discussion Mitches Flying Aces Busts

[Guest]

Si - A 12! Thank you sir.

Pete - I never think of superlatives with my work, rather the opposite.

Steve - Glad Friday went well - no wonder the knee's wearing out with all that partying.

I found myself working on Joe's brow again last night. It's now the best I can get it but it still niggles. Hopefully I'll forget about it as I work on the next one. 'Have fun with Adolf' is not something you say to someone every day is it?!

 

[Guest]

Not so sure I had a good day with Adolf:

View attachment 357207

A real pig to do. This one was not as well finished as the other two, particularly around the eyes, where some of the crucial parts, like the upper eyelids, had quite an uneven finish. In the past I would probably have abandoned it, but I'm slowly learning to pull back and consider the thing as a whole before I do anything rash.

I attached my scratched visor before finishing, which was just as well as it completely changed the play of light over the face. That meant repainting areas under the shadow, and adding more highlights where the face emerged into the light.

 

[SteveH]

Morning Peter

Adolf looks good from here, and a more popular name than Genghis or Attila!

I work with a Vlad, but he uses his middle name!

Adolf seems to be less pruney that the other two, too.

Its a very popular image and is instantly recognisable, and nice work on the scratched visor.

Should be another good day for good light, we have a blood red sun rise with a snowman blue sky, up't North.

Have fun with the paint

Regards

Steve H

 

[Guest]

Morning Steve

How to destroy the use of a perfectly innocuous first name - become a dictator!

This one looks better in the morning light, though some adjustments are needed. Did some research on the uniform and found that, as a Generaleutnant he'd have gold braid and white facings. He's just wearing a white shirt under the black leather coat, which simplifies things.

Weird weather at the moment, but the light is better today - very gloomy yesterday.

 

[Guest]

I think that's the head done:

View attachment 357294

 

[Jim R]

Hi Peter
I like him :tongue-out3: He'll certainly fit in with the other two.
Jim

 

[Guest]

Thank Jim.

As this one didn't quite have the quality of the other two, which meant that I was losing interest, I decided to get him finished:

View attachment 357323View attachment 357324View attachment 357325

The yellowish light is a reflection of the sunlight coming through the blinds. I decided to leave the leather coat slightly glossy, hence the effect.

I'll photograph all three together now:

 

[Jim R]

Great stuff, the leather is stunning.
Jim

 

[Guest]

Thanks Jim.

The leather was fairly easy to do - just dry-brushing German grey, then basalt grey over black, then picking out the detail. The sculptor has done himself proud with the texture.

OK, here they are:

View attachment 357329View attachment 357330View attachment 357331

Pretty enjoyable to do, though my energy and enthusiasm was running out towards the end. I think that if I do another trio in the future I'll do each between other builds.

 

[Richard48]

A jolly nice collection Peter.Usual high standard of painting as to be expected.The sculptor likes his wrinkles certainly.Galland is an odd looking dude.
Nicceeee
Rich.

 

[Guest]

Cheers Richard.

The sculpts are slightly dodgy, which dents my enthusiasm for the finished things (as does my paint work) but at least I finished them as a set.

 

[Steve Jones]

You have done a great job of getting so much colour shade onto his black leather jacket. Outstanding work. We have been privileged to see three great works of art all at once. However for your own sanity it probably would be better to do a bust in between figures. Thanks for sharing

 

[Guest]

"The leather was fairly easy to do - just dry-brushing German grey, then basalt grey over black, then picking out the detail "
Yeah right !
Easy to do or not Peter it's off the scale in my book, that leather is outstanding.
:flushed::flushed:

 

[SteveH]

Morning Peter

Great finish and quite a trio.

I can see the sense in splitting up a future project to save burning out.

Are there many more trio opportunities out there?

I have seen quite a few Young's 2nds that could make up groups, and they would be super projects.

I have even got some in my stash, but its going to be awhile before I am confident enough to start them!

What's next on your bench?

Back to re do some of your 1:16 figures?

Looks like another clear and bright day ahead

Have fun with the paints

Regards

Steve H

 

[Guest]

Steve - Glad you like them. I didn't realise how tired I was getting as I went along. Definitely one thing at a time in future.

John - Well, dry-brushing is a a pretty simple process, though I suppose that even that does take a bit of practice - sorry if I sounded flippant (arrogant!).

Steve - There are more Mitches trios, and as you say, it would probably be possible to make some up with Life Miniatures or Young's busts (though costly, and I'm broke). As I've found with this project though, the risk is that some of the series will inevitably be better than the others, with the result that the less successful ones will bring down the overall effect. Here, I'm quite pleased with Johnny, OKish about Joe, but hate Adolf. Johnny is going into the cabinet and the other two straight into storage.

I had a major cabinet culling session last night, stripping down for useful parts first then binning the rest. I kept a couple of the better resin figures for re-painting, but it was quality control time and I felt it was pointless keeping stuff that made me wince every time I looked at it. A scary but therapeutic process.

Next a 1/16 figure....

 

[Andy Belsey]

Three cheers from me! Wonderful group of figures.
(But the talk of culling your cabinet made me wince!)
Andy

 

[Guest]

Three cheers from me! Wonderful group of figures.
(But the talk of culling your cabinet made me wince!)
Andy

Your not alone there Andy.

 

[Guest]

Worry not Andy and John. A cabinet cull is very therapeutic, and anyway, you can always fill it up again. I've just spent an enjoyable afternoon working on a few of the niggles and mistakes dogging some of the remainers.

 

[Andy Belsey]

Worry not Andy and John. A cabinet cull is very therapeutic, and anyway, you can always fill it up again. I've just spent an enjoyable afternoon working on a few of the niggles and mistakes dogging some of the remainers.

Bloomin' Brexit creeps in everywhere - we can't escape it!!!!

 

[Guest]

Certain words enter the subconscious at times of stress........