king derelict

The helicopter looks very good. Great work alan

The last of the batch of figures. Nicely sculpted by Pegaso and a lot of latitude regarding choice of colors. As seems to happen, I picked up the brush and before I knew it I was well into the painting and hadn’t taken any photos. There is a lot of texture to play with on this one, fur, beard, metal and leather. His cloak is heavy fur with the skin outside. I used ivory paint and blended cork brown into it before it dried. It looks a bit rubbish at the top but that will be covered by his shield. The fleece on his chest was done the same way. I polished the metal of the helmet, used Tamiya clear orange for the gold bits and a diluted black wash to bring out the detail in the helmet. I’m working on the details and the face. I didn’t like the eyebrows so they have gone and I will try again although I think the helmets nosepiece will cover it anyway. Thanks for looking in. Alan

Thanks a lot Phil. alan

Thank you Ken. I stumbled upon them by accident and I thoroughly enjoy them. Don’t take up much room on the bench or on display. Lots of choices of subject. No tiny PE to fly into another world. Alan

Thank you very much Andrew. These figures quickly get to the details and are done before you know it. One more and then back to floating things. Alan

Thank you very much OC. It was worth the final tidy up and reshooting the photos. Alan

Thank you very much Jack, very kind. I used another light source on the other side of the figure and it balanced out the lighting and avoiding washing the face and other highlights out. alan

Well, I couldn’t leave it alone, the seam line really bothered me so I got the files out and gave it a try. After touch up I think it’s better and I put another coat of matte finish on the tunic. It’s still not dead flat but in softer light it looks good, the harsh work lights pick it up. So, the final photos - I think the photos are better this time too I’ll call this finished, next up a Slavic warrior. Metal and fur to play with.

And to the last details. I added Woodland Scenics grass to the base. I don’t think anything more is needed for this one. His knife was painted and added followed by his hands and the shaft for the Draco. I had drilled one of the hands and corresponding arm, inserted a 0.5 mm brass pin which made it easy to glue the hands into the right position. Lastly the Draco was placed. I had drilled out the location hole for the shaft which was a good move. The Draco is heavy and needed some help to stay in place. In spite of a coat of matte finish the green tunic has a sheen in the photos but not in real life so I think I will leave well alone. Annoyingly I can’t now see a seam on the right side of his cap. At this point I think it’s a lesson for the future. The Draco makes him too fragile to mass with now. The shaft is close to bending under the weight anyway. Thanks for looking in, for the likes and kind comments. i have one more figure waiting for paint and then I think I’ll be returning to gluing bits of plastic together. A ship probably but the Vespid Leopard is calling out. Alan

Thanks very much OC. This one was fun, no historical references so colors are a matter of preference but I decided to stay close to the painting guide as a challenge. I learnt quite a bit but I don’t think I will be painting any members of highland regiments any time soon. alan

Thanks very much Jack, I decided to stay with the darker brown and I’m not going to use the washes, I think they will blur the pattern too much. alan

Thanks very much Phil. alan

Thank you very much Mike. This was a great figure to work on. alan

I spent some time experimenting with the plaid pattern on bits of scrap material. I discovered that the small flat brush was not really the best choice for the wide lines. I thought it would be easier to make consistent width lines but it wasn’t the case. Instead I chose a smaller round brush and used the side of the brush which also gave me more control. I also found that sketching out the placement of the lines with a pencil helped me to work on the pattern without getting too lost. So I painted over the first attempt and put the wide brown lines on and the thin darker blue ones. There are a few logic gaps but overall I think it’s acceptable. I have started refining the lines and then I am contemplating doing a pale blue or white wash to pull it all together I moved to a darker brown and I’m not sure I like it. Again the wash may help. I can’t wait to get some matte varnish on his tunic. For light relief I painted the fringe of his tunic and started on the Draco. According to the references the Dacians used the Draco as a standard. It took the form of a dragon or wolfs head with a perforated wind sock body. When faced into the wind it created a shrill sound. This is supposedly the origin of the Roman Draco. It’s fun to paint anyway. Thanks for looking in, the likes and kind comments. Alan

Spectacular alan

Thank you very much OC. The plaid is giving me fits at the moment but I’m trying some experimenting off the model to see if I can improve. alan

They look really good alan

The PE is really neat and well done. Congratulations alan

Back to an Art Girona model, as the title says, King Decebalus. He fought three wars against Rome losing the last one and, with his city destroyed he committed suicide. I thought I remembered him as a character in the Harry Sidebottom series of books “Warrior of Rome “. Excellent books by the way. painting guide can have limited historical accuracy but I like it enough to want to follow it as well as my abilities permit. There are some fine details on his tunic which will be a challenge and the plaid like pattern of his cloak is going to be a stretch. I got carried away and got into the painting and forgot to take photos. You only missed the black primer / white zenithal paint so nothing terribly interesting. The basic elements are done. The face was really nice to paint, excellent sculpting. For some reason the green paint has a shine which will need a matte coat at the end. i added some of the details on the tunic and pants, it’s tricky with all the folds but I will try for the red zigzag pattern on the pants next. i laid on the very light blue and buff shades as the base of the plaid and I’m not totally satisfied. I hoped that the thin dark blue lines would help but my brush control was not good enough. I put a white wash over everything to reduce the contrast which helps a bit. I’m in two minds about overpainting and starting again but I think I might go a bit further first. This is really about learning and improving. Thanks for looking in Alan

Thank you very much Ken. I don’t think these were people to mess with. Next up is Decebalus, king of Dacia around 80 AD. I thought he featured in one of the Warrior of Rome books but I’m having doubts. Nice subject though. I’ve actually started but I got carried away and forgot photos. alan

Thank you very much Dan. The Tamiya clear orange painted onto polished bare metal is a very convincing gold. I tend to use the Vallejo gold for clothing details. alan

Thank you very much Andrew. It’s a great sculpt and a joy to paint. Alan

Thank you very much OC. I think it was my most ambitious figure and I’m quite chuffed with how it turned out. He’s going to be at the front of the display case I think. Alan

Thank you very much Rob. I’m glad you enjoyed it. Let’s see if I can take the detail painting up a notch. There is a plaid pattern in my near future. Alan

Thank you Mike, yes, low part count but a lot of painting. I use the airbrush to put on the initial black primer and the zenithal white shading and then it’s all brush work. alan