This is the final entry for this kit, and instead of going over every single aspect of the painting, I'll give colour guides and comments for selected aspects. The skin and eyes, for instance, followed the same approach as the Spitfire pilot, so I'll concentrate on other things.
Breastplate and sword:
I started with the airbrush, and using Vallejo Metal Colour, I did the following:
- Breastplate and sword hand guard in gunmetal grey
- Sword - pommel and blade in Steel
- Then aluminium from above on both
- Then a dusting of Chrome on the blade
The breastplate was then given some highlights and lowlights by hand using 950 black with 863 gunmetal grey in lowlights, then black with 864 natural steel to blend it.
The leather breast plate straps started with a base of 984 flat brown, then 822 German camo brown mixed with the base, then on its own. Highlight of base with 981 orange brown, then added again. This was applied in a dotting motion or thin lines at right angles to edges. Some damage was added with 876 brown sand, then satin varnish.
The sword handle was done in a different leather colour for contrast, using 818 red leather and 981 orange brown in a 50/50 mix. Then I mixed this with 822 German camo black brown and again added satin varnish on top
Blood was added to the sword with 814 burnt cadmium red then 947 red.
Hair:
I wanted him to be blond, so I followed the blond technique used for the spitfire pilot figure but I added 978 dark yellow to the base for variety as well as using some Japanese Yellow alone.
Hands:
In addition to the standard skin tone I also did the following:
- Finger nails: 928 light flesh, then this plus base over the top
- Veins in the hands were done with the base plus 900 French mirage blue and 905 blue grey pale
- I added dirt to the finger nails, as you can see below, with 822 plus 826 German camo medium brown
Cards and Brooch:
At the join with the feathers and the hat a couple of playing cards are held in place with a bejewelled brooch. I felt that painting the jewelled effect would be better replaced with something more realistic, so I cut away the domed sculpting, leaving the circular base of each jewel. The brooch was primed with black and then painted with Vallejo metal colour 725 Gold. I then mixed some canopy glue with X-25 Clear Green and applied blobs of this with a toothpick. This was left overnight to cure and in the morning I had some jewels.
The cards were interesting for a couple of reasons. On the one I wanted to recreate a cardboard effect, while on the other hand it quickly became clear that my expectation of painting standard modern playing cards did not map onto the historical evidence. It seems the cards which are now standard in England, North America, etc, have come to us from French designs which were created around the 14th and 15th centuries - exactly the time our Landsknecht was running around. There were different competing designs at the same time from Italy, Switzerland and Germany. So, I went for designs from the Swabian/ Swiss border. The cards were painted with Vallejo white primer, then I added the numbers with 950 black and 991 dark sea grey mixed 50/50, then I added details with a mix of 817 scarlet and 926 red. Several washes were then added with black and 826 German camo medium brown, 20/80, concentrating in the corners where dirty fingers would hold them. The overall result seems convincing.
The Wooden treasure chest:
Over the black primer I did several layers of a base of 872 chocolate brown, then a highlight of the base plus 846 mahogany brown, then this plus 981 orange brown. Lowlights were doe with 822 German camo black brown on its own. The whole thin was done in a streaking fashion.
The box's metal strap was painted with 864 natural steel, then a mix of this with black in lowlights. I highlighted the rivets and edging in 997 silver, then I used the lowlights from the box as a pin wash.
The Money Purse:
He has a money purse on some rope around his neck. This is quite difficult to paint without going over onto the breastplate so great care is needed here. Colours consisted of:
- Money purse: 988 khaki, needs highlights and lowlights - used 921 English uniform and 819 Iraqi sand
- The rope: 884 stone grey. Highlight with 820 off white
Construction:
This is quite complicated for this kit because of the various elements which interlock with each other - there is a certain amount of balancing involved and certainly a logical order of construction is required, starting with fixing the torso to the wooden base.
I then added the head and the hat, followed by the sword. This needs to be added at this stage because if you fit the feather first there is a good chance that the sword won't fit at all - this is where test fitting comes into play. The sword has the right hand attached to it, including the end of the sleeve. This was attached very delicately and thankfully the CA glue bonded quickly. I then filled a small gap around the join with Mr Dissolved Putty and painted over this.
The feather was then added, followed by the cards and brooch. At this point I added a few further touches, including some gloss varnish on the blood on the sword and some dust on his elbows. For this I applied heavily thinned 976 buff with 874 USA tan earth, then 876 brown earth on its own, then a mix of 822 plus 826 German camo medium brown.
So that's it for this kit. He took a lot longer than I would have preferred and I've certainly learned a lot about painting yellow and blue, which is a bonus.
Again, this is absolutely not a kit for the beginner. There are some really advanced construction and painting skills required here and I could imagine someone coming to figure painting for the first time despairing of the complexity. Nonetheless, it is a good exercise in stretching the intellectual and creative muscles.
A real highlight was conducting the research for the build, notably the history of playing cards which took my by surprise. I had no idea that there had been competing designs and this added a welcome area of new knowledge.
Happy modelling.
Nick
0 Yorumlar