You dont look old enough to have retired, unless its a dated photo. Like you say time is a big factor, by the time i get in from work, walk the dog, do a few bits and bobs, have tea its like 7:30 and some days even later and then you have about 2hrs top to do anything. :-(

Yep, the photo is about six years old lol. 67 this year but, apart from arthritic knees, still going strong. It wasn’t just the restricted time I had when working, there was also the distractions such as being social..... and the thoughts that go round your head at the end of the day. I walk the dog at lunchtime, I have to keep the knees moving but until I start kitchen duties to ensure my beloved has a hot meal to come home to after work, I am on my own all day with ‘Alexa’ providing me with a stream of music from classical, through Irish folk and even Les Miserables.

Back to the bust, just popped into my modelling room and the shirt paint is still quite wet so he has gone in a warm slow cooker for a while to finish off.

Mmmmmm, maybe these paints are not the way to go. It has been drying since yesterday afternoon in a warm room, two hours in airing cupboard and three hours in a low slow cooker and the red shirt is still sticky in places. Not sure what to do? Should I strip it and start again or just leave it a week or so between paint sessions? Can’t see me doing that to be honest so may have to get some ordinary oils and see if I can get them to dry within 24 hours.

Disaster averted, I just decided to carry on with the highlighting and it worked out ok.

Graham nice work on the red and the fleshtones, you can get mediums for wso's for glazing e.t.c and a fast drying medium of you want more speed. W&n Artisan do a few to name. Reds and yellows are notorious in oil for being a bit slow on the drying. Keep it up ! J

Many thanks. Just found the medium online and ordered some. I think I was panicking ( I panicked easily....) as the red paint was well thinned but there was a lot of it. After doing the highlighting, I put it back in the slow cooker for 30 minutes and it is fully dry now.

Graham, here is Winsor and newtons page on it.
http://www.winsornewton.com/uk/disc...mediums-with-artisan-water-mixable-oil-colour
Whilst not essential and I don't know how applicable to figures they may be ( fast dryings got to be useful lol)
The 75mls retail at around 6.99
when using a fast drying medium it usually cuts the drying down by 40-50% and adds a slight sheen
Hope that helps!

Thanks for that, I have edited my post above as I have now ordered some, great help. I don’t mind the sheen as I like to use Testors Dull Coat when I have finished.

Nice work Graham, Oh the joy's of oils. I still use oils for flesh work and find it easier than acrylic.

Cheers Bob, I really do want to learn the oil painting even if only to be traditional lol. What bit I have done though has allowed me to do better than I could have done with acrylic. All I need now is some good, yet simple, flesh tone recipes. I have no doubt there are some on the forum so I will start searching

Burnt Sienna and White Graham.
Good and simple and you can fiddle around with it by adding touches of anything you like, blues, greens etc.

Tit white, Burnt sienna is a good starting point. You tube has some good vids. The Metal Modelles website has a page for painting in oils and is very good.

There was me thinking it needed twenty tubes of paint to make flesh! Thanks for that

Just google tit white..... am I in trouble now ....... . Love it when life gets simple

The man with the Spear is almost finished. Just got to do a bit more on the Spear and hand once the paint is dry then I will post some better finished pics. This has been a joy to work on and has introduced me to water soluble oils and I think, for me, it is the future.

Hi Graham,
Sorry I missed this WIP. He's come out very well. The colour choices are good and I like the hint of menace you've given him.

Thanks a Robert. I don’t know about you but I generally find a burly bloke with a shield and a spear is a tad menacing

Nice work Graham, he was one of my favorite in the Vikings TV Show on History.
are yoou going to add all his head tatoos ?
my only point being about the spear and floating hand ... the bust, to my eyes, looks way better without them. the spear is definitely out of scale (too little) and the hand without arm looks weird (still to my eyes !)
keep up the great work !