Hey again folks,

I haven't posted any work for a while so, just to prove that I'm not slacking, this is what I'm working on at the minute. I have had a love-hate relationship with this bust for about a year now and he's been in the Dettol bath more times than I'd care to admit but I think I'm getting close to clearing it off my bench at last. The problems I've had are not with the model itself but rather with my inability to do it justice. So much so that I've decided that it's time to move on and learn from this one so hopefully he'll be done this week, warts an' all.

He's painted mainly in oils, with a minimalist palette as is usual for me. My palette for this piece has been (all W&N Artists Oils):

Cadmium Yellow Pale
Alizarin Crimson
French Ultramarine
Burnt Umber
Titanium White

I used Vallejo Model Air acrylics (black and yellow) on the oxygen tube purely because I thought this would look better masked and sprayed.

The only changes I made to the stock kit were to swap out the headset cabling and oxygen tubing for bits made from soft wire (the resin bits weren't up to my ham-fisted approach to modelling, I broke them within minutes).

Progress so far - comments and critique are welcomed, as always:



Thanks for tuning in

Same pics, zoomed in a little:

That is a great sculpt and your painting is excellent.

dont know why you are not happy, this looks great and a nice tribute to the few

Looking good so far.
I regularly break at least one thing on resin figures, so I'm pleased to hear there are kindred spirits out there.

Cheers,
Andrew

Thanks Scotty

I think this is one of those rare occasions where the photos are better than getting up close and personal with the figure. Maybe I've been looking at it for too long but I see lots of areas where I know I could do better. However, I have learnt a lot from working on it so it's not all bad news

Surely it's not bad news at all, just make the corrections you want to. I still think it looks great.

Thanks Antony, I originally started this figure as part of a BoB 75th anniversary group build on another modelling forum. I think the sculpt is amazing and a fitting tribute to The Few

Thanks Andrew, it's good to know I'm not alone

For me it usually goes a bit like this:

"That bit looks a a bit too straight and rigid, I'll just try to bend it gently with these massive pliers"

"Oops, I guess I'll have to remake that bit then. Note to self "get smaller pliers""

Cheers Scotty, that's exactly what I'll mostly be doing over the next week or so, time permitting. I have my local club show next Sunday so that's my deadline. On Monday I'll be working on something else

Looking really good. The fresh faced look you've achieved is first class.
The light colour of the base really enhances the bust
Cheers
Derek

Good luck in your show. Do you think his scarf is a bit bright?

Cheers Del, the base is from Bespoke Bases. It is very well finished and Michael even pre-drilled it for me to take the brass tube. He did this one for me free of charge after I dropped and damaged the first one at S&L, a true gent

Thanks again Scotty, that is one of the areas that's been niggling me. This is the main photo I've been using as reference:



I'm thinking of maybe adding some polka dots to break it up a little and tone it down slightly. Something like this maybe:

Well now I've seen that it doesn't seem too bright at all. I do like the polka dot one though.
All the best.

Looks pretty Damn fine to me!!!! Can't wait to see the next one you paint!

Slainte,

Andy

Last night's progress:



I started working on the spaniel and the pilot's rank insignia. I also did some touch up work on the oxygen hose, headset cabling and the strappy bits of the flying helmet.

Also, the nameplate dropped through my letterbox this morning (thanks to NameIt - it's bang on, as always ) and I couldn't resist sticking it onto the base.

Tonight's plan - Spaniel eyes, and maybe try to add a bit of depth to his coat with some blue and brown glazes (he's looking a bit old and grey at the minute).

Help needed - I'll be doing the metals at some point this week using printers inks and oils. I'm ok with steel, gold and brass but the metal bits (mainly on the parachute harness) look like they are made from aluminium or some sort of similar alloy. Has anyone done anything like this using printers inks before?

My thoughts at the minute are to mix silver ink with a neutral-ish grey oil mix. If anyone can give me advice it would be greatly appreciated and may save me a lot of stabbing in the dark.

More progress - last night's pottering:



Apart from the metals, I think that he's just about done. Maybe some minor touch-ups and corrections here and there and some varnish to even out the finish (before the metals of course).

Due to the crappy weather I had to get my lamps out tonight for the photos. I think it was a blessing in disguise and I'm quite pleased with the lighting on these pics

Lovely paint job. Well done.