo40s are great minis !

[@nickdavis5420]

Oh nice I love them

[@gruppenfuhrer45]

Wow amazing

[@iowagrognard7715]

Thanks!

[@alessiodecarolis]

Nice models, the fading effect either on the trousers and the flack jacket are OK, these minis are very realistically proportionated, I hope that someone will try to make other modern troops.

[@kevinokane3702]

Much amused by the Rolling Stones reference in the title! And it scans correctly...

[@iowagrognard7715]

Semper Fi to that little guy. (didn't mean to rhyme) I like this range from Rubicon it really looks great as well as your brush work. Empress Miniatures has a nice range of Vietnam figs as well, including ANZAC which appear to have a soft spot for.

[@kentang2426]

I think Rubicon is working on a box of plastic ANZACs.

[@laughingsnake1989]

Just wanted to point out depending on the year some marines would have had the standard issue jungle boot it had green sides not trying to be critical my old man was a marine in nam he loved this by the way

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

I think I might accidentally have trimmed mention of the green-sided jungle boots during editing; I remember having said something about it during filming, but... whoops. 😅 Ultimately the amount of greenery on the base usually means it won't much matter, but good spot! Glad to hear your old man liked it!

[@lesliebeilby-tipping6854]

I am building the Viet Minh, yes a bit fiddly but the do turn out as beautiful models.

[@jediknutt620]

Looks great. And yes, I sang the tag line. 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@johnkelley9877]

The model looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing this.

[@Matt-md5yt]

Sweet some Nam soldiers being painted up

[@SPARTANTROOPER]

More realistic scale miniatures look like a nightmare to build and paint for me.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

They're a pain to assemble, I won't lie, but painting them honestly isn't all that different to anything else. Once the glue dries, they're just more plastic that needs a brush on them!

[@BMazeing]

Your brush control is astounding - do you limit your caffeine intake to keep that steady?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

It's almost certainly the opposite. A cup of tea at least to start painting, and then I'll ordinarily end up necking a can of Monster or two during the process... 😅 I can't say it's healthy!

[@KingsRetreat]

I can't fathom what kind of camera placement you have and how you're working around it.

[@MrScottson1]

Could I use the grey base and this green for the WW2 US Airborne as well? Really like it.

[@josephvanuxem9671]

Great video. Where do you find thé gringo 40s minis?

[@cyclone8974]

My dad said they didn't get resupplied until the clothes "rotted off of them" probably a bit of an exaggeration but that's what he said.

[@ktreier]

Can you do one for the NVA/VC?

[@andyshaw5378]

Troy, if your looking at metal Vietnam minis give The Assault Group a go 👍

[@mgentile7]

Paint some Gringo40s soon !!

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

I'd paint them exactly the same as this; not much point in doing a second video just to say, "Here's the same technique on a slightly different miniature." 😅

[@mgentile7]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio Crikey ! Sensible though.

[@Varundin]

What an awesome tutorial! What camera do you use if you dont mind me asking?

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

My phone. 😅 It's an old LG G5.

[@Varundin]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio That is impressive quality for a phone! Im trying to get into filming tutorials myself:) What kind of lighting do you use?

[@vegetasanchez7583]

next do a lady from the viet cong pls

[@theandf]

Now please do Rubicon Vietcong! Pretty please? :)

[@kentang2426]

Seconded. Just got some basecoats on Charlie (and Charlene) tonight!

[@camskies4595]

How do these hold up to the 40K newer cadians for coversions? They look really close to the true scale shock troops size

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

They're *really* spindly and skinny by comparison, honestly. I wouldn't think of them as compatible.

[@MonkeyBoyDrinksVat69]

Very long looking M16, both the fore grip & barrel.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Rubicon are pretty fussy about their proportions and correct dimensions. A quick look at original Vietnam-era M16s in the field makes it look about right to my eye.

[@MonkeyBoyDrinksVat69]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio Yeah, Rubicon do have a good reputation, particularly their armoured vehicles. I have a few and they are very nice kits. As for figures, the metal crew figures for the LVT-4 are especially well done, loads of character and superb attention to detail. These plastic USMC, not so keen on, the rifles in particular jump out. Considering Rubicon usually being sticklers in the details department it surprised me that the M16s looked such a tad off. If you're interested, I'd recommend an image search and probably a longer look at original Vietnam-era M16s in the field. However, to each their own and if you really like them, great.

[@andrewmoore4413]

Please do blackshirts!

[@jamese4077]

What happened to the Italian Army?

[@David_R434]

That was a stroke of luck as just ordered a set of these and the Viet Cong