1/16 Dragon Signaller, HG Div, Tunisia 1943 pt2

Using reference photos I've outlined the orange shapes with a 50/50 mix of Scorched Earth and Chaos Black. I've also added additional patterning in this shade as well as random dots inside the orange shapes.



The camo pattern supposedly uses five colours. I can discern at least two shades of brown so I went over the pattern this time adding more black to the brown. Also in these next photos my progress on the head can be seen.



I should have paused to take photos in-between these next steps but I was on a roll and kept working. At this point I'm adding shadow and highlights. Starting off i washed the tunic with a thin mix of Scorched Earth. This tones down and unifies the colours in the camo pattern. While this was still damp I mixed in some Chaos Black - about 50/50 and washed it in to the creases and seams. Again this goes over all the folds and creases regardless of colour. Finally more Chaos Black is added and worked into the deepest recesses.

Highlights are added to the orange shapes by adding Elf Flesh with Vomit Brown. Likewise Elf Flesh was added to the base colour and used to highlight the rest of the smock.


Next up are some close-ups of the head. The pictures aren't the greatest but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I started with a base coat of Snakebite Leather and worked up three levels of highlight by adding progressively more Elf Flesh to the Snakebite.


Shading was added by mixing Terracotta with Snakebite Leather and a touch of Chaos black for the deepest shadows such as the corners of the eyes or the creases right by the nose.


A 5 O'clock shadow is added with a thin mix of Snakebite Leather + Chaos Black carefully washed around the beard and moustache area.


Finally some colour is added to the cheeks and lips with a thin mix of Terracotta + a touch of Imperial Purple ( a little less of the pink in the cheeks).

GB

1/16 Dragon Signaller, Herman Goering Div, Tunisia 1943

Here's something else I'm working on at the same time as the KV, its a 1/16 scale figure representing a Signaller from the Herman Goering Field Division in Tunisa circa 1943. The model is not bad and went together without serious issue. Not counting the Tarleton bust this is the first large scale figure I've worked on. To add to the challenge the figure is wearing a camoflage smock. I've been wanting to try doing a camoflage subject and this seemed like a good figure to try it on.

I am not a German WW2 uniform expert but part of the fun of historical figure painting is doing research and learning something new along the way. What I learned is that the most likely camo pattern for the Luftwaffe Field Division in Tunisia would be the so called Oak Leaf "B" pattern. I found some good reference pics and a good SBS online by renowned figure painted Jaume Ortiz which I am trying to follow. He uses Vellajo paints so I had to try to colour match my Citadel paints.

My first step after priming was to come up with a good base colour for the camo smock. My first attempt was too light and too beige. You can actually see it on the head in the second picture below. My second mix was too brown but I finally found a mix that looked right. For the base I used a mix of Graveyard Earth + Imperial Purple+Chaos Black+Kommando Khaki+Skull White. I'm sorry I don't have the exact proportions. Once the base coat was dry all seems and straps were outlined with a thinned mix of Graveyard Earth + Chaos Black.



The next step is to start building the camouflage pattern by laying in random orange blotches using various reference sources. The orange shapes are Vomit Brown applied by babbing the brush to build the various shapes.



GB

1/35 Eastern Express KV-1s, part 3

Continuing with the painting, depth is added by outlining all details with a thinned mix of MM #1749 Flat Black + MM #2125 Russian Earth Grey. I went a bit further and blended some shadows here and there such as the fenders and the angle of the front glacis. The same paint mix with less thinner was used to add some paint scratches and wear.




GB

1/35 Eastern Express KV-1s, part 2

Back to the KV after a long period of inactivity. Major construction is done so I've started the painting/weathering phase by base coating the entire model with Model Masters Medium Green #1913 rattle-can spray. When I first sprayed it on I thought it was a disaster - too much paint - but once it dried it looked okay. The next step involved dry brushing with gradually lighter mixes of MM # 1786 Medium Field Green + MM # 2088 Sandgelb with additional lighter dry brushing of Medium Field Green + MM




To soften the drybrushing and add some tonal variation I then added dabs of Light Permanent Green oil paint on all the major surfaces and brushed then out to a very thin, imperfect coat. The effect is subtle and the pictures don't really do justice.




GB

200mm Tarleton Bust

Obviously I suck at blogging. There hasn't been much progress on the KV. I did however complete a 200mm bust of Banastre Tarleton by Verlinden.

Tarleton was a British cavalry officer who led the volunteer British Legion also known as Tarleton's Raiders during the American Revolution. He quickly gained reputations as a capable and daring leader but also as a brutal and cruel opponent. He earned the nickname "Bloody Tarleton" from the Americans after an alleged massacre of Continental soldiers at Waxhaw Creek. He survived the war and returned to England in 1781.

The figure itself is cleanly molded in olive resin with a couple of minor pits on the turban. The base had some rough edges around the bottom of the pedestal. The figure comes in five parts consisting of the base, body, head, cap and peacock feathers. In order to fit the the cap to the head a fair bit of sanding and filing was required. I used 2-part epoxy. I was able to get a good join and also fill in some minor gaps.

After cleanup and assembly were complete I primed the figure with a rattle-can spray of white. Once this was dry I laid in the base colours using acrylic Citadel paints. In hindsight I should have put another coat or two of the green to get a more even coat - not being used to oils I didn't realize how translucent the paint would be. I did the eyes with acrylics at this point as well.



This bust is actually based on this painting of Tarleton. As you can see the facial features are not very accurate. His complexion appears to be quite pale. I decided to try a more painterly approach rather than the usual shadow, highlight blend repeat method. So I looked for a suitable model for reference and found it in Prince Harry. I printed out several pictures that I found online along with the Tarleton painting and a detail shot and set up a palette of flesh tint, rose madder, burnt sienna, yellow ochre, raw umber, ultramarine and titanium white.


Here I've started on the tunic which appears brighter in the pictures than it does in person. You can also see what I referenced earlier about the base coat showing through. Mind you it does add a sort of texture - sort of a "happy accident" I guess.

At this point the bust is mostly done. The guilt buttons and chain where done with Citadel Glistening Gold. The lace was built up from a brown base with yellow ochre, medium yellow and titanium white.

The final piece with the peacock feathers and finished pedestal. It doesn't show in the photo very well but the feathers are highlighted with metallic blue and violet from the Citadel range based on reference photos.

GB