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WIP Zouave 1854

Discussion in 'vBench (Works in Progress)' started by kagemusha, May 9, 2013.

  1. kagemusha A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    When I saw the recent box art for CGS 'Zouave of the Imperial Guard', a great sculpt by Moz, and superbly painted by Mark Bennett, I thought how well the sculpt would suit my style of painting.
    A lot of you are familiar with my technique from the SBS I did a while back on V-Bench, but for anyone interested you can find it here.
    http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/my-way-with-oils.52194/

    This is not my usual period of interest so, after doing a lot of searching for refs, I was struck with an idea for an interesting base/groundwork to compliment this figure.
    Once I had the scene set in my mind I spoke to Gra at CGS and we talked through the ideas I had. Gra suggested it would be a good subject for an SBS so......you can blame him for what follows.

    I wanted a 'gabion' to frame the backdrop but, there are none available in this scale (120 mm). So I would have to make one. In this scale it has to look 'real', but what to use. Mother nature stepped in when I was standing in the garden thinking it through with a beer and a fag! In the corner we have a wild shrub growing, and I noticed that the dead roots looked about the right size and colour etc.
    Having harvested a good amount, it was off to the bench to start. For the uprights I used strips from a bamboo mat because they are very strong, and would stand up to the 'weaving' process.
    I made a jig to hold the uprights steady using a piece spare wood, and spent the next 4 hours weaving the gabion. I think it was worth it.



    1.JPG 2.jpg 5.jpg 6.jpg 7.jpg 8.jpg


    continues in next post...
    crf, john din, jerry and 2 others like this.
  2. kagemusha A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    There were a couple of things I wanted to change with the figure, sorry Moz, purely for my own taste.
    First was to cut off the hand that grips the rifle barrel to make it easier to get it to 'hold' it when joining the arm to the torso/rifle. Having done this, it was a natural progression to hollow out the cuff.
    Next came the rifle itself. I cut off the end of the barrel, and the tamping rod, and replaced these with metal. These mods were made to give it more strength rather than looks. Next up I made a new sling out of ali sheet (litho printing plate) with the 'swivels' made from 15 amp fuse wire.
    Lastly, I made the chord for the tassel from the same wire twisted, and inserted it into a pre-drilled hole in the original tassel.

    3.JPG 4.JPG

    continues in next post........
    jerry likes this.
  3. kagemusha A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Having cleaned up all the parts, it was time to turn to the scene composition/groundwork.
    I decided to use the base that came with the figure, and blend it into the surrounding groundwork.
    After playing around with angles etc, I drilled holes for the figure and gabion. One thing I noticed was that the gabion was too tall. From my research I learned that they were not just for hiding behind, but were at a height that a man could rest his rifle on, to fire over the top of it. Easy enough to adjust with a razor saw to bring it down to shoulder height.
    So if anyone wants a 35 mm tall gabion, I have one going spare.

    13.jpg 14.jpg 15.jpg 16.jpg

    continues in next post.........
    jerry and ChaosCossack like this.
  4. kagemusha A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Next step was the groundwork itself. We all have our methods for this, mine was broken up cork tile and PolyFilla for the basic ground. Once dry it was given washes of oil colour to try to give a sense of the terrain.
    I also decided that now was a good time to 'fill' the gabion with rocks etc., as per the real thing,

    17.jpg 18.jpg 22.jpg

    30.JPG 31.JPG 34.JPG

    continues in next post.......
    jerry and ChaosCossack like this.
  5. kagemusha A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Looking at paintings of the time gave me a few ideas for added extras for the groundwork, scrub grass, rocks etc. These were added, keeping in mind the area the figure would take up. Having added these bits, I will leave the final details/colouring until the figure is in place, and will weather both at the same time.

    35.JPG 36.JPG

    continues in next post.......
    jerry and ChaosCossack like this.
  6. kagemusha A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Having gone as far as I want too with the groundwork, it was time to turn to the figure itself.
    As always with my technique, I start with the 'scrub coat' in oils, then thin it back using make-up brushes.
    For the rifle I used 3 scrub coats of different colours to get the deep warm colour.

    IMG_0692.jpg IMG_0694.jpg IMG_0695.jpg IMG_0696.jpg IMG_0700.jpg

    continues in next post...........
    jerry and ChaosCossack like this.
  7. kagemusha A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Once the scrub coat was dry, I started to lay on the first 'glazes of the reds and blues, and a very basic skin tone to get a feel for the depth of the other colours.
    I use the make-up brushes to thin back in between each glaze.
    Two glazes for the red, and three for the blue. With two more to come for each colour.
    One thing I have refined with my technique, is the way I treat shadows. I have always followed the accepted rules of shading previously, using darker shades of the base colour etc. Recently, after looking long and hard at many styles of shading with all types of medium, I decided to try a different approach. Rather than go into a long explanation, have a look at the pics and judge for yourselves. and let me know your thoughts.
    I have also started to add the wood grain to the rifle. Not easy in this scale!

    37.JPG 38.JPG 39.JPG 41.JPG 42.JPG 43.JPG 44.JPG 40.JPG

    to be continued.............
    john din, ChaosCossack, Gra30 and 6 others like this.
  8. Richie A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Hi Ron,
    Fantastic start, great persistance with the gabion has really paid off and well worth the time put in mate.(y)
    cheers
    Richie
  9. ChaosCossack A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    This is awesome!!!
    Where were you when I started a thread asking how to make gabions? ;)
    Looking forward to the final product

    Colin
  10. megroot A Fixture

    Country:
    Netherlands
    amazing work.
    Like the way you made the gabion.

    Marc
  11. kagemusha A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Hi Richie, here we go again then mate :LOL: Glad you like it.

    Hello Colin, it was actually quite a lot easier than i thought it would be, and I do have the small one going spare mate. Really pleased you like the end result.

    Hi Marc, thanks for comment mate, means a lot.

    Cheers

    Ron
  12. Tubby-Nuts-REMOVED Guest

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Awesome work! Ron. and an excellent SBS! This is going to be a memorable piece, I am loving the colours already!(y)(y)

    Regards,

    Mark
  13. kagemusha A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Hi Mark, thanks for comments mate. Reds and blues are always harder when next to each other, but the yellow should help.
    Hope you feel better soon.

    Cheers

    Ron
  14. DEL A Fixture

    Country:
    Scotland
    Looking great so far Ron. Always good to see a bit of real modelling taking place ;)
    Looking forward to progress.
    Cheers
    Derek
  15. kagemusha A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Cheers Del, thought it was time to get a bit creative again as it's been a fair while, and I ain't getting any younger :D

    Ron
  16. kagemusha A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Finally got some progress on the figure.
    Reds, yellows and blues are pretty much done. Will leave final hi-lites until figure is assembled.
    Rifle is done apart from sling and swivels. Wood grain is a lot harder to get right at this scale, as opposed to a bust. Cartridge pouch is done ready to mount.
    A fair bit still to do, but getting there now.

    IMG_0767.JPG IMG_0768.JPG IMG_0770.JPG IMG_0771.JPG IMG_1576.jpg IMG_1578.JPG IMG_1579.JPG IMG_1581.JPG IMG_1583.jpg IMG_1584.jpg IMG_1585.JPG IMG_1587.JPG

    Cheers

    Ron
    Gra30, Funky50, Ferris and 3 others like this.
  17. ChaosCossack A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    Looks awesome... look forward to the finish

    Colin
  18. kagemusha A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Thanks Colin, nice of you to comment mate, and glad you like him.
    Quite a bit to do yet, but enjoying a change of subject.

    Cheers

    Ron
  19. Tubby-Nuts-REMOVED Guest

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Very nice work on the Piping/ edging. The colours seem to be bang-on! and the grain on the rifle is top drawer. ...... Excellent work as usual!

    Regards,

    Mark
  20. Mark S Guest

    I love following your stuff Ron.This is going to be another great piece, for sure.

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