Thirty Years War, Spanish Officer by King Derelict - Art Girona - 54 mm

[king derelict]

Something to occupy idle hands while paint is drying elsewhere. Another Thirty Years War subject from Art Girona. This time a Spanish Officer.

I assume every war has its rear echelons but with his little shoes with violet bows this chap doesn't look like someone who plans on charging through the mud and unpleasantness of the front lines😄

The figure is the usual very nice sculpt from Art Girona. I added brass wire pins at the raised arm and neck to locate the head and hand.

 

The usual black primer and the directional white shading before starting the colour glazes.

Thanks for looking in.

 

Alan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

Im in  for this one as well  mate  -  I will  get my seat  and nibbles   -  looking forward  to this  one.

 

OC. 

[Jack12477]

Hmm! Seems like a dandy fellow 🤔 I'm in !

[Landlubber Mike]

Very cool looking figure - will be a fun one for sure.

[Canute]

Another interesting figure. I'm in on this one , too, Alan. He sort of looks like one of the Musketeers. 😊

[king derelict]

20 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

Im in  for this one as well  mate  -  I will  get my seat  and nibbles   -  looking forward  to this  one.

 

OC. 

Welcome OC. This looks like a nice figure.

Alan

[king derelict]

20 hours ago, Jack12477 said:

Hmm! Seems like a dandy fellow 🤔 I'm in !

I can see him sniffing posies on the battlefield.

Alan

[king derelict]

20 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Very cool looking figure - will be a fun one for sure.

An exercise in shades of grey. Going to be another learning experience.

Alan

[king derelict]

6 hours ago, Canute said:

Another interesting figure. I'm in on this one , too, Alan. He sort of looks like one of the Musketeers. 😊

Definitely a touch of the D'Artagnan about him. Up for some serious swashbuckling.

[king derelict]

I made a start on the colour glazes. The colour guide on the back of the card with the figure states that cape, vest, breeches, hose are all black. The sample photo shows bands of grey on his vest and the figure actually has seams where the colour changes.

I am reluctant to paint everything in black he is going to look like medieval panzer crew. Also the clothing will not be well efined. I actually think dark grey may be better which will become black in the folds and where the white shading isn't present. 

Curiously the guide also calls out "carmesi" for the sash and bows but that is crimson I think and the guide photo shows violet. Having just bought a bottle of Vallejo Dark Violet I will be going with that. I can't find any images to confirm / contradict.

So the first coats of the mid grey and dark grey are on. The cape is going to need more; its a little too light at the top.

I think I am going to leave the hose as black and maybe work a little grey into his shoes to demark them.

 

Thanks for looking in and for teh likes and comments

 

Alan

[Old Collingwood]

Superb level of detail  on that  Alan,    think you  are right  about using Grey and  not Black  - abit like  what we are recommended about subs,  a  good shade I have used  for  this  is  Nato Black  as its  a  Dark Grey  shade.

 

OC.

[Canute]

I'll second OC's choice and add Gunship Gray or Tamiya's German Gray. More like a charcoal gray although the Tamiya is more of a weathered black.

[Jsk]

Put me in the Gray camp. Black would be just too intense. He's looking really good.

[king derelict]

On 9/18/2024 at 6:15 PM, Old Collingwood said:

Superb level of detail  on that  Alan,    think you  are right  about using Grey and  not Black  - abit like  what we are recommended about subs,  a  good shade I have used  for  this  is  Nato Black  as its  a  Dark Grey  shade.

 

OC.

 

On 9/19/2024 at 7:54 AM, Canute said:

I'll second OC's choice and add Gunship Gray or Tamiya's German Gray. More like a charcoal gray although the Tamiya is more of a weathered black.

 

On 9/19/2024 at 4:04 PM, Jsk said:

Put me in the Gray camp. Black would be just too intense. He's looking really good.

Thank you all for confirming my thinking. I went with teh Vallejo Dark Grey and it seems to be working out quite well.

 

Alan

[king derelict]

While glue and paint was drying elsewhere I started adding details to this fellow. First I added more glazes of dark grey to teh cape and I think it is now where I want it. Then it was onto the violet details and the white shirt.

I've picked out the cast in sword handle. Now I need to add the violet ruches (is that what they are?) on the sleeves and try to seperate the hose and boots a bit better. Then the face and hat. 

 

Thanks for looking in and the helpful comments.

Alan

 

[Old Collingwood]

Deffo  like what you are  doing Alan  -  that  is coming og on so very well.

 

OC.

[king derelict]

44 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

Deffo  like what you are  doing Alan  -  that  is coming og on so very well.

 

OC.

Thank you OC. Time to tackle the face

alan

[Landlubber Mike]

Looks really sharp Alan.  You're getting really good at painting miniatures.

[king derelict]

4 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Looks really sharp Alan.  You're getting really good at painting miniatures.

Thank you very much Mike. They are great little side projects that are completely different from what else I’m doing. They can be picked up for an occasional half hour and they don’t take up a lot of space when finished.

alan

[king derelict]

A bit of general tidying up of the outfit. I found I had missed one of the light grey panels on the waistcoat so I tidied that up. I fiddled with a few ideas to better delineate the shoes and the hose from each other and in the end I put a very dilute cork brown wash over the shoes and let it dry in the folds as dust and I think it has worked out well enough. I remember my shoes at school looking like that occasionally

I'm still working on the face. There isn't a lot of room under the hat brim to get to the eyes but its coming together slowly.

Got a bit of that Dali look going.

 

Thanks for looking in and the supportive comments

 

Alan

[Old Collingwood]

Excellent work Alan,   he  is  taking a  really nice  3D   shape  to him now -  great  demarcation  between the  shades  -  love it  mate.

 

OC.

[king derelict]

37 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

Excellent work Alan,   he  is  taking a  really nice  3D   shape  to him now -  great  demarcation  between the  shades  -  love it  mate.

 

OC.

Thank you very much OC. This is a really nice sculpt to work on. 

Alan

[king derelict]

I tidied up the face and decided I was happy with the features. Suddenly it seems like its time to put stuff together. I added the feathers to his hat, put his hand and spear in place and then his head. The pins make all the difference. Its possible to place the parts exactly as you want them and the weight of the pieces doesn't make such an issue of them staying in place.

A few small touch ups and then the base.

His spear doesn't reach the ground. I don't think that's my assembly because there is very little scope for misplacing it. It does reach the ground on the paint guide but I have noticed that the subject model on the ard is subtly different from the one you receive. Possibly prototype vs production. Anyway it doesn't look too silly and can either be left alone, concealed in some long grass or I could add a convenient bump to the base.

Thank you for looking in, the likes and kind comments

 

Alan

 

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

Excellent work Alan  -  its  really  looking the  part  and  coming together.

 

OC.

[king derelict]

7 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

Excellent work Alan  -  its  really  looking the  part  and  coming together.

 

OC.

Thank you very much OC. The photos look like I need to darken the face below the eyes. I’ll touch it up a bit in the morning. The feathers may need a tweak too.

alan

[king derelict]

On 10/1/2024 at 7:41 PM, king derelict said:

The photos look like I need to darken the face below the eyes. I’ll touch it up a bit in the morning. The feathers may need a tweak too.

alan

Well, after looking at the face I have realised that I am punishing myself unnecessarily; the fault lies in the photography (or really the lighting) rather than the painting. I am actually quite pleased with the face. So I have added a reflector to try to reduce the harsh cross lighting that is adding shadows that look like paint overruns and highlights that are looking like light paint.

 So, a few touch ups on the hat feathers and then onto the base. A convenient bit of closed cell foam lying on the bench became a rock and then the usual Woodland Scenics stuff. I opted for a mix of dry yellow and green grass and a few stands of long grass. He looked the sort of chap who might enjoy a few flowers so they were added. I thought they were Woodland Scenics but they are not. It pays to read carefully when ordering from Amazon. Anyway they are quite nice and come in four colours.

I think this one is finished and can be prised off the bottle top and moved to teh shelf.

Thanks for looking in and for the likes and helpful comments

 

Alan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

Really nice work Alan,  figures are not as easy as  people  might think  -  they can take a  lot of  work to get them right,    he is looking splendid  mate.

 

OC.

[king derelict]

15 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

Really nice work Alan,  figures are not as easy as  people  might think  -  they can take a  lot of  work to get them right,    he is looking splendid  mate.

 

OC.

Thank you very much OC. The black clothes had me a bit concerned on this one but the shades of grey worked very well and Art Girona do such a great job of sculpting the folds.

alan

[Jsk]

Another nice addition to your growing collection of figures. I really like the limited color palette you've used on this one. IIRC, your first figure was bought as a one-off gift for someone. Looks like it's growing into a habitual pattern of behavior!

[Canute]

Nicely done, Alan. Has a little bit of , maybe, Errol Flynn in him.