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WIP Critique Campaign Miniatures - Natal Pioneer 1879

Discussion in 'vBench (Works in Progress)' started by Richie, Jun 5, 2014.

  1. Richie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Hi All,
    I thought I should get some practise in doing a dark (African) skin tone as I have never painted one before and I have eleven 120mm Zulu's to paint.
    This is a bust from Campaign Miniatures a.k.a. our own Jimbo & Nap, Jim sculpted the bust and Kev did the research. The bust depicts a Natal Pioneer from 1879, not a subject usually covered and I'm glad it has been and so glad I bought this off Nap along with the Victoria Mounted Rifles bust, as this has been a pleasure to paint over the last three days.
    Lets hope there is more of these to come from Campaign Miniatures some day. It's still work in progress, painted in oils over acrylics, so I'm going to let it dry for a day or two.

    All spagehetti western feedback welcome.....that's the good, the bad & the ugly.:)
    cheers
    Richie
    CIMG7074.JPG CIMG7075.JPG CIMG7080.JPG CIMG7083.JPG CIMG7084.JPG CIMG7077.JPG
  2. Helm A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    Looks excellent mate so far so good
    Steve
  3. Richie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Hi Steve,
    Thanks mate.(y)
    cheers
    Richie
    Wings5797 likes this.
  4. Wings5797 A Fixture

    Country:
    France
    Hi Richie,
    A good aside from and run in to the monster Dio. Mate.
    These flesh tones look good to me, in fact spot on.
    The only thing that might be an addition to the pallet of the sweaty Zulu is white for the extreme highlights.
    See what you think.
    All the very best,
    Keith
    [IMG]
    Steve likes this.
  5. 1969 A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Nice work Richie, good idea to practice first before embarking on painting your Zulu Impi :)
    Steve
  6. DEL A Fixture

    Country:
    Scotland
    You're a braver simian than I am. Looks like you've pretty much cracked it (y)
    Tried to do an African skintone a couple of month ago, not a disaster as such but as the highlights and the shadows dried they slowly toned into the core skintone.
    Result was very little definition between the planes of the face. I always do about 70% of my shading wet on dry and the technique I use usually works fine .
    It's stripped and in the pending box for a while.
    I'll watch with interest
    Cheers
    Derek
  7. Richie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Hi Keith,
    Cheers for that, I think white would be a bold move, I will have a look at the in the next couple of days when its dried out a bit. I was trying to increase the high contrast and that maybe the answer mate.


    Hi Steve,
    Thanks mate, thats the reason I picked this up, I thought oh dear:rolleyes: :eek: I've never done this before.


    Hi Del.
    Thanks mate, not too bad for a simian, I've quite enjoyed this new challenge;). I want to let it dry and have a go at your stated technique as things start to get a little bit muddy otherwise.

    I would further more like to pick your brains, I base coated this in Vallejo acrylic burnt umber. As I have 11 Zulu's ready to do, what other base coats would you recommend so I can vary some of the skin tones between them, would green, yellow ochre or even a dark red work or just stick to browns?????? Please let me know your thoughts.

    cheers
    Richie
    Wings5797 likes this.
  8. DEL A Fixture

    Country:
    Scotland
    Richie.
    I like to keep things really simple and recently I've changed my MO.
    What I do for EVERY skintone is prime with Halfords Grey and undercoat everything with Humbrol Desert Yellow 93 Matt (Hobby Spray), 3 thin coats.
    I then mix up the various shades of oil paint I plan to use for the skin (changes every time depending on the figure)
    I then put small amounts of the various shades where I want them on the face, arms etc. Then simply blend each into the adjoining tone, you then end up with a pretty decent face.
    Let it dry completely and then in with the final shading and highlighting.
    What I like about this is the Desert Yellow gives a sort of 'glow' through the oils.
    Years ago I saw a Zulu bust magnificently painted by an American painter whose name I can't remember. He undercoated it in green and highlighted with orange.
    Derek
  9. billyturnip A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    Nice work Richie, nice to see you back at the brushes mate. (y)

    Roger.
  10. Mark Dollery Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Hey Richie, nice work although I have done ethic skin tones before, I like the way you have done it. You will be a expert by the time you have finish all !! :facepalm:
    Good luck & don't forget to post the progress,
    Mark D ;)
  11. Dennis Active Member

    Country:
    England
    Well done Richie you have cracked it mate, I look forward to seeing this in the flesh, great stuff.
    See you soon.
    Dennis
  12. Richie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Hi Del,
    Thank you mate, I will give a couple of those options a go.(y)

    Hi Roger,
    Thank you, it's nice to get some bench time in again.:)

    Hi Mark,
    Thanks mate, I'm looking forward to having a go at the Zulu's now with different base coats.:)

    Hi Dennis,
    Thanks mate, I will bring him along D Day plus seven;).
    cheers
    Richie
  13. polyphemus Well-Known Member

    Many years ago there was an article by the late Joe Shaw on painting dark skin tones. He undercoated in dark green(Rose Miniature water based paints - shows how long ago it was). Base oil coat was burnt umber, shading with Prussian Blue and highlights with yellow ochre. He also demonstrated this at one of the old Northern Militaire shows with a couple of large scale fantasy Nubian type figures, probably by Ceremonial Studios. I think the article was in the Model Soldier magazine.

    Geoff
    Richie likes this.
  14. Richie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Hi Geoff,
    Thanks for that, I will give that one a try.
    cheers
    Richie
  15. smudger1960 PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Very nice Richie,this will look good in your collection :-(
    Richie likes this.
  16. Richie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Hi All,
    I am finally calling this one finished, I have not tinkered too much with it, so thought I would base him up. It has been a real pleasure painting this one and I would especially like to thank Jim for sculpting him, Nap for selling him on and the rest of you for popping in and the support(y).
    ......and just as an aside I have started to paint my other Zulu's......look;).
    cheers
    Richie
    CIMG7480.JPG CIMG7481.JPG CIMG7482.JPG CIMG7486.JPG CIMG7488.JPG CIMG7475.JPG CIMG7476.JPG CIMG7477.JPG CIMG7479.JPG CIMG7479.JPG
  17. Helm A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    Quality work Rich getting there for sure (y)
    Steve
  18. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi Richie,

    Good to see this one painted glad you enjoyed it

    Nap
  19. kagemusha A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Hi mate, lovely work (y)
    Try these.....should give you a good range of tones for reference.....all 'Shaka'...

    500-16A.jpg traditional%20zulu.jpg zulu-people-1.jpg

    Cheers

    Ron
    napoleonpeart likes this.
  20. smudger1960 PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Great work Richie,i think you've nailed the skin colour mate,looks great (y)

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