Le Cimier's Napoleon

Last post for 2013. I round it off with a kit I've always wanted to paint, Le Cimier's Napoleon. What a classic! It took years of searching and waiting for one on ebay, but well worth it. A pleasure to paint. All acrylics. Happy New Year!

Fostering creativity in the hobby. A seminar held at the MMSI Chicago Show 2012.

Chicago MMSI 2013 Show Pics #3

Last batch. I took more, but these were the best of the lot. I hope you enjoyed them. Back to the bench!

Chicago MMSI 2013 Show Pics #2

Notable pieces by Greg DiFranco, Bill Horan, Mike Blank, Fletcher Clement and Jason Green.

Chicago MMSI 2013 Show pics #1

I always have a great time at this show. The quality of work displayed is always world class. Seeing and talking shop with familiar faces is also a highlight of the weekend. I was fortunate to team up with two figure modeling idols, Bill Horan and Mike Blank, for Saturday morning judging. There is always something to learn and take away from sessions like this, especially from the two giants of the hobby.

2nd Regiment of Chasseur a Cheval

I managed to finish one more project for the Chicago Show. This project is more or less a Historex conversion. The torso, head and hat, sword and sabretache are from Historex. The legs are as well, but they are from pieces designed for a soldier with leggings. I just added putty to the lower half to make into trousers. I changed the pose as well by spreading the legs and arching the upper torso to give a more animated casual pose.

Austrian Drummer-After Rocco

Here's another project I finished before the Chicago show. It's based on a study done by artist Keith Rocco. The neat thing is the figure was commissioned by a collector who owns the original painting.

Red Lancer Officer

Here's one of my latest pieces. Just in time for the Chicago Show next weekend. I have been using a lot of spare parts in my recent projects, mostly parts from Historex and Airfix. This fella has a Historex torso and cap. The head is from Airfix, namely the George Washington kit. It's strange that the heads in these Airfix kits are the best part of the model. The horses aren't bad either.

The Bishop

What a brilliant sculpture by Castle Miniatures. The piece really painted itself. Especially the face, what wonderful character! The toughest part was of course the mitre. I had to first carve, file and sand the original detail off. I then applied a coat of putty (carve, file and sand again) to give a smooth surface to paint on. Thankfully, I had some really good reference images to go by. The bust was a pleasure to paint and I hope I did it justice.

MFCA Show #4

There is some amazing talent on the fantasy side of the table and the number of pieces continues to grow with each show. At this particular show, two full tables (painters and open divisions) were devoted to this genre. Could be, within the next five or so years, fantasy will be the dominate subject.

MFCA Show #3

MFCA Show #2

The musketeer was a collaboration project with Dave Maddox. The picture does NOT do justice to Dave's wonderful painting style. The Confederate cavalry relief was sculpted by my good friend Gary Dombrowski and painted by the brush talented Penny Meyer.

MFCA 2013 Part 1

MFCA notables. It never ceases to amaze me at the quality of work that is displayed at this show. This was my tenth MFCA show and it keeps getting better.