discussion Verlinden 200mm Guard Artillery Officer

[Guest]

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Lets see how this goes. Another Verlinden 200mm bust, this time one of Derek Holmes' distinctive sculpts depicting an officer of the French Imperial Guard artillery.

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The box art appears to have the various uniform decorations in silver, when in fact they should be gold, as in the above illustrations.

The box contents:

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A typical Holmes face, but not too over the top like some of his sculpts. I like the fact that the bearskin decorations are separate and that the peak can be fitted after painting the face. There is a lot of very nice detail (I like his plaits) all of which is very cleanly modelled and moulded.

I've now cleaned it up, ready for painting:

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The separate medal was damaged, and not being able to scratch a replacement Legion d'Honneur cross, I've given him a simple round medal which can be painted as a campaign award.

 

[scottie3158]

Hi Peter,
He has a bit of a Mona Lisa smile, I wonder what he is thinking about.

 

[Guest]

Have fun Peter :smiling3:.
I hope you don't mind but here is mine from about 5 years ago.View attachment 400667

 

[Lee Drennen]

Peter seated by Scottie that smile is interesting

 

[Guest]

Scottie - Thinking of the evening before.....

Ralph - That is superb. A really tough act to follow.

Lee - The smile makes a change I think.

 

[SteveH]

Morning Peter

Sorry to read the last bust, was a ...........bust!

Hopefully this will better a better sculpt?

The head looks OK in the resin, but I guess you will know better once you get the brushes onto the face?

Its another damned cold morning and a grim, grey, cloudy day ahead too!

Hopefully some better light for you down in the Sowff!

Have a better day with the paints and the new head.

Regards

Steve H

 

[Steve Jones]

Oh yes!! Looking forward to this one Peter. Good luck sir

 

[Guest]

Steve H - Morning. This one looks like a better sculpt from the off. Derek Holmes could do some odd faces, but his attention to detail and finish were second to none. A very cold and grey start here in the Sarff, certainly no light for painting at the moment. We're getting near the time of year when there are only a few hours worth of good daylight each day and painting activities are curtailed somewhat.

Stevie J - Welcome aboard. Verlinden's box art often doesn't do justice to good sculpts, and this one was 'hiding' unnoticed by me in the Historex lists.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Peter
The sculptor certainly likes faces with character. This one looks good. Gold rather than the box art silver will look great with the blue.
Jim

 

[Guest]

Jim - This sculptor's faces all tend to look the same, and some can border on the grotesque. This one is unusual, but I don't think it's too OTT. It's nice to have a smiling face once in a while.

That said, this was a b****r!!

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I struggled with the eyes for ages before I got them to a satisfactory state. I then decided that I'd better see how they looked with the visor in place, and found that it completely altered the shading. I therefore had to do some extensive re-working, which proved very hard to get right, but I think I've wrestled it to the ground.

 

[adt70hk]

Well done Peter. Good work so far. As you say it's nice to see a smiling face!

ATB

Andrew

 

[Lee Drennen]

Peter. The stubbles on his mustache looks great and convincing

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Fantastic!
don't know how you do it

 

[Guest]

Peter.
Am I at the right build, or are there now several on the go ? Think I'll stand just in case as the dog is looking.!

 

[Guest]

Andrew - I couldn't see for looking with this one after a while, as always happens at the end of a long session. At least that's the most difficult part done.

Lee - Thanks. I need to play about with the stubble a bit more, but it's essentially there.

Neil - Thank you. I don't know what I am doing, but it sure is difficult. I suppose we'd all get bored if we found it easy.

John - This is the latest - the last bust was binned. Joe's been fed, so you're safe (ish!).

 

[SteveH]

Morning Peter

Another masterclass in blending skin tones, even more impressive when you think its all been done with a 4/0 brush!

I think the world would have let the visor provide the shading, it looks just right, well done.

Looks like a day with the glitter could be a pleasant and relaxing change of pace!

And it still so cold up here as we approach a tier 2 or 3, high or very high lockdown?

Who knows what we are supposed to be in, or doing or not?

Its no wonder there is so much chatter, its just so confusing!

Have a good day with the shiny stuff

Regards

Steve H

 

[Guest]

Steve - Morning. I found it quite frustrating that I didn't have a smaller brush than a 4/0 with this one. The eyes were very hard to get right and required minute adjustments in order to tidy them up, As it is, there are still one or two tweaks required. I'm actually looking forward to working on the headgear and attachments today - more like painting-by-numbers and more relaxing.

Looks like we'll be advancing up the Covid tiers here soon. We decided to cancel our holiday in Snowdonia in November, as it's very unlikely that we'll be able to get across the border, and probably wouldn't be welcome if we actually got there. Very disappointing, but one has to be realistic. I agree that the advice is very confusing - my feeling is that the saving Christmas will be the top priority. My daughter Naomi is currently in lock-down at Reading University after a fellow student got a positive testing. She's furious with him for being careless and talking the talk, but not doing the walk. There's no doubt that the sudden conglomeration of students at the universities has added to the rise in infections. Ho-hum.

 

[Richard48]

You certainly cant miss a Derek holmes sculpt.They do have a certain style and faces very alike.Will have some stuff off to you next week mate.Been very lazy lately so im destined for tge naughty step or fizzer.
Rich

 

[Guest]

Hi Richard. Derek Holmes' work is certainly distinctive. Laziness is allowed - I practice it all the time. Looking forward to seeing your latest busts.

The next stage:

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There was a surprising amount of work involved in getting the bearskin done, with five extra pieces to paint and add. I first painted all of the gold-work using layers of Vallejo Old Gold, re-drawing the shadows and lines with Camo Black Brown, then highlighting with Bright Gold. The fur was dry-brushed with several shades of Luftwaffe Uniform, and the plume was done with layer after layer of Flat Red over Camo Black Brown. Some tidying up needed, but the slog is done.

 

[Steve Jones]

The bearskin is so nice. When I did it on the 28mm figures I didn't have a clue what I was painting. Now I can go back and use these photos as a reference. Great work my friend