Saturday, November 25, 2006

"My share of the spoils!"is finished! This piece has been my most satisfying mounted figure to date. "Men of Arkansas" by Don Troiani, which depicts Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, was the inspiration for this figure.

I'm really pleased how the saddle blanket trim turned out. Painting the General's initials intertwined was a easier than it looks. I used very diluted paint for this, with several layers of build-up to make the design surface smooth and consistant. A steady hand helped too!

Colors (all Vallejo) used:
Base-921 English Uniform and 801 Brass. I use brass to give the trim a sheen.
Highlight-801 Brass and 913 Yellow Ochre
I used Beige (don't know #) in spots to help make it "pop".















Thursday, November 23, 2006

"Not a Man Wavered" was probably my most rewarding piece this year. It not only helped me overcome a modeling phobia of depicting figures in full motion, but also having two of them being connected together and having the composition work to my liking.

This particular vignette depicts soldiers of the 1st Minnesota at the Battle of Gettysburg on the evening of July 2nd, 1863. Ordered forward by Major General Winfield S. Hancock in a desperate attempt to check the advancing Confederates, Col. William Colvill and 261 men of the 1st, with fixed bayonets, charged across 300 yards of open field and stopped Wilcox Alabama Brigade cold! Exchanging volleys with the Confederates at forty yards the little band of gallant men were finally overlaped and pushed back. With this charge, Hancock was able to bring up fresh troops to stop the advance and save that part of the Union line.

























Projects done over the year.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

More paint...


The Alamo...with paint.


The Alamo



I don't like to have too much on my plate but this is a commission that has to be finished by the MFCA show in May 2007. I've been working on this, off and on, for a few months now. It's about 30% complete. I don't own an airbrush so it's ALL being painted by hand. Surprisingly going quicker than I thought!

Here's a pic of the entire chapel before priming. It's 25mm in scale.

Another View


Closer Picture of Johnston


General A.S. Johnston Painted


Here he is painted. All acrylics. Painting the grey of his coat was not as tough as I thought it be.

I used 5 different shades of grey. Base coat 870 (all Vallejo unless noted) Medium Sea Grey. Shadows 991 Dark Sea Grey and 867 Dark Blue Grey. Highlights 990 Light Grey and 986 Deck Tan. These were all used in varied ratios until blended to my liking.

Chasseur a' Pied, 1870


This figure was inspired by an Alphonse de Neuville study.

Figure built using Aves and Kneadatite w/ a Hornet head.

Accessories used are from Bill Horan. Chassepot rifle from ICM.

Painted w/ acrylics. Yes, the shadow was painted on the base!

Current project- "My share of the spoils!"


General Albert Sidney Johnston at the Battle of Shiloh, April 6th, 1862.

Inspired by Don Troiani's "Men of Arkansas".

The figure depicts the General waving a tin cup snatched up from the Union camp which had been over- run early that morning. Shortly after pressing home another attack on the Federal line, the General was mortally wounded.

The figure is was built using a wire armature with Aves and Kneadatite epoxy putties filling out the body.

His horse "Fire-eater" is an Historex piece.

The figure is painted and the horse is in process.

Big ol' pile of heads and armatures for the St. Privat project.