Un soir à lui...(An evening to himself)

For Atlanta this coming year, I really wanted a 120mm figure that would stand out; one that I could pour my heart into in respect to my long time mentor Bob Knee, Jr.

Bob's influence on me not only as a person, but as a painter is something I treasure; Atlanta will have a different feel for me this year, and I'll deeply miss my friend. This 120mm Swiss Grenadier Officer from Verlinden was the last figure that Bob talked with me about, and he was looking forward to working with me to bring him alive... So this winter, I'll bring him to life just as Bob had planned.

I started out working in components, since I've found that with these large 120's the upper and lower torso's when split from one another are a lot easier to paint. I started as I usually do with the fleshtones undercoating with JoSonya acrylic paints (tanner yellow) and then after letting it sit a couple days, I applied the oil base. Using a mix of burnt sienna, mars yellow, cadium red and a touch of titanium white. I mixed this to a flesh tone and added just a touch of green to the mix in order to tone it down just a touch. Once I was happy with the base coat I started to add the highest highlights and lay in the eyes.

I wanted this Officer to have a veteran feel to him, so I decided to go with greying hair. I started with an undercoat from JoSonya that was mixed from brown earth and black. Once it had dried, I mixed a small amount of burnt umber and lamp black together and that became the base color for the figure's hair. I took some titanium white and just worked in the color right on the mustache and eyebrows to get a grey tone. I added some violet to the oil base color and used that for shading and contrast. Once the fleshtones are compeletely finished, I'll go back over and bring out the highest high points on the mustache and eyebrows. Here's a quick shot of the fleshtones after a couple session working the hightlights and shadows:

The plume came from my spares box, and is painted in black and then drybrushed with varying tones of red and white. My technique for the bearskin was to start with a dark tone, much like the mix I used for the base for the hair, and then bring out the contrasting browns as highlights. I shaded with lamp black.

The gold cords are done using Lou's technique for painting non-metallic metallic's adapted to oils. I started with a brown mix of mars yellow and gold ochre with a touch of burnt umber. Once that was on, I let it sit for a day, and then came back with gold ochre and napels yellow (hue) and started to bring out the contrasting gold tone. After the gold tone was laid on, I went back in and deepened the shadows to give the contrast to the colors.

The metal crown and eagle were painted in the same manner of the cords, but I added just a touch of brass and gold printers ink to the mix to simulate a brass plate.

Up next, setting the scene.

Why me..?

I just finished my second ever 1/35th figure; and I gotta give Tuesung at Alpine his props; this is an amazing figure! Here is the way I started this figure...the tanker straight from the kit. I had a nice talk with John Long, and he suggested that instead of having his head looking out in the distance, that I angle it downward focusing on the ammo crates below him.

I tinkered with the head and was able to cut a tiny notch in the front of his neck and built up just a touch of putty at the back of his neck to fill in a tiny gap from the new angle of the head. Once I had that done, I started with the priming.

I primed him using Tamiya grey spray primer; a couple dusting was sufficient and once that dried for a couple days, I started with the acrylic base.

The late Bob Knee told me about JoSonya acrylics and I am a huge fan of them; they go on incredibly smooth, have great coverage and accept oils very well! I used them exclusively now instead of the Andrea and Vallejo paints. I undercoated all the areas where the shadows were most predominate with a mix of prussian blue and black. I let that dry for a couple days, and then went back and laid in a black undercoat for the tanker jacket and prussian blue for the pants. For the boots, and belt I used a mix of carbon black and earth brown for the undercoat.

I painted the face first using my usual mix of oils and then went to work on the black leather tanker jacket. I used a mix of brunt umber, mars black and indigo to get the base color, and then I worked in just a touch of purple for the deepest shadows. Highlights were worked with a mix of white and prussian blue into the base. The color I wanted for the highlights was a very pale blue since I wanted a cool contrast between the gloves and the jacket. For the pants, I used an oil mix of prussian blue and cobalt blue and shaded with a touch of indigo. Highlights were achieved with just the same pale blue mix for the jacket. The ground work was a blast! John Long supplied me with the crates, and I worked them into the ground work so that it gives the appearance that the crates were left some time ago. I gave the entire base a couple washes of JoSonya's earth brown, let that dry and then washed some burnt umber, sepia and a touch of black. Once that had dried, I added the rocks and winter grass and then dried brushed in the winter highlights using a mix of a pale blue white to give a cold feel to the groundwork as a whole. I painted in the deep crevasse with a mix of sepia and ivory black.

The crates were undercoated with some beige JoSonya and then given a couple washes of burnt sienna and raw umber. I highlighted them with a mix of napels yellow and white and then went back over the wood grain with some black to give a contrast. I still have to dullcoat him, and then one final picture! Here's the final picture...

Celt, 2nd Century

I've finished my first, and hopefully not my last ancient, figure this weekend...

This is a 90mm Verlinden figure that instead of using the shield provided in the kit, I opted for a Roman Standard I had in my spare parts box. I chose to go with the standard over the shield because the entire left side of the figure was going to be covered by the shield.

The entire figure is painted in oils with the metal and mail being done in printers inks and pigments from Testors metallic range.

I asked for help from Phil Kessling and he worked with me on the stripes for the pants. The key is to do the base color of the pants, all the shading and highlighting first, then go back in and lay the pattern in. It's my first attempt, and I am anxious to try this technique out again.

The ruins are scratchbuilt using Balsa-Foam (http://www.dickblick.com/zz331/11/) and a plaster column. This Balsa-Foam stuff is awesome; it's simple to carve, it accepts acrylic and oil paints extremely well, but make sure you use a water based medium to seal it before you apply the undercoat. I used a white acrylic painting medium...this stuff is excellent!

95th Rifleman

Here's my latest...

I've just finished the 1/9th scale resin bust of a 95th Rifleman from Wolfe; amazing sculpt!

I painted him using JoSonja acrylics as the undercoat, and oils. The biggest challenge was the green jacket since all the references I had described it as a rifle green or worsted green. I didn't have a clue what that color is, so I mixed a little cinnabar green with a sap green and then toned it down with a touch of white and just worked the midtones from there. I highlighted the jacket with light green and then added a touch more of cinnabar green for the shades.


Here's a close up of the face...

An amazing sculpt makes a for a tremendous canvas...

The scar on his left cheek is painted on...I used Hardy Tempst's technique that he described on Timelines. It adds a unique degree of character to his face...