Pegaso Greek Warrior - Part 4

Ok I know I said I was moving on but although I have worked on other things all week I keep coming back to this figure because I am on a roll and near completion. As you can see the sword was taken to the point where I need it in place and surrounded by all the other colors before I apply final highlights. The shield has a ways to go as I continue to paint the metallic bits and the design has yet to be started. There are details all over this piece that need to be done. The next post will be it's finished appearance.

Pegaso Greek Warrior - Part 3

As a change of pace and to give the Navarca an opportunity to dry a bit I spent the other night working on this Pegaso Greek Warrior a bit more. I decided to focus on refining the non-metallic painted bronze armor, padded armor and a few other details. Various mixes of Yellow Ochre, and Titanium White were used to add reflected highlights to the greaves, helmet and chest armor. The crest was completed as seen in the photos and the sword has been primed to begin painting. Once the sword is complete I will glue it and the shield to the figure so I can begin to paint the face of the shield. I will also re-attach the spear points to the shaft. I have broken them off twice and have them safely hidden away so as not to damage or lose them.

Now on to the gladiator vignette for a little work tomorrow and hopefully back to the Mayan bust sometime during the week. Full circle and soon a few things will get completed.

Soldiers Roman Navarca Update #4

Sunday was a very productive painting day for me and reminded me of the old days when I used to be able to get in a marathon painting session with great regularity. Between the cold, snow, NFL Playoffs and needing some peace and quiet I was able to get a lot done on this figure. As you can see in the photos I have completed the torso enough that I was able to glue it to the base and glue the head/mantle assembly to the torso. I will now paint around the feet, finish the boots and start detailing everything from the bottom up. I plan on tweaking a few of the color tones as well with washed and glazes. I usually reserve judgement on where I need to play with the tones until I see the figure all together. Colors effect one another and subtle work with tones can be necessary to get the overall effect just right. I have now begun painting the shield and lance as well. You will note a strong sheen to the blue of the mantle. This is due to the fact that the photos were taken minutes after I finished the initial blocking of colors on the back of the mantle. Indigo dries slightly more matte but I may still have to apply a dullcoat layer in the end.

Inspiration - Recommended Site

http://massivevoodoo.blogspot.com/
I have a very large listing to the right of this blog of those miniaturists out there that post work which I find inspirational on a regular basis. Hopefully many of you have taken the opportunity to visit some of these people's sites. Regardless of Historical or Fantasy miniature subjects we can and should all be able to learn a thing or two from one another. Normally I wouldn't single out one site or another unless there was something really special going on there. In my opinion "Massive Voodoo" is just such a place. This Fantasy Miniature blog is run by three individuals all of which have a lot of talent and seem to spend a lot of time giving back to the hobby in the form of this blog and workshops in Europe. There are usually multiple postings daily, something for everyone. I have learned a lot about groundwork techniques, staging, specialty painting and most importantly just how much fun you can and should have with your hobby. So click on the link above, take some time, explore, learn a few things and most importantly Have Fun!

Soldiers Roman Navarca Update #3

As of Friday progress on the Roman Navarca was moving along nicely with the leather work started and the base painted. For the leather I began with a coating of Burnt Umber and a touch of Burnt Sienna. Once dry I gave the entire surface a wash of Mars Black. Finally I worked midtones with Burnt Sienna. The next post will show highlighting on the leather.

I completed the greaves by using Burnt Umber and Mars Black for shadows and blending reflected highlights with straight Deep Gold printers ink in Grumbacher Painters Medium #1. This medium has always been my choice as a carrier for printer's inks, necessary to evenly spread and somewhat seal the tenuous nature of the metallic pigments. Indigo and White were used to paint the cloth wraps. These inks were used as the base color for the torso armor as well.

Normally I don't use kit groundwork but the assembly that comes with this kit is quite nice. I didn't have a base that fit perfectly front to back but this base is the exact width and will work very nicely. The trick is to darken the brown tones gradually as they meet the base, matching the color of the wood. Painting was straightforward, simply matching the colors shown in the box-art photos.

I spent the day today working on this figure and my progress will be shown in a posting tomorrow or Tuesday.

Soldiers Roman Navarca Update #2

As of this evening this is where we are at on this figure. I have completed the face and removed the masking agent from the helmet cheekpieces. The final touches on the face consisted of final shadows with Burnt Umber, touches of Alizarin Crimson added to the shadows under the cheeks for color and onto the lips. This was followed (once dry) with highlights of Titanium White and Cad Yellow Deep applied as a glaze progressively whiter, and finally tiny catchlights in the eyes to add the final bit of life to the figure. You can see the progress combined in a triptych photo below. This same mix was used to highlight and shadow the arms, hands and legs.

I have also completed the shoes with the colors described in my previous post. This does not guarantee that they are 100% as once the figure is attached to the base I may well adjust the coloring further. I have also begun applying color to the greaves with a base tone of gold printers inks and Burnt Umber with a touch of Burnt Sienna added. To this I will apply shadows of Burnt Umber and Mars Black and highlight with the Gold printers inks. I use Grumbacher Oil Painting Medium #1 as a carrier medium for the inks. In addition I have attached the top of the helmet and applied a finish to the natural metal of the kit. In this case I applied a stippled layer of Mars Black oil paint to the polished white metal and allowed it to sit. After about two hours I used a bit of soft lint free cloth wipe off excess paint leaving a stain or patina that I feel appears natural for the helmet. Once dry I will be able to apply further shadows or other tonal values if necessary. I also used the gold ink on my pallet to paint the crest design on the upper front of the helmet. Finally I began painting the under tunic white by applying a mixture of Raw Umber and Titanium White, more Raw Umber in the shadows and Tit. White on the highlights. Once dry I will work the shadows and highlights more before applying the purple stripe to the cloth.

Soldiers Roman Navarca Update #1

As of Christmas this is where I stood with this figure. As before the cloak and head are simply resting on the torso for the picture. I have kept them separate so that I can access the figure for painting. I used Winsor-Newton Indigo and Titanium white for the inside of the cloak as Indigo would be the only blue dye available to the Romans at that time. The face had some Payne's Gray used to indicate shadows in the areas where stubble would appear and Burnt Umber will be used next for the rest of the shadows. My next post will show a triptych of the face showing progress step by step. The shoes began with a mixture of Indian Red and Burnt Sienna as a base coat. I will apply a wash of Van-Dyke Brown and highlight with a dusty Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna and Tit. White mixture to indicate both highlights and wear.