It's been a while since I've posted, but I have not had nearly as much time for painting as I'd like. Thankfully I've been able to find some hobby time over the past few weeks and decided to start on a new project, this great 54mm gladiator from Pegaso. I've liked this kit/sculpt for quite a while, but was a bit intimidated to start on it. There's a lot of armor and metallics have not been something I'm all that comfortable with. However, on the past few projects I've been refining my approach to metallics so I decided it was time to give this project a try. I'm writing a more thorough description of that below, so read on if you are interested in the details.

Obviously the piece is still a work in progress. I've just about finished off the yellow metals. I started a bit on the white metals, with the details on his chest. That still needs a bit of work and then, of course, I have to do the chainmail. I decided to give myself a break before that and do some of the matte areas that I'm more comfortable with. So I just finished off the cloth and a good portion of his skin. I expect I'll continue on with more of the matte regions while I work up the motivation to tackle that chainmail. =)




Here's a look at how the figure has progressed. You can see the stages for the cuirass. I begin with a dark base (metallics work best over a dark case), in this case purple as it contrasts with the yellow metal. Then I do a sketch with metallics to help me figure out placement of the lights and darks (middle image). This involves about 5 shades (base, 2 shadows, 2 highlights). It's quick, without much attention to blending. I just want to see how it looks and then I can make corrections to shadow and highlight placement as needed. For the metals, my base is a 50/50 mix of Scale75's Necro Gold (a dark gold) and Reapers Burgundy Wine (a matte dark purple). This creates a darker base color that is only somewhat reflective. I then add matte black for the shadows, creating very dark shadows that do not react to light (almost entirely matte). Then, for the highlights, I add in Scale75's Elven Gold (a lighter, more traditional gold). This works up to pure metallic, thus the highlights react to the light and shine. At this stage the armor looks decent, but it looks even better after I go in to refine it (right image). I sharpen up the shadows, going to pure black, and further extend the highlights (using Citrine Alchemy from Scale75). I also mix a number of intermediate shades and blend everything together. Stippling is used in parts to help with the blends while also adding some texture. You can see from a comparison of the middle and right images that the final result looks sharper and a bit brighter too.


The key parts of the metallic process are (1) using a mix of metallic and matte to give me control over which regions react to light and (2) placing highlights and shadows in places that make sense for metal. That last part is something I'm still working on, but I'm drawing inspiration from the non-metallic metal painters. I don't quite follow the typical zenithal lighting that I do for the skin and cloth. Instead, place the lights at more of an angle (how the sun above might reflect off the metal and hit your eye), cylinders (like on the arm and leg) get more of a line of light, and of course I'm hitting edges (which you can see throughout the figure).

Wonderful work so far, and looking forward to seeing the finished piece
Phil

Impressive!

Beautiful work.
I've also bought this one, but will add a second figure I think. I've cleaned the casting up ready to pin and paint. I'll also probably remove the 'nipple rings' from mine, which look a little fetishistic for my tastes

Paul

You wearing yours K?

Great job on a great figure. Scissor always looks good and gives a vey s@tisfying result regardless of the painters level,
On the two Ive done I removed the wings on the breastplate on one but left the nipple rings on both.
Ive always wondered if they had a function in the arena ......... Ooooooh missus salute naughty naughtaaay!
Top work

Thank you, everyone!

Steve, actually mine came broken. I got it second hand (original box, no recasts), so either the original owner broke it or it happened during shipping. After several failed attempts to repair it, I gave up and just resculpted it just like you. Used a rod, slight bent the end and sculpted the blade with Super Sculpey. I drilled out the end of the arm and used the rod as a pin too. Feels a lot more secure... though I'm sure I could still break it if I'm not too careful.

Ha, I should have posted him earlier on. Too late to take off the wings and rings now. Where were you all when I needed your advice!?

Looks fabulous so far...looking forward to more......Mike

Ah Steve who says I haven't

I too have been working on one of these kits. it's a gem of a figure. Thanks for the SBS!

Very nice work.
Look forward to seeing more.

Cheers,
Andrew

Thanks!

I've got a bit more progress to show. I worked on his right arm and his lower legs. I've still got to do the wraps holding on his greaves (just based at the moment). I've only sketched on the metallics for the sword, just trying to get the light/shadow placement how I like it. As with the armor, though I'm using metallic paints, I am still approaching it as if I were pointing non-metallic metal. I want more control over how the light looks on the sword, so I'm forcing the shine and shadow to be where I want. I still need to blend it (though lighting for the photos makes it look smoother than it is) and add a few top level highlights.


This weekend I'm hoping to stop by my storage unit. I've got some old kits in there and I think I can scavenger parts from one to make a dead gladiator for the base. It's going to require a bit of sculpting (though just the body, the head and limbs I think I can use). So we'll see how it turns out. I'm hoping it'll be good enough to use, otherwise I'll just do a more traditional arena style base for him.

Good to see you back in action David.
As always smooth, subtle & beautiful.
Appreciate detail on approach to metal mate!
I still prefer these over NMM - old school still has a place I reckon.
-MjB