Just to wrap up the year here's the last one from me. It's the 54 mm Pegaso Celtic standard bearer which I bought a few years ago, but wanted to change the cast metal standard pole for one made from wire so it languished on the bench for many moons before I decided to have a go. The hands are cast attached to the original pole and the arms are separate which is great for detail and painting, but not so good for what I had in mind . . . anyway it wasn't too bad in the end - I managed to cut the hands from the casting and then hold them whilst drilling for the new staff without losing any fingers (Mine or the figures!) There were a few choice expletives when I tried to line everything up after painting, but happy with the result and there's no danger of it being bent in the future
I also added an extra couple of bangles from wound fuse wire above the cast ones.

Painting is all in acrylics and the trousers were originally a blue tartan pattern which I decided was just too much, so they were repainted as shown now. I was pleased with the coarse wool texture on the cloak achieved with an old brush (splayed end) and a lighter mixture of paint.
Mud and dirt effects were all done in thinned acrylic washes

The tree stump is a reworked twig from the garden which has roots added in Miliput. The rest of the groundwork is built up over balsa in Das clay the a layer of coffee grounds were added for dirt (glued with PVA) The rest of the ground cover is a mixture of what was lying around; grass tufts were roughly chopped with scissors to make them less regular and the ferns are pulled from bits of moss that I found growing locally on tree bark. I added a few leaves to break up the green and to add to the impression of a slope at the edge of a forest. All the groundwork was then painted in acrylics to match the figure.

Hope you enjoy him and Merry Christmas to one and all

Paul

Very well done Paul.
Nicely presented
Keith

Excellent work all around.

Marc

That is very nice and congrats with the 're worked hands. The painting is second to none, love it.
Regards

Exceptional paintwork with the figure and amazing groundwork!
Congratulations and Merry Christmas to you Paul!!!

Great work, Paul, an object lesson in how to "do" groundwork. Foraged items are always the way to go for authentic vegetation and ground treatments.

Great work Paul! The modifications are very neatly done, the painting is fantastic and I love the groundwork and presentation.

Merry Christmas to you and your family,
Ken

Thank you all gentlemen for the compliments and good wishes.

Lot's of fun with the groundwork Perseus, Richard & Ken - in fact these days I find it takes me almost as long to make up the base for a figure as it does to paint them, but I do enjoy it. Couldn't believe my luck when I found the moss and had a look at it under a glass when I got back home. I'm now thinking of a couple of ancients moving through a forest with the ground awash with ferns . . .

Cheers
Paul

Look forward to seeing that, Paul. Placing a figure in its correct context is just as important as getting the uniform right. Every square metre of ground is a complex palette of colour, texture and organic features and our groundwork should reflect that. it's a form of landscaping in miniature!

Nice work on the future-proofing of the standard pole.
Painting is excellent, and I particularly like your very natural looking groundwork.

All the best for Xmas and the New Year
Andrew

looks great ,excellent painting

mobo

excellent painting on the figure and fantastic groundwork! I really like what you did with the grass tufts.

Scott

Really well done on everything. The ground work came out well.
Cheers
John

Thanks guys
" Placing a figure in its correct context is just as important as getting the uniform right. Every square metre of ground is a complex palette of colour, texture and organic features and our groundwork should reflect that. it's a form of landscaping in miniature! Dead right Richard. I've just been placing a figure I picked up at Bugle Call on it's 'simple' base. Lots of googling for images of appropriate cobbles and about 2-3 hours to make something suitable and then the time to paint as well. Too easy just to paint the figure and forget or rush the goundwork (The next one though will be really simple - honest!)

Hope you've all been good and Santa brings lots of new stuff for you

Paul

Love the groundwork, it's something I always seem to struggle with, twigs from the garden always resemble twigs from the garden no matter what I do with them!
Best wishes for the coming year,

Steve

Nice paint, and excellent base. Well matched, they make a perfect whole together.

Cheers Borek

Paul, you've clearly saved this year's best work until last. And I bet this is much better in the flesh s well. Great ground work really sets it off.

That's very kind BP - wasn't quite finished for Bugle Call and I decided not to do my usual trick of rushing the base to get it finished in time.

Cheers Kev - Best wishes to you and your good lady too.

My little girl is so excited and I've managed to 'arrange' some good prezzies for myself this year as well so I'm looking forward to opening stuff tomorrow knowing that it won't be socks and jumpers under the tree for me

Very good paintjob,groundwork looks very realistic