1. Copying kits is a crime that hurts original artists & producers. Help support your favorite artists by buying their original works. PlanetFigure will not tolerate any activities related to recasting, and will report recasters to authorities. Thank you for your support!

WIP Critique 28mm Dominique Jean Larrey

Discussion in 'vBench (Works in Progress)' started by gazer, May 19, 2018.

  1. gazer Active Member

    Country:
    Israel
    Good morning friends

    This is my first "serious" miniature figure and my second figure ever. Due to my job requirements and due to parenting 2 hyperactive toddlers, unfortunately, I don't think I will be able to progress too quickly with this build...
    As a beginner, I'll appreciate your most sincere feedback and remarks , no mercy please! I want to learn and improve!

    This is a 28mm Warlord Games miniature of Dominique Jean Larrey, a very prominent Napoleonic surgeon, considered by many as one of the founding fathers of modern military combat medicine. See the following thread: http://www.planetfigure.com/threads...ferences-identify-sources.113206/#post-905928

    In my opinion, this metal figure is nicely sculpt, but due to it's size, I am not sure it was the best choice for a first figure. Anyhow, it was cleaned, filed, mounted temporarily on a base, and primed with gray automotive primer. After the primer dried I discovered yet some more mold lines, filed them again and re-primed. I started block painting the skin areas (face, hands, Vallejo basic skin tone), belt, boots, bicorn (Vallejo black) and pants (Vallejo white). The white was translucent, so I'll add more layers at a later date. The rest of the blocking process will also be done later, with Vallejo acrylics.

    After blocking done, I plan to paint the entire figure with W&N oils.

    Here are pics from today:
    IMG_20180519_101751.jpg IMG_20180519_101832.jpg
    KenBoyle, Redcap, Nap and 1 other person like this.
  2. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi there gazer

    Good on you a nice start .....don't envy you on the scale though

    Keep us all updated inbetween the hyper toddlers

    Nap
  3. gazer Active Member

    Country:
    Israel
    Some more blocking with Vallejo acrylics - blue for the uniforms, another coat of white for the trousers, brown (mixed from red, yellow and black) to the hair. As promised, tiny steps, too far apart...
    Sincere feedback and suggestions (technique, historical aspects, etc) will be appreciated

    25 05 2018 A.jpg 25 05 2018 B.jpg
    KenBoyle and marco55 like this.
  4. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi gazer

    Good tidy start on this , might I suggest you base coat the gold lacework in a dark/mid brown .

    Nice to have updates

    Happy painting

    Nap
    gazer likes this.
  5. gazer Active Member

    Country:
    Israel
    Thank you very much Nap!
    The "gold" part already started to daunt the back of my mind...
    One question though: The general plan is to do blocking with acrylics and the actual painting with oils. So, just to be sure, what you are actually suggesting is to do the blocking for the golden parts (epaulette, aiguillette, etc.) with brown?

    Benny

    One more thing (not related to the topic of this thread): for some reason I can't figure out how to include a quote of the post I refer to when replying...
  6. gazer Active Member

    Country:
    Israel
    Hi all!

    Some progress, but before, inspired by MrBMBuilder, I have tried my own homemade wet palette for the acrylics, made from baking paper, Vileda reusable sponge cloth, and a plastic box with an air tight lid. Worked pretty nice, although, as a beginner, my point of reference is not very robust: IMG_20180714_120657.jpg

    I continued with basic blocking, following Nap's advice at blocking the golden lace parts with brown. The last major thing before finishing the blocking, would be to figure out how the back of the uniforms looked like for this particular outfit (the red double-breasted)

    14 07 2018 A.jpg 14 07 2018 B.jpg 14 07 2018 C.jpg

    Cheers,

    Benny
    KenBoyle and Nap like this.
  7. gazer Active Member

    Country:
    Israel
    Hello all,

    Progress is VERY slow - I get on average an hour at the bench every a month or so, but enjoy it immensely.
    I painted the skin of the face and hands with W&N oils. Some thoughts and lessons:
    Technical:
    1. The acrylic base coat was not even, so the results of the next oils layer were not great either
    2. On the first oils layer I was not meticulous enough in mixing and preparing the palette, nor in application
    3. I cannot praise enough my X 2.5 Optivisors (I got a new set of lenses from Donegan )

    General and "philosophical":
    1. I employ "classic" miniature painting techniques for this 28mm figure, rather than "classic" wargaming painting techniques. This is my first "serious" attempt at figure painting, so it seems that it wasn't the best choice for a "first"
    2. In the few hours of actually working on the figure I learned from my results (and mistakes and failures) not much less than from countless hours in front of books, articles, and videos.
    3. One needs to know where to stop. As surgeons say: "The enemy of the good is often times the perfect"

    For the next step (who knows when) I plan to paint the blue uniforms with oils.
    I will appreciate remarks for the work done so far, and the steps ahead. Please, no mercy!

    Cheers,

    Benny

    14 12 2018 A.jpg
    KenBoyle and Nap like this.
  8. gazer Active Member

    Country:
    Israel
    Hello all,

    Some more progress after a long time. I repainted the hair. I also painted the gold braids and aiguillettes, but it turned out too metallic and did not match period oil portraits of Larrey (first picture). So I started painting over that with Yellow with a bit of gold ochre - this is the first layer. Darker layers and highlights will follow, hopefully making it a bit less "lemoni"
    I also painted the eyes - Vallejo off white for the eye itself, Vallejo grey black mixed with raw umber for the pupil/iris, and overall wash with red.
    I would love to get your input and advise!

    10 05 2019 A.jpg 10 05 2019 B.jpg 10 05 2019 C.jpg

    Cheers!

    Benny
    KenBoyle likes this.
  9. gazer Active Member

    Country:
    Israel
    Better closeup pictures:
    IMG_20190510_114753.jpg IMG_20190510_122156.jpg IMG_20190510_122210.jpg
    KenBoyle likes this.
  10. gazer Active Member

    Country:
    Israel
    Hello all

    I had some more time to work on my Larrey:
    I fixed the aiguilette color and it is more to my liking now - I used oils straight on the previous "lemony" layer, using a palette mixture as described by Danilo Cartacci in his book: burnt umber, gold ochre, naples yellow, and titanium white.
    I added his two medals - Legion d'honneur around the neck (There should be 5 leaves, but this is so tiny and had detail of 4, so i went with that) and Iron Crown of Lombardy on his left chest.
    Historical note: the above means that it must be from after 1807, when he received the later medal of the two, but to be honest, with all my research so far, I could not figure out when he had the double breasted uniform with the red breast plate. If someone here knows better, please let me know
    The little grey "thingy" on the edge of the bicorn is some MagicSculpt for the gold braid to be painted later when I'll work on the bicorn
    Final detail for today: some Vallejo bronze and Humbrol steel for the sword.

    Thank yo for watching. Comments (positive AND negative) are welcome!

    Benny IMG_20190726_161422_1.jpg
    Old Pete and KenBoyle like this.
  11. gazer Active Member

    Country:
    Israel
    A little progress:
    Worked today on the white breeches. My first time attempting to paint white fabric. I went for a cool tone:
    Base cote of bluish mid-light grey (mixed with Vallejo acrylics) and successive lighter highlights towards off-white.
    The image below shows very coarse brush strokes. I do have to improve, but in real life it does look better
    31 07 2019 A.jpg

    As always, would welcome comments.

    Cheers,

    Benny
  12. Warren SMITH A Fixture

    Country:
    Australia
    Nice work, what are your plans for him, a stand alone or with a few of his orderlies..
  13. gazer Active Member

    Country:
    Israel
    Thank you Warren!

    I do have the entire set (http://www.warlordgames.com/new-baron-larreys-ambulance), but since my pace is SO slow, and since this is my first "serious" attempt at painting a miniature figure, I think I will try to finish him as a stand-alone piece to have some sense of satisfaction and achievement.
    I think the rest of the set can completed without the standing Larrey, and still create a compelling vignette (I am not a wargamer, so I don't plan at this point to purchase more 28mm figures)

    Cheers,

    Benny
  14. gazer Active Member

    Country:
    Israel
    Hello everybody, A nice off-day alone at the house so it's finally since October that I could work on my Larrey.
    His now more or less complete. Mounted on what will be the final base.
    What's left to do:
    1. Maybe a very dark glaze on the boots, to bring together the leather highlights and shadows - I think they are not very realistic now. Please tell me what yous think
    2. Paint the small terrain - it is the base + some magic-sculpt added to enlarge it a bit. Maybe I'll add a small amount of grass
    3. Gentle weathering


    image.jpeg image.jpeg

    Please share your constructive criticism!

    Best

    Benny
    KenBoyle and Nap like this.
  15. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi Benny

    Nice to have you posting on this

    Small scale work is harder , I think the boots woukd benefit a satin wash

    It's a nice figure but a shame IMO he's not with others in a diorama

    Thanks for sharing

    Happy bench time

    Nap
  16. gazer Active Member

    Country:
    Israel
    Thanks Nap

    I will include a satin wash - will Vallejo's satin do after the oils of the boot are fully cured?
    Regarding a diorama - I did think about it, after all this figure is a part of a set I bought. However, as I wrote to Warren SMITH above, I am still a beginner, and as you can see, VERY slow, and I wanted to finally achieve the completion of my first "serious" figure, So he will be a stand-alone. The rest of the set, IMO, can be built and painted to become an appealing vignette even without Larrey.

    Cheers
  17. gazer Active Member

    Country:
    Israel
    Finally I decided to call it complete!. Far from perfect, but for a first "real" figure, I am happy. Learned a lot in the process, and from mistakes along the way. Also I appreciate inputs along the way from fellow planeteers.
    Since last time:
    1. satin varnish for the boots
    2. Self made base from painted and varnished wooden cube. The nameplate is from a local laser-engraving shop to whom I provided a microsoft-word generated design. The cost was astronomical - 20 NIS (about 5 USD)
    3. Groundwork with some refined backyard dirt, backing soda. Vegetation from ammo-mig turf and self made grass from painted wood dust from my brother in law's furniture restoration workshop.
    4. Touch-ups here and there
    5. Dust pigments for the groundwork, grass, and boots

    Please share your honest comments and feedback with me.

    12 06 2020 C1.jpg 12 06 2020 C2.jpg 12 06 2020 C3.jpg 12 06 2020 C4.jpg 12 06 2020 C5.jpg
    KenBoyle likes this.
  18. KenBoyle PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States
    Nice work Benny, especially on a 28mm first figure. :)

    Cheers,
    Ken
  19. gazer Active Member

    Country:
    Israel

    Thank you very much!
  20. MoboSchreuder A Fixture

    Looking great very nice paintwork

    Mobo

Share This Page

planetFigure Links

Reviews & Open Box
Buy. Sell & trade
Articles
Link Directory
Events
Advertising

Popular Sections

Figure & Minis News
vBench - Works in Progress
Painting Talk
Sculpting Talk
Digital Sculpting Talk
The Lounge
Report Piracy

Who we are

planetFigure is a community built around miniature painters, sculptors and collectors, We are here to exchange support, Information & Resources.

© planetFigure 2003 - 2022.