"Although I’m fairly new to the board, I thought some of you might like to see a project I’ve been working on for the past couple of weeks. I’ve wanted to customize/kit-bash a VAM for some time, but I wasn’t sure where to start. I recently watched the movie, ‘The Day of the Jackal’ (the original 1971 release) and I thought that it would provide good material for a VAM custom job. Initially, my intention was to just recreate ‘The Jackal’ himself, with appropriate clothing and accessories and to then take some photographs, etc. However, as I started the project, I decided that I would try and complete the ‘whole package’, including a mock-up of retail packaging and a number of other additions.
My plan was to imagine a VAM toy that I could have purchased when I was a kid back in the seventies. I envisaged an alternate VAM line called the ‘Cinema Series’, with Palitoy producing uniforms and accessories of popular movie characters (such as ‘The Jackal’).
The retail box that I created has exactly the same dimensions as the cardboard Red Cross Parcel that was included in the VAM Escape from Colditz box-set. I had an old, tattered one in my own collection and I ended up using it as a template for my project.
I used a combination of both 1/6 scale accessories (some of which I obtained from Ebay) and scratch-built items. As this was my first custom project, it provided me with a good opportunity to test different techniques, etc.
I used basic hobby skills to design the box images, etc. I didn’t use any sort of fancy Photoshop program (as I have no idea how to use them). I used my HP bubble jet printer/scanner and the basic scanning/editing software that came with it (called HP Gallery). I also used Microsoft Word to compose some of the banners, etc. For everything else I used a glue stick, paint, scissors and coloured paper.
The following items were scratch-built;
Retail Packaging (with the exception of the rear photographic images, which I found surfing the net)
Cravat/Neck Scarf (I used some red cloth and painted on some white polka-dots…it has the same dimensions as the VAM Panzer Captain scarf)
.22 cal Sniper’s Rifle (I constructed this out of aluminium tubing…incidentally the same material as used in the film. The rifle is comprised of 12 separate pieces and the stock is made out of Sculpey)
Melon Target (I used Sculpey to fashion the actual melon and painted it with an acrylic gloss green paint to match the mottled texture of a real melon)
Map (used a JPEG found on Google Image)
Passport (as above and constructed it with a number of ‘pages’ to give it some depth)
Cigarette Packet (as above and used a gold marker pen to recreate the cigarette foil)
De Gaulle Dossier (I constructed the actual manila folder myself and found the photographic images of De Gaulle on the net)
Action Man Competition Entry Form (composed using Microsoft Word)
The other items (long-sleeve shirt, trousers, boots, wristwatch, pistol, grenade and money) are all Dragon or 1/6 scale custom accessories.
The briefcase was bought on Ebay and is made specifically for 1/6 scale custom jobs. They are available in both brown and black.
The Collector Star Booklet is an authentic VAM one.
To complete the project, I obtained a signed photograph of Edward Fox from Ebay (purportedly the real thing!).
My plan was to imagine a VAM toy that I could have purchased when I was a kid back in the seventies. I envisaged an alternate VAM line called the ‘Cinema Series’, with Palitoy producing uniforms and accessories of popular movie characters (such as ‘The Jackal’).
The retail box that I created has exactly the same dimensions as the cardboard Red Cross Parcel that was included in the VAM Escape from Colditz box-set. I had an old, tattered one in my own collection and I ended up using it as a template for my project.
I used a combination of both 1/6 scale accessories (some of which I obtained from Ebay) and scratch-built items. As this was my first custom project, it provided me with a good opportunity to test different techniques, etc.
I used basic hobby skills to design the box images, etc. I didn’t use any sort of fancy Photoshop program (as I have no idea how to use them). I used my HP bubble jet printer/scanner and the basic scanning/editing software that came with it (called HP Gallery). I also used Microsoft Word to compose some of the banners, etc. For everything else I used a glue stick, paint, scissors and coloured paper.
The following items were scratch-built;
Retail Packaging (with the exception of the rear photographic images, which I found surfing the net)
Cravat/Neck Scarf (I used some red cloth and painted on some white polka-dots…it has the same dimensions as the VAM Panzer Captain scarf)
.22 cal Sniper’s Rifle (I constructed this out of aluminium tubing…incidentally the same material as used in the film. The rifle is comprised of 12 separate pieces and the stock is made out of Sculpey)
Melon Target (I used Sculpey to fashion the actual melon and painted it with an acrylic gloss green paint to match the mottled texture of a real melon)
Map (used a JPEG found on Google Image)
Passport (as above and constructed it with a number of ‘pages’ to give it some depth)
Cigarette Packet (as above and used a gold marker pen to recreate the cigarette foil)
De Gaulle Dossier (I constructed the actual manila folder myself and found the photographic images of De Gaulle on the net)
Action Man Competition Entry Form (composed using Microsoft Word)
The other items (long-sleeve shirt, trousers, boots, wristwatch, pistol, grenade and money) are all Dragon or 1/6 scale custom accessories.
The briefcase was bought on Ebay and is made specifically for 1/6 scale custom jobs. They are available in both brown and black.
The Collector Star Booklet is an authentic VAM one.
To complete the project, I obtained a signed photograph of Edward Fox from Ebay (purportedly the real thing!).
I’m looking forward to my next project, which will probably be along similar lines and hopefully I can improve on my technique. One idea I have for the future is to recreate ‘The Jackal’ in his war veteran’s disguise (black three-piece suit, black beret, crutches with hidden rifle, medals, etc.). I would also like to try my hand at a ‘Military Series’, focusing on military uniforms that were not covered in the original VAM line. It’s a case of selecting subjects/uniforms that provide a good balance between kit-bashing and scratch-building (which is the fun part)."
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