Canadian Bren Gunner

Finally got a proper Bren gunner under my belt.


All painting was done using acrylics, with oils for detail.
I also removed the top button of his jacket so the collar would remain open nicely.


The helmet is diecast, from BBI.
I made a liner out of black hockey tape, glued the netting on and put a couple aid pouches underneath, then added some scrim.


The barrel bag, which actually contains a spare barrel, part of a Bren I had when I was a kid. Behind it is the spare parts wallet.
I also made his water carrier from grosgrain ribbon, but I neglected to get a good photo of that.


I made his belt out of hockey tape, and painted all his kit to be roughly an appropriate blanco colour.
Blanco was a compound used by Commonwealth troops to clean and colour their equipment.


I wanted his gaiters to look nice and tight.
The ones the figure came with were much too big and loose, so I made these out of hockey tape and used grosgrain ribbon for straps.



The Bren, with ammo box.
I repainted the Bren using acrylics, then did the wood grain in oils, my first time attempting that process.


Ready to roll. Can't wait to use 'em in some outdoor photography soon.

Excellent work, he looks great. How cool that you were able to use pieces from a childhood toy. And, of course, your ingenious use of hockey tape continues.
Thanks for sharing. But do take a look at the work of others too.

GubernatorFan wrote:Excellent work, he looks great. How cool that you were able to use pieces from a childhood toy. And, of course, your ingenious use of hockey tape continues.
Thanks for sharing. But do take a look at the work of others too.

Thanks! Appreciate that.
And I'm always lurkin' around a little to keep tabs on whats going on

PickleMunkey wrote:Thanks! Appreciate that.
And I'm always lurkin' around a little to keep tabs on whats going on

You're welcome.
And that's good to hear but I'm sure others would appreciate your feedback, too.

Nice work. Canadian Star Wars Division is growing

I like that you added some "dirt" to the bags. Probably didn't want to do it for the uniform?

Valiarde wrote:Nice work. Canadian Star Wars Division is growing

I like that you added some "dirt" to the bags. Probably didn't want to do it for the uniform?

The Canadian Star Wars Division is a force to be reckoned with, eh!

I did try and keep the uniform a bit fresh as I usually do kind of "fresh encounter" photos, like beach storming or reconnaissance scenarios, where there wouldn't be a ton of grime on the wools.

I figure the blanco on the webbing and equipment would get dingy and worn from day-to-day use, and tried to simulate some oil stains on the barrel bag from machine gun maintenance.

Makes the gear look a little more lived-in, I suppose.

Impressive level of craftsmanship, detail work, and realism!

davidd wrote:Impressive level of craftsmanship, detail work, and realism!  

Appreciate that, Davidd, thanks a lot!

That’s pretty cool. The repaint on the Bren is really well done. And, of course, the Hockey Tape Madness continues — well done.

Stryker2012 wrote:That’s pretty cool. The repaint on the Bren is really well done. And, of course, the Hockey Tape Madness continues — well done.

Many thanks, Mark! Appreciate you checking it out, man.

Excellent work on your gunner.

Is it mostly Dragon gear? I think the spare barrel bag was made by Dragon at one point.

Nice use of the hockey tape. Works well on the gaiters.

cdn_rhino wrote:Excellent work on your gunner.

Is it mostly Dragon gear? I think the spare barrel bag was made by Dragon at one point.

Nice use of the hockey tape. Works well on the gaiters.

Yep, he's primarily Dragon gear. The barrel bag is from DML's Martin. He started out as DML's Liam before I got to work.
Thanks for checking this out!

There are too few depictions of Canadian, Polish, Italian... soldiers who certainly fought bravely. Thank you for bringing these into the spotlight too. Good work !

The Bren Gun is a littel piece of Art. Especially with Your weathering.

Ephiane wrote:There are too few depictions of Canadian, Polish, Italian... soldiers who certainly fought bravely. Thank you for bringing these into the spotlight too. Good work !

The Bren Gun is a littel piece of Art. Especially with Your weathering.

Thank you very much! I'm trying to shift my focus a bit more toward the Canadian side, the US gets a lot of representation but the commonwealth usually falls by the wayside.

If real life would settle down a bit I'd be able to get him out in the field for some fun shots.

I'm looking forward to seeing it, your outdoor pictures are always so realistic.