thanks kev,i have this osprey title

A perfect composition. Can`t wait so see it finished.
Will follow with interest.

Christian

Nice backdrop. Love the quoins.

Jeff

Off to a great start Brian, nice back drop.

Man

Many thanks Christian

Many thanks jeff

Many thanks bob

Really nice work Brian.
But I can't remember that there where such great bricks ( as you made from the plastic card) at the walls of chateau Hougoumont.
Looked at the pictures on Google and couldn't find it eather.
Anyway: this is the choice of the master and it looks fine for me.

Marc

Thanks marc

In and around the chateau they're were different sized brick,some the normal type,some a little larger and stone walls as well,the walls and bricks were not the same everywhere within the chateau,I have used a combination of all working from my own photos of my visits to the chateau in the past.
These photos from the South Gate and the great barn should help with what I'm explaining

Great backdrop Brian. I am becoming fonder of this bust, the more I see it.

It's a lovely bust mate,thanks for your kind coments

Managed to start on the back drop for this piece,i love constructing buildings and things,it reminds me of my early modeling career in my late 20s and early 30s building dioramas,i much prefer to scratchbuild these sort of things than pay expensive money for them,you'll be surprised what you can do with Milliput,balsa,and plastic card and rod.
The wall section was undercoated with humbrol acrylic 60 red,i then added lights to each brick using humbrol 60 mixed with GW flesh.
the mortar was white and I used a thin brush to add this in using humbrol acrylic 34 matt white.
I then added very thin washes of sepia oil paint to a ratio of 1 part sepia and 9 parts thinner,if the was is to thick it will cover most of the light work I did on the brickwork,by keeping it thin your lights will still show.
I then added some stains and streaks you find on all sorts of walls and buildings,the large stone blocks on the corner I've painted with matt white and off white,i will add some more detail to these on the next sitting.
I placed the unpainted bust in front of the painted wall to get a feel for how I want the piece to look on completion.



Brian

Cheers kev