And here we are in the loneliest Group at iM - Figures. You can hear the wind blowing through the empty spaces...
Having been a brave little soldier with my recent eye problem and not blubbed once even, I thought I'd take a break from biplane modelling to give my eyes a little rest.
The resin figure vignette here is based on the French retreat from Russia in 1812, crossing the river at Berezina in freezing conditions. A tactical victory for the Russians (having run Le Grande Armee out of Russia), it was taken as a strategic victory for the French, who, in spite of losing 22,000 men plus thousands of camp followers, escaped with the bulk of the army intact. You can read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Berezina.
The set includes the mounted cavalryman, who has rescued a woman with her child from the freezing river, and a desperate soldier vainly reaching up from the swirling waters for help.
I'd had the 90mm vignette, sculpted by Alan Ball, bookmarked at Bonapartes Military Miniatures for at least 18 months, but other projects came to the fore and I never moved forward with it.
Recently, it had been reduced in price from £140 to £100, and they advised by email that if I was at the Euro show at Folkestone (October) they would sell it for £90 cash. I couldn't make the show, but a mate from the club was going and he kindly agreed to pick up the set for me.
It's supposed to have an additional wooden base with the set, but alas none was in the box, and unfortunately neither was the requisite resin figure base itself. The set is packaged plainly in a sealed bag, set in an unlabelled cardboard box. I contacted BMM to get a replacement but as yet no reply. I may end up scratching the figure base. This is typical of these short-run figures, but usually you have at least a colour label on the box.
I've been researching the uniform for the rider, and narrowed it down (there are dozens of variations) to 5th Regiment, Second Corps, it still didn't quite match the figure. I then realised it was a figure from the 1st Polish Cavalry Regiment. The clue is in the distinctively shaped shako and the pennant, which is bisected with a line to indicate the red/white split of the Polish colours.
As can be seen, I've removed all pieces from their casting blocks, trimmed, sanded and filled as needed, and set them all on individual stands for painting, all now ready for priming. I'll probably use acrylics to set base colours and artist oils from thereon.
I had some upload issues with a previous project, between Groups and Headlines, so not sure what will appear outside the Group page, but I'll post a few photos from time to time.
Here's what the vignette looks like as a unit, as seen in promotional images, unpainted.
A little research has revealed several interesting images of the 1st Polish (Light) Cavalry circa 1812.
Good to see the concurrence of uniform type from different sources.
First things first, though. I always block in colours with acrylics as mentioned earlier, and then concentrate on flesh tones where ever they may occur. In fact, the drowning Lancer is the only figure whose eyes are noticeably in view, and even then he's looking up and away because of the design of the sculpture. All others either have closed eyes or eyes shaded. The Lancer has a full beard and also the brim of his shako shields the upper face. The woman is the only full-faced figure here, the child's face, though 3/4 in view, is shielded by his Mother.
I blocked hands and faces with Vallejo Beige Red to set the base tone -
and then worked with oils for finer detailing. Here's the drowning Lancer after working the oils for a while.
And a bit more work on the face. Compare this to the earlier photo.
And uniform. The white braids etc have been soiled a little using Payne's Grey and Yellow Ochre. Other colours in play: Cobalt Blue, Cadmium Red, Venetian Red, Lamp Black and Zinc White.
I still have to use a 'badger blender' brush to soften the edges between colours, after which it can set a little. It will have a couple of coats of Artists Matt Varnish, which in turn gives the figure a softer, more uniform eggshell finish.
And here you can see the results of the matt varnish. The figure was put in the airing cupboard for several hours, where the residual heat within the cupboard 'settles' the finishes. The uniform looks tonally smoother and more natural.
Next, I've begun the Child figure. A little difficult to paint, as the Mother's arm rests across the child's back. A few base colours blocked in here.
And with some work with the oils.
The sleeve of the Mother's blouse has been based first in white,to be followed by Lemon Yellow. I want to use Naples Yellow for the main colour, and apart from any highlights and shadows, I can use a little white spirit across the elbow and upper arm to thin the NY back to the LY, as the LY is acrylic and won't be affected by the spirit, which creates a modified tonal highlight. At this point, I've also brought forward the blouse sleeves on the main Mother figure to ensure they are the same as the forearm that's around the child.
When the mother figure is complete, I can attach the Child figure and tidy up the joint in the arm where the figures meet.
Uniforms have their own colour callouts of course, but civilian clothing, particularly that of a past era, requires a little more consideration, even though the colours are often quite plain, the fabrics of the time being more basic and less fussy in some respects. Still, when colours are met as with one fabric detail hard against another, care should be taken to consider which colours might be complementaries and opposites. This will ensure a pleasing visual experience. To help, I always have a small colour wheel to hand, for quick reference.
A bit more work on the Child and it can be varnished and set aside overnight.
Moving on, the Mother figure's colours are blocked in now. I decided to give her a leather jerkin (waistcoat) as I think the leather effect worked well with the Naples Yellow. The apron will be two principal shades of green. When placed, she'll be facing outwards, so it's important to get as much detail into shading etc., as possible.
I should add that on reviewing the jerkin I think I’ll use a blue to counter the child’s colours. On her own the colours worked well for the Mother, but with the Child against her I felt there was a conflict. I’ll add photos reflecting these changes shortly.
Here she is with the waistcoat changed to a light blue-grey base.
The Child figure after varnish and setting.
I should mention that although I'm moving forward with each section re oils and varnish, the surfaces will stay tacky for weeks, just as you've heard about with portraits painted in studios, and a little care is required to ensure the finishes aren't spoiled with handling.
Here we have the Mother figure.
As before, the figure will be varnished now, and then the Child figure will be attached and minor touch-up of paint as required. I could in fact also attach the drowning Lancer (You can see his hands gripping the edge of the Mother's skirts.), but I need to ensure the angles are correct in respect to their position on the base.
Speaking of which, look what turned up in today's post. Well done Bonapartes Military Miniatures!
A little more work. The Lancer colours are now blocked in.
And here, the Child figure has been attached to the Mother. There's a small repair at the arm join to remedy, and then another over-all coat of varnish to the two figures.
The details have been sorted with the Mother figure now.
Here I've reunited the drowning Lancer with his hands, just to show the link. As you can see it makes a compact group.
Apart from readying the Mother and Child group for a second coat of varnish and blocking in the main Lancer, I decided all I'd do today would be to bring forward the resin base.
It depicts water edged in river stones. The oval depression to the right is where the drowning Lancer will be placed. There are two indentations to the left where the horse will be shown reeling back on its hind legs.
I've coloured the stones and river area with combinations of greens/greys and added a littler shadow detail.
The resin water is cast in a ripple effect, but I wanted to show a more dynamic movement of water, where the horse was kicking off and the Lancer was thrashing around. For water effects I use a product called Glass Cast, from Easy Composites. It's a crystal clear two-pack resin. After mixing, it's worked into the river area and over the edges of adjacent rocks. To affect a realistic disturbance, I used a fibre normally used as a fish tank filter material. It can be teased out very finely. I used toothpicks and worked the fibre into place in a random fashion into the resin. Once in contact with the resin the fibre can be manipulated to show a kind of freeze-frame action of water splashing upwards.
It's a little hard to get the right angle to photograph it, but once the figures are in place it will all make sense.
Should add that when resin is set I’ll use sharp scissors to ‘sculpt’ the spray a little- looks a little wild at the moment!
When the resin is set, I'll edge the outside edge of the base in matt black. Then it's just set aside as complete, apart from attaching it to the wooden base.
One of the horse's back legs has a post moulded to the bottom, which fits through the indentation at that point on the resin base, but the resin base has to be fixed to the wooden base prior to attaching the figures so that the hole can be extended into the wooden base for a firm fix; the horse's final position is at an outward, oblique angle and the secure fix is a must.
And on with the Lancer. Here the cape has several basic oil colours applied, namely, Cobalt Blue, Prussian Blue and Coeruleum Blue, plus Lamp Black and Zinc White. As you can see in the following photos, it's all roughed in at this stage.
I also continued work on the uniform trousers and the leggings, which are a kind of chaps worn by the cavalry. The lower legs are in turn wrapped in loose binding against the weather.
Here the figure is fairly complete now. There's such a large area of oil paint on the cape that I need to set it in the airing cupboard for a few hours to tack a little prior to varnish work.
I've referred to the Artists Matt Varnish a few times. I should stress that the reason I use this instead of a standard matt varnish of some kind, is because the AMV contains beeswax, which contributes to the smooth creamy look of the finishes. It's opaque in the bottle, but then it's set in a cup and hot water is added. After a few minutes the varnish clears and is ready to use. Effectively, it's applied warm and as it dries it 'melds' to the oil paint beneath. A second coat a couple of days later provides the requisite mil-thickness.
Although the general painting to the Lancer is nearly complete, there were a few items to add that were non-kit pieces.
- There should be a chin strap, with a rosette where it fastened to the shako either side.
- There should also be an 'X' across the top of the shako, which represents the panel divisions of the top of the shako.
- There should be sabre straps from the belt.
- There should be a tasselled braid that's draped across the shako and left hanging loose from the side. The decorative extent of these varied greatly, and sometimes included plumes, pompoms or the like.
I used foil for the chin strap, rosettes, and sabre straps, and masked and painted the 'X'.
Initially for the braided piece I tried a thin lead wire in a braid effect but it was clearly out of scale.
In the end I used ship's rigging line treated with a weak wash of acrylic white. For the tassels it was the same, tying a knot at each end, teasing out the ends and glueing these to the cords.
The various accoutrements have to be sorted out, and I decided to clear all these before beginning work on the final piece (the Horse). These include the reins, the lance/pennant (fitted into the Lancer's hand from either side, and the bedroll.
The Lancer has had one coat of varnish. I want to set the Woman and Child set in place now and re-coat all with another varnish application.
I still have the sabre to paint, but that takes a little more time and I will probably complete it in a day or so before beginning work on the Horse.
The main figure set together now - re-varnished half an hour ago, so still a little shine to settle down.
A little work on the sabre, which looks ok.
The Horse was blocked in, the saddle and blanket, etc., painted, and the Horse's coat here has a weak wash of Umber and Orange. It's the white spirit that's creating the shine. Next, I'll modulate the colours of the coat and use the blending brush to soften it together.
Here's the Horse, fully painted. I stupidly left the blinds open when I took the photos, which has washed it out somewhat. Now, a couple of hours in the airing cupboard to 'set' the oils just enough to be able to apply the first coat of varnish, and then the final stages.
As I have only the figures to pull together and to add the accoutrements, plus a little fine-tuning with the reins' colours, I'm drawing this WiP thread to a close.
Thanks to everyone who visited and commented. I hope to have the vignette posted to Headlines in the next few days.
