So a day later the Johnson's wax shine is back...but splotchy. No choice. Out comes the oven cleaner and back to square one. One day I will learn not to rush the prep of my sculpts and wait for the whole thing to be done before I start undercoating. My problem is impatience and a burning desire to see what the piece looks like in paint (always different and always better). Luckily I like Ney and enjoy the painting process as much as the sculpting. So you won't see much more on this string. In fact I may start a new one later.

Cheers

Colin

OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What went sideways to cause the issue?

Bad base coating. I am an idiot. I will be more careful this time out. And now I get the fun of painting him twice.....not being sarcastic

Colin

Today's progress....one step forward, two steps back. At least I didn't lose a lot of detail.....a couple of niblets, an oak leaf or two, some acorns, his LdH medal and cracks in his LdH sash. Will let the base coat cure for a bit before setting out on this voyage again. It's spray Citadel skull white.



Colin

Hi Colin
I am the same when I want to get going , like that old army saying " slow is fast ,fast is smooth , looking forward to seeing it develop
Cheers Chris

Hi Colin, did you use Vallejo for the face? I Always mix some Tamiya Flat base to it. When you use Vallejo very thin it will shine. And no matt vernish will help.
Thanks for the tips on the lace.

Thanks gents. Yes yoshi I used pure Vallejo and inks. I paint Vallejo a lot. I know it shines slightly but in my experience not gloss like wax....and not after hitting it with dull coat, having it matte down nicely for a day, and then having it gloss up blotchy. That's a chemical reaction.

I am not upset at all. I can do better next time.

Thanks for the good wishes.

Colin

I find sometimes with Vallejo, if the bottle sits for a while, the elements will separate. Just shaking is not enough... the paint will never cure and have sort of a rubbery look. I like to take the dropper top off and give it a good stir... I use a wire (with a couple of bends in the end) in the ol' Dremel and run it on low for about a minute. Seems to make all the difference in the world.

Good luck on Ney2.0

Colin

I think I pinned it down. Was using vallejos on a stay wet palette that were a day old and congealed into a bit into a plastic-like dome. I suspect the paint separated as you described Colin. I will have to stay with diluted Vallejos and make sure I don't use anything from a stay wet blob.

Colin

Mate I cant believe how calm and rational you are about it. Id be off my head! I can't wait to see round 2 because your first attempt was one of the best and my favorite busts/paint jobs I've ever seen. Good luck and here we go again......

Hello Colin, I was just reading through your thread, and was going to comment on, how I thought this was your best painting to date. Sorry to hear of the problem with the paint. I wish you the best of luck with part 2, and will be watching your progress. Regards, SG

Well, if you can do it once, you can do it twice. Second version will probably be even better, because you already 'know' the shape. Just to encourage you Colin...

Adrian

Yup, practice makes perfect! This is gonna be great, can't wait to see him finished!

Joe

Thanks for the encouragement gents. If this version shines I will be ordering Jo Sonja's from De Serres.

Colin

Holy Moly, my friend! No worries! You already bounced back. Accidents can happen.
Looking forward to see this bust close!
Cheers,
Zeno

I know you said in a post that you were not going to cast him but if you had changed your mind I would be first in line.

Sorry Chris, that's a great compliment but I never cast any of my pieces.....at least so far. Casting is a pain. I am retiring Christmas Eve so I should have a lot more time to model. Perhaps then I will explore casting a bit more then. I started my repaint of this piece before work this morning and did a bit tonight. I would say the face is about 75% done. I won't post it until I am back near where I ran into problems on the first attempt.

Cheers

Coln

Here is the start of attempt two. Still lots to do (inks, more high highlights, reddening his hair a bit, the dreaded dullcoat - to do later). But I have made good progress getting the shading going. As before, this will look quite different when matted.



Colin