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WIP The Ambush.....1/30th vignette from Castle Miniatures

Discussion in 'vBench (Works in Progress)' started by fogie, Nov 24, 2021.

  1. Oda A Fixture

    Outstanding in every possible way.Master Vladimir will be thrilled to see how far you have come in order to do justice to his work.Oh and if by "nerdy" you mean "one hell of a modeler" then you're doing justice to yourself and rightly so.Keep posting mate !!

    Oda.
    fogie likes this.
  2. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi Mike

    Sorry to hear about the hassle with the storm glad it's all sorted

    I agree with Oda one hell of a job on the base work tree ...still at least you had close up references to hand !

    Look forward to seeing more on this

    Happy benchtime

    Nap
    fogie and Oda like this.
  3. Steve Ski PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States
    Beautiful start to the base, and I love the research you're sharing. I'm an oiler too, Mike. Good to hear you are back up to speed, trees cleared, roof fixed, and in the bunker. Ruck On Bby!
    fogie likes this.
  4. fogie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Thanks guys for the kind comments. Like most of us I suspect,
    I usually start with the figures - they're more interesting than the
    scenery as a rule. But with this one the base had to come first
    because it would be too difficult to 'do' the tree with the painted
    figures in place, and I'm just not happy leaving finished figures
    vulnerably loafing about while I work on the groundwork. This
    makes the last couple of posts rather a teasing fan dance, but
    I've started work on Mackintosh today, so if we allow a day or
    two for a token Christmas 'truce' where we unselfishly hang up
    the brushes to watch awful seasonal movies and eat ourselves
    silly, I'll post some pictures soon........

    Mike
    Landrotten Highlander likes this.
  5. fogie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Weeks ago, at the beginning of the year, I was ready and
    eager to start work on the Mackintosh figure. I decided to
    paint the face first .....and almost immediately found myself
    sinking deeper and deeper into the 'you-know-what'. It's
    taken me all this time to dig my way out.

    When I first began painting figures,1/30th scale was par
    for the course - Historex stuff of that size used to roll off
    the brushes at the rate of knots. Now, half a century on
    and not surprisingly having to rely on hefty magnification,
    it's all rather different. Whether it was a simple failure of
    concentration, or some kind of self induced pressure,
    or that I was just plain scared of it, I have no idea - but
    I could not for the life of me paint this face ! No fewer than
    eight attempts were made and each time the results were
    so bad that the only thing to do was clean off the mess
    and start over. Time after time it not only stalled momentum
    but insidiously created a crisis of confidence which made
    me believe that working at this scale was no longer possible
    for an old fart like me. The frustration of trying to overcome
    this seemingly insurmountable problem and knowing full
    well that I was perfectly capable but just unable to find a
    way through, was too much and for a long time I was lost.

    I wish I could boast that the calm and patient persistence
    that is supposed to come to us with age saved the day,
    but in the end it took nine attempts and a completely
    immature world class temper tantrum before I finally
    pulled my bloody finger out and got the bloody thing
    done !!!! The notion of a 73 year old throwing his toys
    out of the pram is absurd I know, but it did the trick and
    with a return of confidence I was able at last to get on.
    So...more in a few days

    17.jpg
    16.jpg
    Mike
  6. Banjer A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    I know where you are coming from Mike. Things should in theory get easier with practice but age has a way of getting in the way. My main problem is arthritic fingers coupled with longsightedness.

    Glad to see you persevered, nice job on the face and I love the ginger hair. Can you say ginger these days?

    Cheers

    Bill
    Nap, Oda, fogie and 2 others like this.
  7. Airkid A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    I'm with you on this one Mike. I too have days when I just can't get things to gel. Frustration leads to loss of enthusiasm and in the end I often put the thing aside and start something completely different. I'm in that situation at the moment, though in this case the subject matter is the problem.
    Like Bill, I suffer arthritic thumbs and that doesn't help. As a 75 year old I can assure you tantrums are not the sole province of the young:mad:
    For all the hassles, you seem to have nailed it now - looks good!

    Phil
    Nap, Oda, KenBoyle and 2 others like this.
  8. OldTaff PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    England
    All of us in our '70's endeavour to persevere, it's what we do, because we love our hobby. I,too, share your frustrations, and I constantly try not let something get the better of me. Mr. Danilov's sculpts in 1/30 th are always a challenge with their fine details, but I find the end results are so worth it that I soldier on ( awful pun !:rolleyes: ). I'm very even tempered these days, unlike my younger days, so can leave my toy room and have a read until the muse returns. Or when the old arthritis in both hands and upper back/neck eases . I confess I stay away from metal figures now, resin figures obviously being so much lighter stop me getting thumb cramp.
    Oh, the joys of advancing years, and still I'm like a kid at Christmas when I get a whiff of the wonderful new figures coming out to tempt us.
    Mike, the face on your Highlander is finely done, mate.....I would certainly be happy with it. Looking forward to seeing more......(y):happy:

    Alan
    Nap, Oda, Airkid and 3 others like this.
  9. fogie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom

    Thanks Bill....Ginger, Auburn, Red, I've even heard the colour called Titian, so
    whatever you like. I chose it as a foil to the uniform colours that surround it.
    I tend to think a lot about colour harmony so a slightly florid complexion and
    red hair will appear to soften and harmonise against the dark blue bonnet and
    collar. As for the achy bones...well, they go with the territory these days along
    with all that 'do-you-really-need-the-TV-so loud?' stuff..........right?:)

    Mike
    Nap, Oda and Airkid like this.
  10. fogie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom

    Thanks Phil.........Colour choices, mixing and blending, creating the right finish, so forth
    doesn't present too many problems. It's the tight accuracy of line - especially around the
    eyes, that I found so elusive. Still persistence ( and a bit of harsh language) helps....eh?

    Mike
    Nap and Airkid like this.
  11. fogie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom

    Hi Alan,how are you doing ? ....all well I hope. We're two minds with a single thought
    about Volodya's work....which is why I suppose we feel the need to try harder to do it
    proper justice...eh? Thanks for the kind comment......I'm actually a bit in advance of
    the photos (thought I'd give myself a bit of a buffer in case of further 'jitters') so more
    will definitely follow soon..........

    Mike
    Oda and OldTaff like this.
  12. OldTaff PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    England
    All is well, Mike, cheers, just grabbing a cuppa courtesy of SWMBO, and back to fiddling about with those 1/30th Castle Miniatures Jocks ! :ROFLMAO::LOL::D

    Alan
    Nap and fogie like this.
  13. Oda A Fixture

    I think you are doing one hell of a job and I wait eagerly for the next step and for seeing the end result.

    Oda.
    fogie and Nap like this.
  14. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England

    Totally agree

    Like the face and the ginger hair ..very apt ...like others I have had downs where things just didn't happen .....but it's the hobby and seeing other members benchtime like your work the pulled me back

    Look forward to more updates Mike

    Happy benchtime

    Nap
    Oda and fogie like this.
  15. fogie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Things have been moving at such a snail's pace with
    this project that it might be supposed I'd given up with
    it . Absolutely not so.......but a routine and long overdue
    appointment with the optician a while ago brought to
    light a number of important issues. Primarily I've been
    diagnosed with suspected retinal occlusion.- a problem
    with the blood vessels at the back of my right eye. The
    medics are still trying to define the cause so it's been a
    whole series of blood tests in order to decide possible
    interventions. Things being as they are with the staff at
    the hospital being driven ragged, everything's taking
    forever. Retinal occlusion is not curable but can be
    managed to a limited extent with surgical treatment and
    medication. As if that wasn't enough the optician also
    found cataracts in both of my eyes - cor blimey what a
    bugger.....still cataracts can at least be removed with
    surgery......the occlusion thing has to be sorted first.
    Anyway....painting has been ruled out for a while but
    I'm determined to finish this project no matter how long
    it takes...just bear with me ....eh?.


    23.JPG

    Mike
    Oda, marco55, Nap and 2 others like this.
  16. OldTaff PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    England
    Mike, it ain't a race,mate.....it gets done as and when you feel the old mojo working, right ? McNab is looking great (I like the barred feathers..nice touch )
    Extremely sorry to read about your eye problems; hopefully all that will be sorted sooner rather than later.

    Alan
    fogie likes this.
  17. Steve Ski PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-States
    Catching up with this, Mike, excellent progress. Knowing first hand myself how it is to work with Vladimir's scuplts this is obviuosly a pleasure to work on with some great details.

    Now, as far as temper tantrums go, I will admit my wife says I'm 6, not 60! I did, however, grow out of throwing expensive items, lol. Ah, we gotta keep a sence of humor about us, don't we?

    Great work, Mike. Cheers, Ski.
    fogie and Nap like this.
  18. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi Mike

    Great to see you posting , as Alan says this is no race , just get yourself sorted for which I and all send best wishes....don't know how the nurses controlled themselves having someone so macho near them ...lol

    Thanks for the update pic coming along nicely , like the fleshwork and the feathers

    Take care

    Look forward to more ...when you can

    Take care and best wishes

    Happy benchtime

    Nap
    fogie likes this.
  19. fogie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Thanks for the kindly words guys...much appreciated.
    A couple of things I intended to mention later might
    be appropriate as I'm having to sit here twiddling my
    thumbs..

    At the beginning of all this I spoke of my preference for '
    relative' rather than 'absolute' colours. Seen in isolation
    the 'relative' scarlet used on the tunic is not really scarlet
    at all - it's more of a grubby orange. At the same time the
    blue used for the facings has been dulled with violet and
    burnt umber. As individual tones both appear completely
    wrong - until they're brought together.on the figure
    when...hey presto!...they work. I's an optical trick I've
    used for years.

    21.jpg
    While we're talking about the peculiarities of oils,
    something that crops up here from time to time is
    their tendency to cure with a semi-gloss finish. It
    can be thoroughly irksome in the wrong place
    and spoil our efforts. In fact such glossiness will
    always dissipate - although it can sometimes take
    many months or even years. My own solution is
    to use Spike Lavender Oil as the 'leveller' (the
    medium necessary to change the consistency
    of the paint). Lavender oil smoothes the colour
    without degrading the pigment - unlike White Spirit,
    or Turpentine which as powerful solvents destroy
    the structure of the paint. Lavende r Oil evaporates
    quite swiftly and within an hour or two 'dries' to a
    matt finish. A reasonable 'leather' look can be
    created with an additional touch of linseed in the
    mix will give a controlled soft sheen.
    Mike
    Oda, OldTaff, Nap and 1 other person like this.
  20. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi Mike

    Interesting post there , good ideas for the Oil barons

    Take it easy

    Best wishes

    Nap
    Oda likes this.

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