Soldat de Plom 2015

The XXth International Contest of 'Soldat de Plom' will this year take place from 30th October till 1st November. We also will celebrate the XXXV Historical Miniatures Show that will held from 24th October until the first of November.

This year we will celebrate the millennium of the acquisition of the convent of St. Daniel by the Earls of Barcelona, Ramon Borrell and Ermessenda of Carcassona. This acquisition allowed the bishopric escape from the difficulties it was passing and finish the works of the Cathedral of Girona.

Follow this link and you will find the rules of the XX International Contest 'Soldat de Plom': http://www.elbaluard.net/en/

We look forward to seeing you at our Contest! Add it in your schedules!

Joseph Steck Finished

It's a long time I didn't post anything on my blog. Mainly due to the lack of time. And in the free time I find I rather try to sculp and paint. Well here are the final pictures of the Joseph Steck which I finished last year. The figure was almost completely sculpted by me except the face. It's a 54mm figure sculpted using Magic-sculp and Green stuff,  and it was painted with Vallejo acrylics.

Cheers,

Marcel.

Soldat de Plom 2014

This year the XIX edition of Soldat de Plom was held again in Girona. The theme of this year was the war of 1714 fought in Barcelona, now 300 years ago. The figure for this year was sculpted by Antonio Zapatero and painted by Joan Masferrer.

My addition to the show of this year was the cantinera named Clara de Mas i Duran (1714), which was sculpted and painted by me.

On Friday evening just after work I went to the show which was held again in the church of Sant Lluc. It was great to meet all the Spanish, French, German and Italian friends who are coming almost every year. And this year I also was pleased to meet Pedro from Portugal who I know from planetfigure and my friend Dick from the Netherlands who I didn't see for over two years now. It was great to chat a bit in dutch again.

On Saturday and Sunday you could see the demonstrations of the masters in either painting, sculpting or building groundwork by Marc Masclans, Adriano Laruccia, Louis Dorio, Antonio Zapatero and Alfonso Prado.Where they were shared their techniques and tips, (thanks for the bag of resin Alfonso!). Furthermore you could spend your time to admire lots of great figures, a little less than other years probably due to the world expo which was held in Stresa this year. And during the rest of the days having a great time by chatting drinking and eating with my friends. 

On Sunday the show was closed as usual with the award ceremony. My son could pickup his second medal in junior class and I won this year a bronze in master open.

The best of show fantasy of this year went to Bruno Lavallée and the best of show historical went to the duo Antonio Meseguer y Gustavo Gil.

I was a great show and hopefully until next year!!!

Pictures of the event can be found here: Photos Soldat de Plom 2014

Cheers,

Marcel.

Finished sculpt: Officer of the Cuirassier

Finally here the finished sculpt of the officer of the cuirassiers. Somewhere in January after a discussion I had with Fernando the figure underwent some changes to make it more appealing and less standard. Instead of having the helmet on his head the helmet was placed under the arm of the officer. Therefore I had to resculpt the right arm and helmet. Secondly the manes were added to the horse his neck by using  a mixture of duro and magic sculp. And finally all the small details like reins, saddle details were sculpted using duro and magic sculp. Now the figure will be send to Fernando who is going to do some magic with the paintwork.

Cheers,
Marcel.

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.