1:35 Vietnamese Rice Farmer

Vietnamese rice farmer 1:35, a MAiM figure

This is a separate civilian figure in 1:35 scale — a Vietnamese farmer working in a rice field. It is not a model of equipment and not a kit; the figure completes a scene that has already been built and gives it a human dimension. MAiM offers a whole group of Vietnamese civilian motifs, so an inhabited scene can be put together rather than just a single figure.

The subject

A farmer in a conical hat and working clothes is a typical civilian figure of Southeast Asia and is used in modeling to set equipment into an everyday setting. A civilian figure adds contrast to a scene: equipment on its own shows only machines, and only the inhabitants of a landscape give a scene a story and a scale. The figure suits rice fields, stretches of water, field tracks and village buildings. The same group of motifs also includes figures with cattle, which can be combined into a larger composition.

Building and painting tips

Choose the glue according to the material of the parts — a thin plastic cement on plastic, super glue on resin parts. Wash the figure in lukewarm soapy water before painting and sand the parting seams gently; protect your airways when sanding. Apply the base in a thin layer of filler primer. Build the face and the hands up in layers: the base tone of the skin, a darker shadow into the eye sockets and the folds, highlights on the cheekbones. The clothing takes fading on the shoulders and the folds; dirty the bottoms of the trousers and the feet with pigment according to the base the figure will stand on — at a rice field, dark mud with a wet sheen.

Who the figure is for

• Builders of dioramas on South Asian and Vietnamese themes
• Modelers who want to add civilian figures to a scene
• Collectors of figures in 1:35 scale
• Those who put a larger village scene together from several separate figures

The figure is supplied unassembled and unpainted. Glue, paints and a base are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.