The first figure I have built was the driver. The figure's head and torso come from the Legend set number LF0107 "US AFV Crew set (Vietnam)", the legs and hands from Tamiya set number 35117 "U.S. Armoured Troops":
The officer riding in the track's commander hatch is a figure from Bravo Six set number B6-35012 "US AFV Crew Vietnam '68"
I went on to build the section chief's and gunner's figures. The legs come from MasterBox 35105 "Charlie On The Left!!!" set (orange) and Dragon 3020 "U.S. Tank Crew" set (gray).
In the section chief's figure I also used the torso and the left arm from the Legend set mentioned above. The right arm came from a Dragon set (number 3315, the driver's figure), and the head in a tanker's helmet came from a Hornet set, number HUH03:
Similarily, in the gunner's figure the head came from the Hornet set, and the torso and the arms - from the Legend set:
Test fit of the figures on the model - also visible are the figure of the first ammo loader, made up from parts coming from different Dragon sets, and legs of the second ammo loader, alco coming from a Dragon set:
The figure of the second ammo loader is made up from parts of two Dragon sets (3305 and 3309), arms came from the MasterBox set mentioned above, and the helmet was taken from a TankModel set number A-188. The ammo bandoliers were scratchbuilt using styrene sheet of various thickness:
For painting the figures were set on holders made out of sprue:
I started the painting with the base - faces and hands were painted Humbrol 63, and the uniforms - black, Humbrol 33:
The colour of face and hands was modified in case of soldiers of different skin tone:
After the base dried really well I shaded the faces and hands, by first applying a darker wash, then lightening the mix by carefully dry brushing a mixture of white and red:
Faces done. It's recommendable to not increase the contrast unnecessarily by avoiding black and white and using dark gray and light gray instead. To paint the eyes, instead of a brush I used a single human hair:
Next, I went on to shade the uniforms:
The officer and the ammo loaders could be assembled then, the driver and the gunners had to wait for their place on the Machine:
The ammo loaders got their goggles, made from clear plastic, that came from the Academy set number 1323 "M151A1 Light Utility Truck". They were equipped with tissue straps:
As the last touch I equipped the CVC (Combat Vehicle Crewman) helmets with photoetched microphone booms, from the Royal Model set number RM018:
