Neil's Airfix 54mm 95th Rifleman

[Guest]

Lovely work Neil. You've improved the kit offering no end.

[yak face]

Amazing work neil, it looks a million miles away from the original pose. Cant wait to see the paint start to go on , cheers tony

[Jon Heptonstall]

Brilliant work.He looks so much better and more natural.
Jon.

[Neil Merryweather]

Peter, Tony, Jon,
many thanks chaps, I can see some faults but I'm keeping them to myself......
I've started the painting but nothing worthy of a photo.
Hopefully I'll get a decent session in tonight as the missus has friends round and I am not required to be sociable:thumb2:

[scottie3158]

Neil,
Some really nice additions. The idea of the propelling pencils is a good idea

[Neil Merryweather]

Neil,
Some really nice additions. The idea of the propelling pencils is a good idea

Thanks Scottie- yes I was thinking you might like that.

[SimonT]

Looking good Neil

[Steve Jones]

Wonderful work Neil. Good luck with the wet stuff. Look forward to seeing the progress shots soon

[Jim R]

Hi Neil
Certainly much improved. Looking forward to paint.
Jim

[Neil Merryweather]

Simon, Steve, Jim
thank you !
Well, the hairy stick came out last night and tonight so I thought I would post a few shots.
I thought, 'being a dark green model I should use a white background', but the phone wasn't having any of it!

that was the best it could do :rolling: !
so I tried a black background, and got much better results


for those who are interested, although with me this is all experimental, I used Vallejo German Camo Green, but I didn't like it so I washed it all with GW Asurmen Blue(or something like that)-nicked from my son's Warhammer days
I used the camo green as a highlight and added black for shading. The black bits have various amounts of brown or blue added, to make the shading more effective when the time comes.
I used Vallejo retarder medium in the green which helped a lot, and I used matt medium also but it's not that good, really. Then when I washed it with the blue it went totally glossy! AAARGH! I just have to be patient and matt lacquer it at the end.
I have bought a wet pallette but I haven't tried it yet.
thanks for looking
Cheers
Neil

[Guest]

Looking very good Neil.

I always have trouble with Vallejo blues as they do seem to dry particularly shiny. I used Luftwaffe Uniform on my Jewish Partisan figure's trousers and giving it a coat of matt varnish made it even glossier. I thought it was the varnish, so got hold of a new bottle, but that just made it worse. There must be something particularly reactive that Vallejo use in certain pigments. Either way, I have no option but to repaint.

Good luck!

[Tim Marlow]

Going well Neil.....
Black and white are not the best for photography backgrounds though, your camera will over or underexpose the shot.....try a mid grey, or even better for this one, a mid orange.....
Regarding glossy VJ blues, I find a gloss varnish followed by a matt varnish works best on my small stuff.....

[Neil Merryweather]

Looking very good Neil.

I always have trouble with Vallejo blues as they do seem to dry particularly shiny. I used Luftwaffe Uniform on my Jewish Partisan figure's trousers and giving it a coat of matt varnish made it even glossier. I thought it was the varnish, so got hold of a new bottle, but that just made it worse. There must be something particularly reactive that Vallejo use in certain pigments. Either way, I have no option but to repaint.

Good luck!

Thank you Peter, I must remember to try adding the matt medium to the washes and see if that helps.

On the subject of painting ,generally ; you seem to paint all day every day-how do you keep at it for so long? I find 2 hours exhausting!
The concentration, the worry about screwing up, the physical exertion (yes!) of controlling the brush, the uncertainty of what the paint will do! How DO you do it?
Now obviously you know what you're doing where I am still a complete novice so that explains the uncertainty; and conversely I am completely comfortable with the surgery and anatomy aspect of figures, which I know is something alot of people shy away from, but I do wonder if I will EVER get to the stage where painting figures is actually therapeutic like it must be for you....!
cheers
Neil

[Neil Merryweather]

Going well Neil.....
Black and white are not the best for photography backgrounds though, your camera will over or underexpose the shot.....try a mid grey, or even better for this one, a mid orange.....
Regarding glossy VJ blues, I find a gloss varnish followed by a matt varnish works best on my small stuff.....

Thanks Tim.
as for the backgrounds I had already come to that conclusion previously and forgotten- the screen was flickering like an old telly !......Orange is a bit out there-, don't you think? But in your honour I will try and find something I can use for the next shots :flushed:
and gloss varnish BEFORE matt varnish? That's really counter-intuitive, how did you come up with that?
cheers
Neil

[Windy]

Morning Neil. Your scratchery has really improved this old kit and I'm looking forward to seeing the painting progress. If you're using a wet palette and don't mind mixing, Vallejo 970 deep green with a bit of black makes a really good Rifle Green.

Windy