54mm Dutch Belgian Royal Guard Artillery 1810

[Neil Merryweather]

Hi Neil

Like others for me the sculpt looks okay ...a interesting subject and it's nice to see the way you approach the painting

I tend to flit between doing the flesh first or lastv..no idea why

Following if I may

Nap

Welcome aboard Kevin, and welcome to the forum . Nice to have another humanist here, even if you do only do half the story
Thanks for the comments, but this has shown me that painting the sculpt is the ideal way of trouble-shooting it. For instance the eyes could be alot better, which would have made them easier to paint. It's also relevant as to how to split a master figure up, not only for ease of casting but also for ease of painting before assembly. Who knows whether I will ever need to think about it again, but it's a good lesson to have learned.
Cheers
Neil

[Neil Merryweather]

Nice work Neil. I can't work that small any more so envy your abilities.

Re the lumpy acrylic. I find that the stuff can curdle on the palette and that it's best to mix fresh paint on clean areas fairly frequently as you go along. It will also create lumps if you use too many brushstrokes creating fresh layers on top of partially dried ones.

Thank you Peter, that makes sense,and it's something I can try right away (except that I will have to thoroughly clean all of my pallete every time, rather than the one compartment that's least used at the time).
As for the small size, I don't know how much longer I will have what small abilities I may have. Hopefully a few more years yet,and into retirement. I am very aware that time marches on and as we get older all sorts of crap happens to us and we realize we are not invincible after all. So I'd better make some progress or my entire stash will be wasted! I only have 3 figures larger than 54mm, hmmm better start looking at 75mm maybe?
Cheers
Neil

[Tim Marlow]

Hi Neil
I’ve found that Vallejo light colours can clump when overthinned with water. I think it is because the carrier breaks down and coagulates like oil drops in water. If you thin them with Matt medium (basically paint without pigment) they are much easier to use. Another option is a wet palette.
Cheers
Tim

[Neil Merryweather]

Thanks Tim, something else to investigate cheers
Neil

[Neil Merryweather]

Hi Neil
I’ve found that Vallejo light colours can clump when overthinned with water. I think it is because the carrier breaks down and coagulates like oil drops in water. If you thin them with Matt medium (basically paint without pigment) they are much easier to use. Another option is a wet palette.
Cheers
Tim

thanks Tim.
Is the Matt Medium a Vallejo product ?
N

[Tim Marlow]

Yes, but there are other makes available. I’m afraid everything of mine is currently boxed away...looking it up though it’s code 70.540

[Neil Merryweather]

Yes, but there are other makes available. I’m afraid everything of mine is currently boxed away...looking it up though it’s code 70.540

ok thanks Tim

[Neil Merryweather]

Hi All, hope you had a good Easter Holiday with lots of modelling time?
Much to my surprise, I got in quite a bit,interspersed with visits from the grandchildren,gardening, clearing the garage and a trip to the tip!
AND dealing with a very large and bold mouse in the kitchen and a hysterical SWMBO!
Anyway, I thought I would just throw in a bit of 21st century model making trivia for your amusement.

On Friday morning at work, knowing I wanted to make a base for this fella over the weekend, I decided I wanted cobbles. I had a quick search of the internet in the hope of finding a digital model of a cobbled street that I could 3D print. The only one I could find for free was a single cobble stone .

I started by scaling it down to the correct size. Being essentially a cube, I copied it 5 times and rotated each copy which gave me 6 types

I had already created a blank base

so I arranged the cobbles to fit

this process took me about 30 minutes.
Then I printed it in black plastic on one of our filament printers (Ultimaker, for those in the know), which took about an hour and a half,
and this is it


I made the cobbles a bit too proud because I wanted dirt in between them, but I'm not capable of creating that digitally. I thought I could do it with thick paint but it didn't work, so so I used Vallejo acrylic filler, wiped off with a cotton bud.


I had to paint it again with the earth colour

and then I painted, washed and dry brushed the individual cobbles


thanks for looking
Neil

[Guest]

Nice little base Neil.
Anyone up for solitaire :tongue-out3:.

[Neil Merryweather]

thanks Ralph- I KNEW it reminded me of something

[Steve Jones]

Lovely work on the base Neil. Is it just a matter of glueing him in place or do you screw a rod through his heels?

[Neil Merryweather]

Thanks very much ,Steve.
just a brass rod through the heels, yes
.........and a hefty coat of matt lacquer!

[Neil Merryweather]

He's finished!


I weathered him with pastels, and I tried a bit of modulating of the blue and red with pastels too- I think it's helped a bit.
And of course the matt lacquer-Alclad, in this case, suggested by I can't remember who, but thank you!
I've also discovered that my sculpting is not as good as I thought it was, and that it's a good idea to be a painter as well as sculptor so that you know what's important to get right. The Shako insignia , for instance is pathetic, and the eyes need to be better.
I'm pleased with the 3D printed base, that's an idea I can develop.
I clearly need to improve ,especially on the faces(the EYES!), but I'm still getting to grips with acrylics after a lifetime of Humbrol, so every step is a new lesson learned at the moment.
Next time I am going to use some matte medium as suggested by Tim Marlowe(I think), and see how I get on with that. Hopefully I can start to get the hang of building up the colour in layers and washes rather than slathering it on in one fell swoop!
Still, for my second painted figure in almost 40 years I'm not too discouraged.
I'll post more shots in a 'completed' thread
Thanks for watching and for all the encouragement
Neil

[rtfoe]

Hi Neil, apologies for being late. Had a read through and its turned out nicely. :thumb2: Imagine painting your own manufactured figure...almost. Quite a learning curve using acrylics...glad Peter has given some tips on the clumping and pallette use.

Dutch-Belgian...now there's a reason why the Belgians in the central region speak Flemish and the outlying areas speak either Dutch, French or German. That was what I was told by a Belgian friend once.

Cheers,
Richard

[Steve Jones]

A terrific effort after so long away from figures and using acrylics as well. Wonderful stuff sir.