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WIP 42nd Highland Infantry Regiment "Black Watch" at the Battle of Quatre Bras, June 1815

Discussion in 'vBench (Works in Progress)' started by Steve Ski, Feb 21, 2022.

  1. 1969 A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Enjoying your progress on this figure Ski, looking good.
    Cheers
    Steve
  2. Steve Ski PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States
    Thank you, Stevo!
  3. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi Ski

    Dashed it Sir ''tis a fine fellow with a hatchet , very nice work , do like the way you've painted the red ....good work on the bonnet at well

    Look forward to seeing more on this and seeing him cross the finishing line

    Happy benchtime and Ruckin'

    Nap
  4. Steve Ski PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States
    Thanks, Kevin.

    Today will be the test of the pattern, yehaaaaa! ;)
    Nap likes this.
  5. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Bring it on

    Enjoy

    Nap
  6. Henk A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Excitedly waiting g for pictures of your progress on the tartan and socks Steve ;).
  7. Steve Ski PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States
    Thanks, Heck, Kevin, posting now;)
  8. Steve Ski PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States
    Battle of the Tartans, Part 2

    After wrapping my head around the correct pattern, the Battle of the Tartans was well underway. The Officer figure has a checker board pattern which is incorrect whereas this pattern on Hatchet man is more correct. I’m no expert by any means when it comes to this portion of the process and had to have my pretty little woman, my wife, get my head straight on what I was looking at. She recognized it right off, but oh no, not me, HA! She’s a keeper!

    [IMG]

    The colors used are pictured above, all acrylics. All of the black acrylics I have would not cooperate with the thin line process so I dug up my black resin dye and proceeded. I thinned it with water using small amounts on the brush to avoid “blob” lines. It was a long painful process to get the lines in place and, as you can see, it ain’t pretty. I went back with each color to fix some of the line “blobs” wherever possible, but the thickness of some of the lines are glaring me in the face.

    These pleats are nothing but a nightmare, for me anyway, just sayin. This is a frustrating process, but it turned out acceptable enough, especially when later I’ll give the tartan a few tonal washes so most of my boofs will not be easily visible. Like a good carpenter, ya gotta know how to hide your mistakes, right?

    It sure would have been really swell to leave the tartan without the lines, but that would not be correct.

    [IMG] [IMG] [IMG]

    Being self-critical, as I often am, I was not exactly pleased with the outcome of the lines. I recon after the last figure I will have perfected some process or technique that will make these tartans look real, but not yet, lol. Even using a 0000 brush doesn’t seem to help me with these lines. I’ve seen several examples of 54mm tartans painted, all different patterns, but they seem to have the patterns larger than they should be. I really didn’t want to over exaggerate the size of the pattern and therefore I made the job much harder than it could have been. Oh well, I carry on.

    [IMG] [IMG]

    I will keep working my way down to the boots and set Hatchet Man aside to dry within the next few days. More to follow and thanks for watching.

    Cheers, Ski.
  9. 1969 A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    You will be having dreams about tartan patterns by the time you have finished this diorama. Nice brush work again Ski.
    Cheers
    Steve
  10. Steve Ski PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States
    Ain't dat da truff! It's more tedious than difficult, but if only I could get some consistency from my lines. Well, I surely don't lack the figures to practice on, HA!

    Thanks, Bro.
  11. Steve Ski PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States
    Hatchet Man Reporting for Duty

    This fine chap is ready for battle. It’s kinda funny, after 17 years of working mid-night shift I still occasionally wake up around midnight and can’t get back to sleep, and I’ve been retired for over three years, sheesh! Rather than lay there tossing and turning for hours it only makes sense to get back into the bunker and “sniff some paint”, and that I did.

    I was really tempted to redo the tartan, but after a light and dark wash I was told by my wise council to carry on. I’m glad I did, because I really wasn’t in the mood to do this twice. So, this morning I started working the socks and come to find out it wasn’t as difficult as I had imagined. Ya never know till ya take that dive and it becomes real apparent right quick, wouldn’t ya say?

    Working my way down the figure I painted the flesh tones of the legs in standard fashion. Whenever I get this far on a figure, I like to close out anything above so I won’t inadvertently rub off any oils or damage anything done prior. Usually, the nose paint gets rubbed off during handling and gets a touch up, but not much else. That canteen may need attention as well since I’m not exactly sure what markings are appropriate. Hopefully someone will know the answer to that question, because I’m not finding anything concrete that is clearly visible in reference photos.

    [IMG] [IMG] [IMG] [IMG]

    I used thinned Tamyia XF-7 Flat Red and began to draw out the stripes around the sock keeping in mind that there is a seam in the back. Actually, that was a big help in that I did not have to try to keep the symmetry in mind and the pattern could end naturally at that seam. It’s not really noticeable, but it is there. Then, each diamond shape that does not over-lap was given a light touch of Titanium White oils and then washed out so the pattern looks like a true stitch pattern as seen in the reference photos. I reemphasized the outline of the pattern with a super thin line at the edges of each stripe. Now why couldn’t the tartan stripes be this easy?

    Next, I used a mix of Ultra Marine Blue and Cadmium Red oils to create the shadows and a mix of Titanium White and Cadmium Red for the highlights. Lastly the boots and leggings were done in the standard fashion and will receive more attention when the final weathering takes place to mate these figures to the base.

    [IMG] [IMG] [IMG]


    Hatchet Man will now take a side step for the next figure and off we go. If you see anything I may have miss, sing out, I’ll get er done.

    Thanks for watching. Cheers, Ski.
  12. Warren SMITH A Fixture

    Country:
    Australia
    Great tips, I will refer to your excellent work after the face dries on my highlander. I have the figure kneeing on the chest of the Cuirassier. Mine are white metal not resin tho.
    Cheers
    Smithy
  13. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi Ski

    Sorry catching up here ...well well Mr tartan ....Looks great ...washes have taken it back nicely and works well ( have you done the same with the officer ? )

    The hose looks very good as well ......hatchet man lives and very nicely done it is

    Which is next ...drummer ?

    Happy benchtime

    Nap
  14. Steve Ski PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States
    Thanks again, Warren. I haven't painted a metal figure in,............well,.............I can't remember. You have the original set, excellent.

    Thanks, Kevin. Yes, same washes on the Officer figure. As for drummer boy, he's gonna have to be last. Not only does his drum require a lot of detail but his coat is another challenge to deal with. I better run with what I've learned already, lol. And remember, i still have the other side of that flag to deal with:eek:
    Nap likes this.
  15. Henk A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Wow, that is absolutely fantastic. I like the ax handle, very nice colouring and wood grain.
    Nap likes this.
  16. MCPWilk A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Just gets better and better. Truly a labour of love.

    Mike
  17. Viking Bob PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Wow, absolutely stunning face painting.
  18. Steve Ski PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States
    Thanks, Henk, glad ya like er Buddy!

    Thank you, Mike!

    Thanks, Bob. Beautiful work on that SS Gun Team, Superb!
    Viking Bob likes this.
  19. Cannonball A Fixture

    Great work so far Steve and a real testament to your skill and patience with the old brushes. Struggling to think where you go from here once this is finished and following the Para’s epic…..Keep up the cracking work.

    Neal
    Nap likes this.
  20. 1969 A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Excellent job Ski, looking real nice now.
    Cheers
    Steve

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