1/9 Wellington 'v' bust

[Dave Ward]

This is my first foray into painting a resin bust. This is the subject:


I sourced this from Mitches Military Models, in Cumbria via a cheeky bid on his ebay shop - at a very good price....................

I thoroughly degreased, and gave a coat of primer.................

l think I need to have another go with the primer!, looks like I thinned it a bit too much! At this high magnification everything shows up - looks like His Grace has a load of pimples on his forehead - I'll have to deal with that & reprime!
I 'm going to use a mixture of oils and acrylics, but this is somewhat an unknown territory for me. I think some metallics will be needed for the decorations & braid
This is probably going to be a slow process, and I can see a lot of paint removal & redoing will be needed
Dave

[papa 695]

I looks a nice bust Dave, good luck with it, I don't do much in the figure line, and may try one myself one day. Watching with interest.

[Dave Ward]

Ian,
I'd been thinking about doing a larger figure after my 1/16 SWAT, but the cost put me off - it had to be cheap enough that If I made a real pig's ear of it, it wouldn't hurt too much! I bid on a 1/9 Napoleon, but didn't win that - so I put a cheeky bid of £10 on Wellington. I was the only bidder, so total cost including p&p <£14 .
Dave

[Guest]

Great choice Dave. I've done all three in their Waterloo Commanders Range. Mitches are currently offering the set for £55.00, which isn't a bad price.

Have fun.

[Dave Ward]

Peter,
I did look at Blucher, but I realised that apart from painting a soldier, he was an old man. At Waterloo, he was 72, I think I'm going to be pushed to do Wellington, who was 46, let alone an aged faces!
Dave

[JR]

Good luck Dave.
It will be interesting to follow .

[Richard48]

Nice one Dave.Nice to see you having a go at a resin bust.Watching with interest.
Richard

[Dave Ward]

First Paint on - The tunic is painted in oils - brilliant red. The head has an overall basic skin tone, ivory eye whites & carefully applied pupils
His Grace looks a little sallow & goggle eyed, but, early days. According to paintings by Goya & Lawrence, the Duke had dark grey blue eyes, so that'll be the next step. Wikipedia has a page " Arms, titles, honours and styles " on the Duke, and I hope to identify some of the fancy decorations, and hence their colours.
Dave

[Guest]

A good start Dave. Nice red!

[Dave Ward]

Peter,
I did start with crimson, but that looked a little dull, so, Brilliant Red. My oils aren't of the highest quality, Reeves, but they'll do for the moment. I'm still pondering on how to display the Duke - obviously a rod inserted into the base, but I don't have anything for a plinth, any ideas on where to source one? Will need to be 60 -70mm square/round.
Dave

[Guest]

Hi Dave. Historex have a wide range of plinths. Just go to the website and have a look in the 'find' section.

[Dave Ward]

I think I'll hold off on the plinth, until I see if he's actually worth displaying!
I found this interesting page https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...Wellington.jpg
If you hover over the picture with your mouse, it shows the name of the decorations!
Dave

[Dave Ward]

I primed the braid & buttons with Vallejo Golden Yellow paint before using Mr Hobby Gold paint ( the only gold paint I could find in my box! ). Sash painted with Royal Blue oil.

a wash of dark ink will bring out the texture on the braid

The head, definitely a work in progress!


A lot more blending needed on certain areas (!), but I think he's getting there. I'm finding that I can only paint the small detail for about 5 minutes, then my hands start to shake & I have to stop!
Dave

[Dave Ward]

More work on the torso - the decorations have been given a black priming coat
The head - I've redone the eyes, as I wasn't happy with the result............
They still need tidying up - even with a 000 brush, I'm finding it a struggle to do such small work - I can't keep my hands still enough!


I've blocked in the hair with a light brown, I'll darken it up & add some grey at the temples.
That collar is going to be a bit tricky....................
Dave

[Guest]

Coming along very nicely Dave. Looks like you're having fun.