Thanks Jamie,

Yes its a bit cliche, but he's a red headed Scotsman.

Hi Tony,

IMHO The hair looks more natural simply because it's cut neater which is getting away from your original idea of being windswept.
Is the bandage lead strip?, if so perhaps that could be blowing up in the air and if you pulled the hair up and away on one side of the face that would look more windswept.
Like the idea of grooming hairs from your dogs tail, it works.
Wow, if you got an Old english sheepdog , just think what you could achieve.

Cheers Ken

Hi Tony,
This is a great figure and I like the base and groundwork.Funnily enough I've got a lot of the same Bunnings bases.Good price.
Tony I reckon the material you've used for the hair as hair makes great grass!
I like the wild hair idea but I reckon the execution is not up to your standard.Sorry mate but it is only as I see it.

You've proved your sculpting skills with Monash and I would've preferred to see a sculpted hair modification rather than grass.
Just doesn't do it for me,but that's just me.
Love the composition,flag idea and presentation ideas but just not the grass hair on such a great sculpt.

G'day Mark,

Thanks for your honesty and your opinion mate. I value them both.

I'd like to explain that the final look of the hair, once painted and weathered, will be very different from this early shot. What is it specifically that doesn't look right Mark, how can I improve my execution?

The static grass defines the shape and volume of the head, as I removed the Jacobite cap and covered the gap with a linen bandage. I'll be honest Mark, when I look at the static grass, I do question if I used the right material.

It's not too late for me to make wholesale changes to this figure, and I'm happy to do so if someone has a suggestion that I think will improve him. Once the tartan painting starts it's too late to make further major changes.

Using the dog's hair was a good move IMO. These hairs help define the direction and strength of the wind, and break up the uniformity of the static grass "hair" underneath. Luckily Bilbo has an inexhaustable supply!!

I'll try adding more dog hair and see if this improves the look. If it doesn't , I can just pull them out.

Thanks once agin Mark, I appreciate your comment.

Hi Ken,

Thanks for your comment mate. Yes, using Golden Retreiver dog hair to replicate human hair makes much more sense than using static grass. I'll persevere with the hair replacement therapy for a few more days until I think I've gone too far, and then I'll give him a hair cut and blow wave.

I want his hair to look a bit like Mel Gibson's did in Braveheart, but not quite so long. The hair also helps convey how strong the wind is, so the hair will need to be swept sideways and upwards. This will be easier to achieve with individual strands of dog hair.

Tony , I like what you are doing with the hair , a sort of sauvage style with a typical scottish carrot red colour

Cheers

Stefano

Thanks Stefano,

It's taking forever to do, but hopefully it will be worth it in the end.

The Scottish Bee Gee

Hi guys,

I've been adding individual lengths of dog hair (Golden Retreiver for anyone who wants the recipe) to fill out the head on my Scottish Highlander. At last count I'd glued over 350 individual strands of dog hair onto his head.

I'm happy with the volume now, and just need to work on the shape and add a few curls.

The right arm has now been sculpted to fit the new position holding the flag pole. The only thing left to do before priming is to re-attach the right arm, rebuild the right foot and shoe, and reposition the belt flap.

The base and groundwork are almost finished. I intend to give the whole base another heavy application of snow to build up the depth and give it a blizzard feel.

Hope you like

The rrough and rrred hairrred rrrascal, rrrallying the trrroops, against the rrrredcoats!
(my effort at rolling the R, Scottish style)

looking good, and and the hair effect is growing on me....I have seen a figure, a glamour babe, with dolls hair that had replaced the sculpted hair. Very realisitc, from some angles.....

To do it as a rough cut hairdo, it looks accurate and believable, and like how you are pushing the boundaries.

Cheers

Thanks Jamie,

I am trying to push a few boundaries here, but still trying to make this figure look realistic. Iappreciate your comments and your attempt to recreate a Scottish accent in writing.

Please kick my arse

Firstly, my apologies to my friends who haven't received an update on my WIP.

The truth is I haven't made any further progress on this WIP, or any of my 7 other WIPs since late March. I need a kick in the arse to get back into my hobby room and start modelling again. My two year frenzy of modelling has come to a complete stop. I can make excuses, but I won't. I'm a lazy bastard and sometimes I just don't feel like modelling.

It's not that I've lost my passion for figure modelling, I'm just exercising the right of every hobbist to take a break from their hobby.

I've been modelling for 35 years and there've been long periods where I didn't model at all. But I've always come back to it with increased enthusiasm after a break, an I often make a quantum leap in my painting and sculpting afterwards.

I'm attending EuroMilitaire for the first time this year, and I know I'm running out of time. I want to take this model with me, plus my Monash bust and one or two others.

I need to fill the display case and clear workbench space for new recruits to my Grey Army.

Once again, my deepest apologies for neglecting my Scotsman and for disappointing my modelling mates, who look forward to seeing me finish this piece.

I can feel the urge to get back in the hobby room, but the cricket is on the TV and I've got a busy day tomorrow and its getting cold in the hobby room at night. Aaaaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh....I feel the need, the need for .....paint

Stilla loooooong way t' goh Laddy!

Here's where I starrrrrted and where I've stoopped.

Tony,
Hang in there and whether you finish or not I hope that you have a great time at Euro.
Cheers
John

Tony,
after a huge burst of productivity like that we've seen in past year, well, a pause to draw breath and gather yourself once again is understandable.

The brushes will call out, and I dare say that once you recover from jet lag on the return from Euro Militaire, the spark will be there again!

It would be really cool to see the photos of Euromilitaire as well as Tony and our European brethren having a whiskey or two!

When does the figure painting ambassador from Australia head off?

Cheers

Hello, Tony.
Is it a slump?
I think you increase in your creation will when talking with a friend of many planets in euros.
Because I'm a fan of your work, I'm looking forward to your work.

Mitsutaka

Hi John, Thanks mate, I'll hang in and warm up my brushes this weekend.

I'm planning to take my family to Europe for a month and spend a week in North Yorkshire before travelling to Folkstone for EuroMilitaire.

We'll spend another week in London, then off to Belguim to visit my Great, Great Uncle Walter's grave at Messines, and tour the Western Front battlefields for a couple of days. Then it's a couple of days in Paris (been there,done that) and a week driving down to Rome via the Cote d'Azur.

We'll spend a week in Italy before flying home in early October.

Of all the great things I'm looking forward to, this once in a life time opportunity for my family and I, attending EuroMilitaire is the cherry on top for me.

Most of all I'm looking forward to meeting all my mates from Planet Figure and having a beer, glass of red, glass of white, whiskey, rum, vodka.....(you get the idea)..... with all of you.

Mitsutaka, I'm a big fan of your work mate, and I greatly admire your constant modelling activity and the consistent excellence of your painting. I believe you are the most productive modeller on Planet Figure, and that's quite an achievment.

It's not a slump mate. I'm on smoko.

Hi Tony,

it sounds like a major plan! You and your family gonna have a great time for sure.
The painting break is pretty usual I think, but can't wait to see that quantum leap!!

Happy painting!
Cheers mate
Denes

Well i always loved this miniature and i am reallyhappy seeing you performing on it ! I will be after it till the end ! My wishes for success, though this already shows up in the horizon !

Costas

Hey Tony, stop blabbering and paint!!! Only joking. I'm just jealous as hell of your euro trip. Dont worry, I'll make sure we dont miss you here at the WASMEX show. Now stop reading this and paint!!!HEHE
Ben

Hi Denes, thanks mate. I'm hoping to see a quantum leap before EuroMilitaire, rather than afterwards.

Costas, I'm thinking of stripping off the artifical hair on my Highlander and put his Jacobite hat back on. I was hoping to create a certain lookwith the hair, but I just don't like it now. Thanks for your encouragement mate.

Thanks Ben, that's the kick up the arse I needed. Painting starts tonight.