Title: "I have the Cuckoo”- Sgt Masterson, Barrosa, Spain, 1811
Reference: PPST21
SCALE: 1/10th
Material: Gray Resin
15 Resin pieces, 2 brass rods, lead strip , 2 inserts
Sculptor: Carl Reid
Price: £40.00
This is Stormtroopers Miniatures' new resin bust, depicting Sgt.Masterson of the 87th Regiment (Royal Irish Fusiliers), at the Battle of Barrosa during the Peninsular War.
On March 5, 1811, during a vicious bayonet engagement along Barrosa ridge, he captured the Regimental Eagle of the French 8th, shouting “Bejabbers, boys! I have the Cuckoo!” - the British vernacular for the esteemed regimental symbol (bronze with gold wreath), presented personally to each Regiment by Napoleon himself.
Apart from the resin, there's a basic colour reference guide and a page illustrating some of the uniform and metal detailing, but in both cases I'd recommend further research to get the best from the castings.
The photos here show the figure assembled and primed. Principal pieces have been pinned for further stability.The photos are taken with a single source of light from the side, to highlight the excellent detailing by sculptor Carl Reid.
The pedestal piece directly attached to the bust is part of the kit but the main base is a (separate) piece of wax-polished laburnum.
The figure offers the painter a wide scope of presentation to depict flag silk, uniform cloth, braid, metal, and skin tones. I'm using acrylics primarily, but will augment skin tones with selected artists' oils.
The next series of photos show the flesh areas with their base coat (BC), and with Highlights (HL) and Lowlights (LL) applied. This BC should be a midtone, to allow the HL and LL to work 'against the mean'. I used Vallejo Model Color (VMC) Basic Skin Tone, with a drop of VMC Black Red, thinned 50/50 with De-Ionised Water (DIW), applied in four coats, ensuring not to allow any pooling in low areas. I used a hair dryer on a low setting to gently quick-dry the acrylic, and this also seems to increase the matte effect.
The first three HL are the base coat mix (BC - as above), with a drop of VMC Light Flesh, thinned about 50% with DIW. A further (fourth) HL is the Light Flesh applied to to uppermost areas, e.g., brow, cheekbones, bridge of nose. This application is restricted to the smallest areas as a 'top note'. First LL is Base Coat + Brown Sand at a 50:50 water to paint ratio. Second HL is BC + Black Red, and the last LL is BC + Burnt Red, but this last one only for deepest wrinkles, nostrils, etc.
A weak mix of Prussian Blue and Burnt Umber (oils) provides detail to the rims of the eyes, with a touch of Cadmium Red in the corners. It's important not to completely repaint previous areas when applying highlights/lowlights, as the graduation of skin tones between these and the base colour will be lost.
A weak mix of VMC Beige Red brings a little colour to the cheeks. I've washed the sideburns with the weak mixes as I was doing the face, to give a little shadow detail, but these and the hair will be painted properly next.
Note that the Shako (tall hat) is set a little askew, with the brim more to his left, which will mean an adjustment in the HL and LL, as they wouldn't fall the same across the brow because of the angle of the hat brim. In the last couple of shots, the Shako has had a first coat of Paynes Grey (oils) as the midtone. The Shako was made of black felt with a glossy brim, but naturally dead black wouldn't allow further LL later.
I noticed that after the application of the various flesh tints and red-based shadows, the colour spectrum tended too much towards red. I used a filter (about 8:2 water to paint) of Prussian Blue to swing the colour range back a little. This was applied in two coats, but discreetly, not a complete wash everywhere.
The tongue, inside of the mouth, and lips were treated with a weak wash of Burnt Red. The teeth were HL with Titanium White, leaving the previously applied Burnt Red as shadow detail.
The hair was painted in a base mix of Burnt Umber/ Naples Yellow/ Crimson Red (oils), followed by a Lamp Black wash. I wanted the hair to be a reddish chestnut colour. I used a wash of Andrea Colors Red Ink, to bring out the reddish hue, with VMC Ice Yellow as a top note to selected areas.
This next photo was taken just after I applied the first coat of Cadmium Red to the jacket, the paint thinned a little with Artists Turpentine. I've also taken the opportunity to rework the eyes a little, adding a little Titanium White to the eyelids and the area just below and to the outside corners, to lift and separate the areas more distinctly and make them look less heavy. I daresay I will revisit more than one area before the project is completed.
The face colours are in fact fairly subtle, and perhaps would benefit in future shots with a better lighting setup as we're moving beyond the basic coats now when the various areas start to work with each other as a pallete.
While waiting a few days for the Cadmium Red to tack off, I decided to bring forward the metalwork. I used Andrea Black Ink to undercoat the eagle, flagstaff butt, pike butt and point, shako plate and plume boss, and breast plate and buckles. The eagle was then painted with a base of VMC Old Gold, as was the plume boss. Plates and buckles mentioned were painted with VMC Brass. Pike butt and point were painted first with VMC Oily Steel, followed by Vallejo Games Color Chainmail Silver. Everything had three coats.
I'll add a little Chainmail Silver to the Old Gold to HL the eagle, and the same for the plates except using Brass with the CS. I think a judicious applicaton of Andrea Black Dye will offer a little shadow relief to the metalwork when the highlights are complete.
I also did a little research on the green used in the cuffs, collar, and epaulette wings. The Stormtrooper callout reads for dark green, but I think this might be an error. There are only four uniform jackets of this type remaining in the world, and the best example is in an Irish museum and the jacket happens to have been in use in the Peninsular War, so the provenance is accurate. Apart from evidence of darning in several places, the colours remain vivid (see below). It's clear that the green in evidence is more of a dull khaki green (wool), not dissimilar to an army blanket fabric, and not the deep rich green favoured by some illustrators. I plan therefore to use Tamiya Khaki XF-49 rather than a dark green.
The eagle completed, as described above.
Here are a couple of shots of the water bottle completed, but in the first photo its strap is simply base-coated (VMN Leather Brown), while the second photo shows the strap with HL/LL added.
The next photo show the Shako completed; the brim or 'peak' is a patent-covered board, and so finished in glossy black as opposed to the felt of the main head piece.
The brass has had the same HL/LL treatments as the eagle, but with the Brass base rather than the Old Gold. Note in the background the flagstaff. As part of a formal regimental standard the staff would have been ebonised wood rather than simply a varnished pole.
Also shown here, a couple of close-ups of the scarlet sash (Vallejo Game Color, Scarlet Red), HL/LL completed.
A couple of things happening here. I decided to change the laburnum wooden base for one a little less imposing. Also, most of the main figure painting is complete, but I carefully coated the body with a thin application of Klear, as I wanted to let a thin flowline of black ink follow along some of the edges to bring them out a little more. Once that's done, eveything will have a matte coat of varnish.
The haversack is painted VMC Flat Earth, with a selection of Andrea inks to give it a worn, soft appearance.
The backpack is painted Tamiya NATO Black, and the bedroll is a dark grey. Both have been weathered, particularly the straps, and as both are dark colours, I used Andrea Blue Ink in the deepest recesses.
The pike staff is base-coated with VMC Wood, ready for graining.
In the next four photos, the figure has been matte-coated with a 50:50 mix of Vallejo Matt Varnish and Matt Medium, applied in two thin coats. The pike has been grained and sealed with one coat of Clear Orange Lacquer.
Also, I treated the wooden base with three coats of Dark Oak varnish stain, and then sprayed it with Matte Varnish.
You may notice a small symbol on the facing of the backpack. All fusilier regiments had this symbol, whether as shown here, or as a badge worn by officers. It's an exploding hand grenade, the fusiliers' stock-and-trade. The silver within the circle was the Prince of Wales emblem -a harp with three feathers above - as the 87th was known from the outset as The Prince of Wales Own Regiment of Foot. I assume it was press-printed on to the backpack leather. I can't find an illustration of the symbol's size, so have assumed a small representation here, for effect.
The backpack symbol, here in badge form.
With these images, I'm ready to move on to the flag, arguably the most challenging part of the painting process. Luckily, I've located a couple of images of French regimental flags from the period as references, one of them in fact the flag of the actual unit engaged at Barrosa.
For colours, I'm using Vallejo Game Color Scarlet Red and Imperial Blue, and VMC Old Gold and Ivory.
Below are two photos of the front and back of the flag following two coats of the base colours, ready for picking out the lettering and braidwork in Old Gold. Frankly, without the reference photos I think it would be difficult to tease out which folds belonged to which colours, but I think I've done it correctly.
The flag is now painted, HL/LL, and matted down. I noticed that the eagle looked a little 'too gold' and so applied a filter of Andrea Brown Ink to give it a bronze look, following which I recoated the wreath with a HL of Old Gold/Chainmail Silver. I'll wait now to post Headline photos before adding anything else, as effectively this completes the WIP thread for this project.
One last thing, though. When I removed the resin pedestal from its casting block I wasn't able to remove it absolutely flat-faced. During the whole project it's been wobbling around. Now, it needs to be secured firmly to the wooden base for display. I've taken red felt and cut two pieces to fit one against the other against the plinth face. It's doubled to allow for that extra cushion. When the glue is dry I'll trim it with a sharp blade to leave an attractive edge of red piping, which should look nice between the black plinth and the oak base. I include a photo to prove it can now stand in its own!
Thanks again to everyone who's taken the time to follow this thread.
