Stormtrooper V12/09
Sowar, Guides Cavalry, Afghanistan, 1897
Sculpted by Antonio Meseguer

I decided to make a start on this piece. I hope to get at least the flesh finished over the holidays. As with any continent, there is a wide variation of skin tones to be found, ranging from extremely dark to light brown depending on geographical location, ethnic/tribal background and exposure to the elements.


I have never attempted an Indian flesh colour before. I want to portray the darkness of a experienced trooper with extended exposure to the elements while allowing me the latitude to keep the warmth in my highlights. With this in mind, I decided to tackle the south east Asian skin tone in a slightly different manner. I applied an undercoat of Vallejo Flat Earth. This was followed by blocking the highlight areas first with a mix of Flat Earth and Orange Brown and then the same mix with Sunny Skin tone added. I went back in with Burnt Umber for the deepest shadows.

BTW, cudos to Stormtrooper on this one. Beautifully sculpted and cast. I spent no more than 10 minutes to clean up any seam lines or excess resin. I applied a small amount of milliput in the very small gap between the torso and the tail ends of the turban.

Time to break out the oils

Nice bust...this will be great Paul. Looking forward to next steps.

Colin

great start.

Marc

Nice bust, and great start!

Nice start Paul. I like how your color selection came out. I think I'll use it on a Mameluke.

Thanks Guys:

Pete, glad you liked it. Just to clarify, I'm using the acrylics to undecoat/block the main tones. Once the eyes are finished, I will be going back over the face with oils (Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna, Mars Yellow, etc)

Already looking good, before the final medium is applied! Excellent bust! Very expressive!
Will follow closely, Paul! For sure will be a winner!
Cheers my friend!,
Zeno

A little more progress. Turban did not quite turn out as I planned but time to move on with lessons learned. Up next the jacket. looking at a mustard hued khaki. Apologies for my rubbish photography.....it has taken away a good bit of the contrast/transitions on the turban but left the beard highlights on the sharp side

I like the progress so far Paul! The flesh tones look great, a lot of life there - whatever "tweaks" you did to him since I last saw him sure worked a charm! And the turban looks amazing!

Looking forward to the final result.

Cheers,

Brian

Hello Paul,
Some superb painting and a very steady hand, Looking very good.
Bob.

Man, you worked your hocus-pocus and turned out awesome! Not sure what your turban plan was but it looks spot on... and he looks pissed! Ready to deliver the Glasgow Kiss...
Can't wait to see this guy done!
Cheers mate!
Zeno

A little more progress....up next, sash, leather and metals

Nice work on this one Paul. I love that period.

The painting on that turban is first class (the rest of the figure also). Nice one Paul!

-Rich

Thanks guys for your continued support