Heavy Roman Infantry - Update #5

Work continues on the details of these two figures. The following three photos show where they are as of today;

What I have done since the last update is shown below. This is the stage in my work that it seems like a whole lot of time is spent accomplishing nothing but there has been change. My first step was working on the leather edging of the armor on both figures and the pteruges of the second figure. As I said before, Mars Brown Base for one and Brown Madder for the latter. Over this I applied washes of Van Dyke Brown and Mars Black, as well as Burnt Umber and Mars Black, varying the mix depending on the tonal value of the shadows. This stains the leather and outlines at the same time. On the pteruges I hit the highlights of the leather strips with Mars Brown and Mars Orange.

Once dry a few more touches of shadow washes complete the outlining and I began to highlight edges of the strips with Yellow Ochre slightly lightened with White. This was first done thinned in small strokes from the edge inward to create some small "crack" lines and then over the edges, unthinned to give soft wear. The same mix was applied to the ties of the armor suit, shadowed with Mars Black and Van Dyke Brown and highlighted with white. These ties have yet to be given their final highlights. Deep Cadmium Red and Medium Cadmium Red were used on the tunic that shows around the lower edges. This was edge highlighted with a touch of white while still wet to give a faded, worn, pinkish hue.

SR-39 has leg wraps that were painted first using a mix of Van Dyke Brown and White, with shadows of Mars Black and highlighted with White. Once dry a wash of Raw Umber was applied to age the material and final highlights were applied, first with a glaze of white that was blended out wet on dry and given a final edging of pure white.

The sword belts were tackled next. A mix of Van Dyke Brown and Titanium White was applied to both figure's belts, one lighter than the other. The edges were highlighted with white while still wet and blended outward. Once dry a light stippling of browns and black were applied to begin dirtying and aging the belts. This was followed by shadows in a few spots and final edge highlights. This may well be too subtle as it really doesn't show the way I would like in the photos. I will probably work some more on this. I spent a lot of time studying some of the Spaniards and Italians work at MFCA to decide how far I want to carry the shading. Sometimes I feel they go too far in the dark direction but it frequently works when seen in person.

I have also applied a base color to the two spear shafts, Yellow Ochre on one and Deep Cad Red with a touch of Medium Cad Red added on the other. These will be shaded, highlighted and striped (Red on Yellow and Green on Red). Once dry they will be worn, dirtied and aged properly. Saturday I primed the swords and shields and applied base coats of red and green on the insides of the shields. The green goes with the figure in scale armor and the red with the mail coated individual. Last night a first wash of shadow color was applied to accentuate the wood grain prior to my beginning the highlighting and detail work. A brown and black mixture was applied to the backs of the swords and dagger as well so that they can be attached and painting started tonight.

Heavy Roman Infantry - Update #4

Now I turn to the leather work and padded armor. Mars Brown was used on the leather edging of the armor as well as the thin belt running over the figures left shoulder. This was allowed to dry overnight before shading. One of the beauties of Mars Brown is it's opacity and quick drying properties. Shading of the armor begins with washes made using Mars Black and Van Dyke Brown. Basically I use to small dabs of these colors and mix my washes on the palette adding one or the other color as I go. More Brown is used on the leather wash and more black on the armor. Depending on how strong the shadow should be I will vary the thinning as well going from a pure wash to a thin glaze (resembling a gel). Additionally I worked deeper shadows (pure black) into the mail to keep the tonal values consistent over the entire figure.

The same techniques mentioned above were used on the second figure. However the leather pteruges were painted using Brown Madder. This also dries overnight but is fairly transparent. This was a plus as it allowed the white undercoat to show through giving a rich, warm reddish brown tone to the leather that will differentiate it from the leather trim of the armor. A second and third wash of brown was applied to the boots as I build a soft tonal valued base coat for what will later be a golden tan leather.

Heavy Roman Infantry - Update #3

A bit of an update on this vignette. I had started painting the groundwork for this vignette as a demo display for our local IPMS show in April. It is a little presentation I give every year. I had completed the base in stages to quickly show the layers of paint I use and the techniques involved. Well as usually happens in these cases, getting it home under the lights I was quite unhappy with the progress and so I started painting again. What you see here is about 50-60% complete, and I have added a few arrows for effect.

The arrows are simply made from thin brass rod with paper fletches added. The shafts have been primed and the arrows will get painted as the groundwork is completed.

The figures are in process with my current focus on the armor. As in the past with bronze lamellar armor I started with a base of gold printers inks mixed with Burnt Umber to take some of the brightness out and add a stronger carrier to hold up against the later washes and glazing. What you see below is immediately after the first wash of Burnt Umber.

 On this figure I have also painted his undershirt and started the trousers. The padded tunic under the mail has also been painted.

The trousers on this figure were also painted (a start) but really nothing else yet done. Both figures had the Burnt Umber wash applied to the leather bits (shoes and belts, etc.) to begin the process of developing the texture and depth.

Hans Goerth, Marine Feld Jasta III - Completed

I can now say that this bust is completed. A real gem from the hands of Mike Good, this piece was a joy to paint. Mike has always had a way with details and the last photo showing the pilot's badge proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt. Bravo Mike! As ststed before, my nameplates are created on the computer using Microsoft Publisher and printed on sheets of sticker paper. Enjoy.