LOL, um, no... I couldn't sell water in a desert.
Hopefully I'm not beating a dead horse, but... It's dawned on me that we may actually be talking about two different things here! There IS a lot of sculpted on detail regarding the braiding (the two bands across the shirt, the sides and bottom of the jacket, collar, and so on), no denying that. What I mean by saying "they're smooth" is referring specifically to the sculpted on banding across the shirt, the left/right sides and bottom of the jacket. Those sculpted on details are just raised smooth ridges/lines, there is no additional "braid" texture sculpted within them. (Unlike the collar for example)...

Again, sorry any possible confusion!
Phil

Thanks Oda, if you mean "brute forcing yourself over many, many, many attempts to get it right" means "skill", then yeah sure!

Looking very good until now.I still haven't touched mine.

Thanks man. Hopefully we'll get to see yours soon...

Regards,
Phil

Hello Everybody...

Made some progress since I last posted, so I thought I'd throw a couple of quick pics up.
I also finally remembered to add some highlights to the blue stripes on the turban, and I finished all of the sculpted on details on the jacket...





In addition, I also started working on the freehand patterns on the jacket/collar as well. Here is a pic of the patterns on the left hand side of the jacket and the collar in progress:



Regards,
Phil

The extra effort you've put in has really paid dividends.It already looks awesome and you're of to a remarkable start with the freehand.

Oda.

love the freehand work phil, coming on a treat

tony

Hello Phil,
Just caught up with this........So I wasn't seeing things....I will cancel my eye exam and braid scan....braiding and freehand look very convincing; ........Keep up the good work.

Wayne

Thank you Wayne - very much appreciated. I'm glad you think the braiding is coming out well. It's been quite a challenge, but well worth the effort. It's also been great practice for many upcoming projects (especially the next bust in this particular series I have planned, plus a lot of Napoleonic era figures...)

Regards,
Phil

All good Phil.
Having this fellow on my shelf I could see your point on the gold lace.
That said you handled it brilliantly.
Impressive is my word for it.
Great stuff
Keith

Thanks so much Nap; I'm glad your smiling . In terms of the freehand - it depends. In this particular case, I just started painting the pattern on directly without anything underneath - the main reason was because I wanted the freehand patterns to look distinctly different from the stuff that was sculpted on (to represent a finer thread/tighter weave perhaps).

Regards,
Phil

Thanks for the very kind words Keith - they're very much appreciated

Regards,
Phil

Hello Everybody...

Alright, we're in the homestretch now...

Finished the right arm, his fancy belt, the left hand and sword, and made many. many small tweaks to his face. All that's left is the left arm (which is almost finished), the pistol, the other sword, and a little overall cleanup.

Almost done! These will be the last WIP pics I post before he's finished...


For some reason in this pic, it looks like he has some kind of weird stain on his mustache (he doesn't)



And from the other side



Regards,
Phil

Impeccable finish Phil.One of your best works so far!

Oda.

stunning work phil, the lacework looks great.

tony

I think he over waxed the moustache for the photograph.
It is not there on the second photo. Some weird reflected light.
Anyway, He is looking really fine in all aspects Phil.
My concern with starting mine is the Hellenic skin tones. You have mixed them spot on.
Just waiting for the finish line now.
All the very best
Keith

Thanks very much buddy, I'm glad you think so!

Thank you very much Nap; the red was not my usual red color(s) that I use, I was happy with how it turned out too!

Thank for the kind words Tony, it seems like all the time working the lace paid off!

Thanks Keith - I'm sure you saw this, but I do list all the colors that I used (and their relative mixing proportions) for the skin tones I used. For me, I think the key ingredient in these types of skin tones is the very, very small addition of any kind of desaturated green tone (in my case I used Chromium Green). I'm looking forward to seeing your take on this guy!

Finally finished!

You can see the final pics here.

Regards,
Phil