WIP Critique Mitches Hero of Soviet Union Russian Soldier

Here are some wip shots of Mitches V-Bust Hero of the Soviet Union.

This has taken me approx. 6 hours work. I wanted to try and go faster and keep everything as simple as possible.

This first stage allows me to see where touch uos are needed and to fix things such as the left eye catch light being somewhat dimmer than the right. Also it highlights where my cats hair and wafted down onto my figures.

The flesh was done in scale 75 basic flesh with some red to make it just a wee bit pink. Arylics first with a base of raw sienna and white mix of oils applied. The scale 75 paints are very matt and the hold the oil paints extremely well.

Dark red and burnt umber mixed with base coat for first shadow of the flesh
Green, blues were mixed with the base colour for the lower half of face especially jaw line (early 5 oclock shadow was blue)
Red applied to base mix over cheek bones nose and ears in the same level of area.
Burnt umber applied for temple indentation and where the ushanka fur meets the flesh.



Highlights were white added to base colour and pure white for the nose.

This is the first stage and I will now let it dry before working in more oils to get more contrasts.

The ushanka is a mix of german camo beige and deck tan.

The uniform is just plain khaki with german camo base and deck tan for highlights leather brown and german camo black for shadows.

Dark star acrylic old silver was used for the buttons which give a worn burnished look which I think goes really well with a worn uniform.

And the cloak is Russian green with green grey highlights, German dark green for shadow s and bronze green for deeper shadows.

I will post an article on how to pin wash the uniform to show you how I try and make more detail pop out as well as blending in more shadows and highlights making ti a very easy and controllable affair.

Can't wait for the rest of it. It will be another great piece...
Cheers,
Martin

Great .
Cant wait to see it finished.

Excellent! Looking forward to the shading and highlighting and other finishing details!

When you post your next WIP, could you include some color reference photos of the uniform and ushanka?

All the best,
Dan

Looking really good, I will be interested to see how you do the pin wash.

Nice to see another one of these busts Grant, I found it a joy to paint and I'm surprised that more haven't appeared on the forum. Thanks for sharing

Hi Guys,
Thanks for the kind comments.

Eludia, I agree mate, this Russian is great to paint. I think all of the Russian V-Busts are sculpted brilliantly and will do the sailor in the future.

Hi Dan, I tend not to get caught up in exact colours and stuff. Materials wear and tear, conditions, dyes, climate, age etc. make for loads of variations so I don't delve deep as I like to paint rather than use up that time trying to please others.

The pics in the link below are great for reference and as you can see what I'm talking about, the Ushankas themselves come in, browns, greens, khakis, greys, lights, darks etc both the fur and the actual colour so don't worry too much about getting the exact colour the guys who never paint want you to achieve.
The link also contains a picture of the reference for the sculpt.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/36919288@N08/with/14055172704

Good reference pics, bookmarked

Can't offer any critique, but praise as encouragement.

This is coming around nicely Grant, and I'll be watching.

Joe

Hi Gells,

Watching this with Interest , good start

Saw one of these painted at FW , looked great

Looking forward to more

Thanks for sharing
Nap

Firstly let me apologise for the photos. I bought a great camera recently but I've realised it's me that takes crap pictures not the camera.


A few guys have asked me about pin washing so I'd thought I'd explain quickly how I do it.

This sbs is to show you how I do a pin wash. I will also try and demonstrate what I do to try and achieve more contrasts as well as colour and tonal variation.


What's a pin wash?

A pin wash is used by armour and aircraft modellers as a way of getting panel lines, recesses, hinges etc to stand out. If something is flat against a surface, a pin wash will make a demarcation line which shows the relief and make it stand out. This can be used in figure modelling for deepening shadows, creases, and providing a relief on items such as medals, piping, pocket seams etc.

After I do this I will lightly apply some lightly diluted oil colours to add with tones, colour, highlights and blending......fingers crossed.


Torso painted in acrylics with highlights and shadows. You don't ned to spend hours doing this as they will be exaggerated by the oils.



Thinned black oil paint applied with a pointed brush in deepest recesses, creases and stitching. If you apply this too thin just build it up by adding more paint. If it's too thickly applied remove excess and try a more diluted mix. It's quite easy to work with. The collar seams , jacket seams and surrounding medals where the touch the uniform show good examples of where the technique works.
the white spirit flows far more easily than water so when you touch a seam it bleeds quite far up and around which means you don't need to have a steady as a rock hand.



I now have raw umber (As it work well with browns) and will apply this with a flat used brush again diluted and use a dabbing motion in the shadows. It gives a slightly reddish hue and this is good to add a wee bit colour., especially over large flat areas. You control where the amount of paint goes and feather it like acrylic paint. I used this on both the tunic and cloak.



I have now applied yellow ochre mixed with white on the highlights. Again you control how much to put on. You can feather this with the raw umber shadow and this will blend them together. I will use the same dabbing motion with the same flat brush. The yellow ochre/white works well with the green cloak also.















This is still a stage and not finalised. I will go over the extreme high lights such as pocket flaps, seams etc with a bold light colour to make them stand out more.

You can also go over the whole figure with very dilute washes to bring everything together.

I like these methods as it's fast, easily applied and easily fixed. It gives you a quick way to deal with a large flat surface quickly.

This is really just a guide to let you see a very small picture of what can be achieved.

Many thanks for the SBS.
While I've been using pin washes regularly, your other methods have given me plenty of food for thought.

Cheers,
Andrew

"Hi Dan, I tend not to get caught up in exact colours and stuff. Materials wear and tear, conditions, dyes, climate, age etc. make for loads of variations so I don't delve deep as I like to paint rather than use up that time trying to please others.

The pics in the link below are great for reference and as you can see what I'm talking about, the Ushankas themselves come in, browns, greens, khakis, greys, lights, darks etc both the fur and the actual colour so don't worry too much about getting the exact colour the guys who never paint want you to achieve.
The link also contains a picture of the reference for the sculpt."

I didn't ask the question for personal use - I'm pretty much a non-painter. You take a mature and realistic position and I completely agree. For most conflicts prior to WW2, that attitude toward reference colors of uniforms and equipment is even more realistic.

All the best,
Dan

Valuable post above illustrating and generously sharing your methods. I wish more did that sort of SBS on this site as it was very interesting to read. We can all learn a lot from each other's home grown techniques.

Looks great Grant. Thanks for taking the effort to share your technique.

Cheers,
Adrian

Great work on this top sculpt from Pavol Grant.
Gordon

Gellso said:

Hi Guys,
Thanks for the kind comments.

Eludia, I agree mate, this Russian is great to paint. I think all of the Russian V-Busts are sculpted brilliantly and will do the sailor in the future.

Hi Dan, I tend not to get caught up in exact colours and stuff. Materials wear and tear, conditions, dyes, climate, age etc. make for loads of variations so I don't delve deep as I like to paint rather than use up that time trying to please others.

The pics in the link below are great for reference and as you can see what I'm talking about, the Ushankas themselves come in, browns, greens, khakis, greys, lights, darks etc both the fur and the actual colour so don't worry too much about getting the exact colour the guys who never paint want you to achieve.
The link also contains a picture of the reference for the sculpt.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/36919288@N08/with/14055172704

Click to expand...

Hello friend, again great job. You're right, the colors are faded and often have different shades. It is logical and your way of painting is excellent.
It must be said that photographs indicate that the reference is not color photos. These photos are colorated in studio. Their color authenticity is also uncertain.
But it's a good artwork.
Palo

Great work grant,I love the SBS and the photos,very nice work mate

The seams and edges have been highlighted.

Very very nice grant,is this the box art