discussion 75mm Kimera Models, Tisiphone

[PaulinKendal]

This is an amazing sculpt of Tisiphone, one of the Furies. Tisiphone is everything Thitania ain't.

Virgil (the ancient Roman poet, not the Thunderbird) described her as 'pale and raging among the warring thousands' during battle, clothed in a robe 'dripping in blood'. It's also superbly produced, with nary a print line to be seen. Lots of pieces to assemble, mind.



I'm strongly inclined to completely assemble her and paint from there, rather than only part-assembling, leaving off, say, the cloak or the buckler to improve access during painting. I think I prefer to treat it as a unit, rather than components, to ensure the paint is uniform (and uniformly lit) across the entire piece. Maybe I should blu-tac it for painting?

 

[PaulinKendal]

One last piece I missed, lost in the packing - which I almost chucked out!

 

[PaulinKendal]

Cleaning her up. Quite a few mould lines, but no real difficulties. Little bit of filling will be required.

Love the quality! Look at these two, matching, faces. That's clever.

My thumb, for scale.

 

[minitnkr]

Will you be doing all three furies?

 

[PaulinKendal]

Will you be doing all three furies?

I don't think Kimera do miniatures of the other two.

 

[JayCee]

That looks a truly epic sculpt. Looking forward to you working your magic.
John.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Looks like good quality sculpt and cast Paul, pity about the boob plate armour really…..seems unavoidable in fantasy stuff though.

 

[PaulinKendal]

I've got her all together, apart from the big cat pelt. Gluing that in place would just be gratuitously adding complication to the task of painting, with no real benefit. This was tricky! (Maybe I should try making something with more than fourteen pieces!)

 

[PaulinKendal]

Zenithal priming is such a simple, effective technique that it really does feel like cheating.

 

[PaulinKendal]

I'm going to do the skin in two stages. First off, get a smooth(ish) uniform colour gradient across the model. That's where I'm at now.
Next I'll do the eyes, then use glazes to add depth and blend the finish further. That's the plan...

 

[Guest]

Looking good even at this stage Paul, so bet this will really standout when finished. Love that skin colour , what did you use please.

 

[PaulinKendal]

Thanks very much. It's a Doctor Faust recipe: cover everything in Cavalry Brown, then increasing ratios of Dwarf Skin to Cav Brown, then add a pale pink made with white and a dash of Vermillion.

 

[Jim R]

Looks a very nice sculpt Paul. I'm sure your excellent painting skills will bring her to life.

 

[PaulinKendal]

Thanks Jim.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Looks great Paul. Cavalry brown is a great underpaint for any reds you need as well :thumb2:

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

THAT is a MUCH better figure. Not least her anatomy! And pose. And equipment. And base
And, well, everything really

BTW that's twice today that's been mentioned. What's Zenithall priming?

 

[Guest]

Thanks very much. It's a Doctor Faust recipe: cover everything in Cavalry Brown, then increasing ratios of Dwarf Skin to Cav Brown, then add a pale pink made with white and a dash of Vermillion.

Thanks Paul.
Certainly works .

 

[PaulinKendal]

THAT is a MUCH better figure. Not least her anatomy! And pose. And equipment. And base
And, well, everything really.

It is, isn't it? The more I paint these things, the more I realise you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear - you have to have a really good sculpt (well manufactured!) to allow your painting to shine.

BTW that's twice today that's been mentioned. What's Zenithall priming?

The idea is to mimic lighting the figure from above (from the zenith, or more usually from above and slightly to one side). So you prime the whole figure in a dark colour, then spray lightly from above with a much lighter one.

It helps identify where to place highlights and shadows, and picks out all the detail beautifully, making the figure much, much more 'readable'.

I did this with black primer, then white ink. The first pass of white was a light one all over, sprayed down at an angle of about 45°. That picks out all the detail. Then another few passes from almost vertical, to intensify the brightest areas for highlights and lowlights. I always take pictures after the prime, so I have a reference of how light falls on the figure.

On smaller figures than this (or even this I guess, if you were in a hurry), zenithal priming can be used with inks for a very quick gradient effect - the graduated undercoat showing through the transparent ink. Surprisingly effective.

 

[Tim Marlow]

I do this as well……but I prime in black, spray mid grey at 45 degrees from vertical, then spray white from directly overhead. Works great for making it look like you know what you are doing

 

[Steve-the-Duck]

Hmm. I've always tried priming to get an overall coat, either black, white, or grey. But then I'm usually doing 28mm figures, or 'anime' shading on the larger ones.
I already know what I'm going to do with my 1/8 Mass Effect figures, but I may try that on the 1/8 Aloys, when I get around to them