Update on the Cuirassier

Here some pictures of the progress on the Officer of the Cuirassiers. At Soldat the Plom I showed the work in progress to Andrea. And he commented that the neck was still to long and too thick. So I took the saw again and removed more or less half a centimeter of the neck. Glued it back to the horse body and made the neck more slim. Furthermore I added some of the reins on the horse head and did some more work on the saddle of the horse sculpting the clothes and the top part of the saddle.

Cheers,
Marcel.

Mosso d'Esquadra 1809-1815

The next figure that is standing on my workbench is the "Mosso d'Esquadra" or Catalan police from 1809 - 1815. I will start painting this figure next weekend on the club meeting of El Baluard. The figure is sculpted by Antonio Zapatero and the box-art painted by Jesus Gamarra. I have cleaned the mold lines and mounted most of the figure, now it's ready to receive some paint.

Cheers,
Marcel.

Finished Officer 3rd foot Grenadier 1751

After some intensive weeks of painting I managed to finish the figure in time for Soldat de Plom. Now that the figure arrived home again I could take some pictures of the finished figure. The figure is totally painted using acrylics. Painting the grenadier hat took quite some time but I'm satisfied with the final result.  The figure base was kept simple and was painted using an airbrush. Here are the pictures of the finished figure. Up to the next figure.

Cheers,
Marcel.

Soldat de Plom 2013

On 18,19 and 20 of October the 18th edition of Soldat de Plom was held again in Girona. This year theme and figure was a "Mosso d'Esquadra" beautiful sculpted and painted by the duo Antonio Zapatero and Jesus Gamarra.

In the weeks before the show I spend a lot of time painting to get at least on figure ready. Two days before the Soldat de Plom the figure was ready, and on Friday evening after coming back from work I brought the figure to the show. I arrived there and after handed over my entry  I soon met my friends from Germany, Italy, France and of course many from Spain. Having a chat and a drink and time was flying by, soon it was time to go home. 
As my son of 6 also is now also infected with the painting virus. He managed to finished a figure and also wanted to take part in the competition. So on Saturday morning I brought him and his painted British line infantry figure to the show.

On Saturday and Sunday there were several interesting demonstrations. Painting demos from Angel Giraldez on fantasy figures and one from Diego Esteban on painting freehand patterns. Antonio Zapatero did a demo on modelling a face, incredible to see him sculpting a face in only half an hour (and handling these tiny balls of puty). And Alfonso Prado did an demonstration on how to create a beautiful snow scenery. In the evening there was a dinner, were every year a different cantinera is elected. This year my wife was the lucky one.

As usual on Sunday in the afternoon there was the award ceremony. For my son and me a great day. He receiving a gold medal in the junior class. And I receiving a silver medal in the painting competition but next to it I was the lucky one to receive a figure painted by Jesus Gamarra for the best painted figure of the 2013 painting course. The figure now has a special place in my display cabinet (many thanks Jesus!!). The best of show went to my german friend Mark Lerach. After the ceremony it was time to return the figures to the contestants and soon it was time to go home. For me it was a great show and hopefully I will meet my fellow modelers in the next edition of Soldat de Plom.

Pictures of the event can be found here: Pictures Soldat de Plom 2013 

or here: SDP 2013

Cheers,
Marcel.

Officer 3rd foot Grenadier (the buffs) 1751

This figure I started during the painting course of Jesus in April and was standing unfinished on my workbench ever since. Now that picked up the paint brushes again I decided to try to get this figure finished for Soldat de Plom of this year. I have painted the hair and did some more work on the face and started painting the silver lace. Furthermore I glued the right hand and smoothed the joined using magic sculp and painted the arm in a red color. Next step will be painting the complicated hat plate.

Cheers,
Marcel.

Painting the face

After finishing the sculpture I cleaned it and applied a few thin layers of primer. When the primer was dry I started painting the face first. Several thin coats off  brownsand were painted on the face as base coat. The base coat was then highlighted using basicskintone and for the shadows burnt cad. red was added to the mixture of brownsand. The hair, moustache and eyebrows were painted as blonde hair using light colors. Furthermore on the uniform several thin coats of a light blue color were added. Next step will be applying highlights and shadows to the uniform.

Cheers,
Marcel.

Finished sculpting

I finally finished sculpting this figure which was standing already too long on my workbench. The last parts that were sculpted are several details of the uniform (medal, epaulette, buttons, glove) and I also sculpted the sword using plastic card and magic sculp. Now it's time to add some color to the figure. Here are the pictures of the final sculpture.

Cheers,
Marcel.

Some more corrections

After shortening the neck of the horse, I noticed that the neck was still to wide. So I removed the remaining mane and made the necessary corrections to the neck and ears. Furthermore I correct some details on the horse head and added a bit more volume to the cheeks. Next step will be the addition of the reins and re-sculpt the mane. The progress of this figure is rather slow because I'm working on several figures at the same time, hopefully next time I can show some progress.

Cheers,
Marcel.

Cuirassier the next step

Last weeks it was very busy and therefore there was no time for sculpting. The last days I finally could pickup the sculpting tools again and I made some progress with the figures standing on my workbench, including the Cuirassier. On this figure I managed to sculpt the folds on the lower part of the boots, modeling the horse tail and I made a start sculpting the saddle of the horse. The neck of the horse was a bit too long, thanks victor! So I had to shorten it and re-sculpt this part. The next step will be to re-sculpt the mane of the horse and add the equipment. Hopefully I can post some more progress soon.

Cheers,
Marcel.

Officier de Cuirassiers

Here an update of this mounted figure that is on my workbench. It's going to be an officer of the Cuirassiers.

The horse body is from historex and the figure is a Metal Modeles conversion. I have cut the original legs and re-sculpted them with magic sculp to transform figure to a mounted one. Here are some pictures of the current status. Next steps will be sculpting the horse tail and saddle.

Cheers,
Marcel.

Workshop with Jesus Gamarra

On 13 and 14 april El Baluard organized a painting workshop with Spanish top painter Jesus Gamarra. The figure for the painting workshop was the officer 3rd regiment foot grenadier, 1751 from Art-Girona. Due to lack of time I  picked up my figure on Friday night before the workshop and had to prepare it before the following morning. Next morning I left a bit tired but with the figure prepared to the workshop.

After unpacking and installing we started with the face, first painting the eyes. I didn't paint for almost half a year so this part was not the easiest to begin with for me. After painting the eyes Jesus showed how to paint the rest of the face, were to apply the highlights and shadows and which dilution we had to use. After some hours painting everybody was getting hungry and we went for lunch. After a good lunch we continued with the workshop. And Jesus showed how to paint a freehand in a very short time which was great to see. We continued painting until around 8 o'clock in the evening. 

Next day after a good night rest we continued painting the red jacket which is a big part of the figure. In a record time Jesus showed how to apply the highlights and shadows of the red color. My painting speed was much slower but much faster than I was used to. Soon it was time to get our hungry stomachs filled and we went for a good lunch. After the lunch the buff part was painted and soon it was time to go home. I had a great weekend and learned a lot from Jesus. Hopefully I can find some time to finish the figure. Above and below are some pictures of the progress I made during the workshop.

Cheers,
Marcel.

Time for an update

It's been along time since I have been updating my blog. The last months was like a roller coaster and time was flying. At the end of august we left the Netherlands and before we were finally installed in our new home  here in Girona it was already October. Then getting used to the new work environment and rhythm also took some time. In the beginning of January I picked up the brushes and sculpting tools again and spend some hours modelling. I spend a few hours on painting but at the moment I'm only focusing on sculpting in order to get some projects finished this year. So, on my work bench at the moment are four figures I'm doing together with Fernando Ruiz, who will do the paintwork. These I will not show until they are finished. Next to these figures I have some side projects. One is a 70 mm fantasy figure and the other a 60 mm conversion of a Napoleonic mounted figure. The horse body is from historex the head is a copy. When preparing putty I always end up with too much, so the excess of putty I used to sculpt the neck of the horse. This is the first stage, next steps are to sculpt the ears, smooth the neck and add the mane. Soon some more updates!

Cheers,
Marcel.