WIP Critique 28mm Dominique Jean Larrey

[gazer]

Good morning friends

This is my first "serious" miniature figure and my second figure ever. Due to my job requirements and due to parenting 2 hyperactive toddlers, unfortunately, I don't think I will be able to progress too quickly with this build...
As a beginner, I'll appreciate your most sincere feedback and remarks , no mercy please! I want to learn and improve!

This is a 28mm Warlord Games miniature of Dominique Jean Larrey, a very prominent Napoleonic surgeon, considered by many as one of the founding fathers of modern military combat medicine. See the following thread: http://www.planetfigure.com/threads...ferences-identify-sources.113206/#post-905928

In my opinion, this metal figure is nicely sculpt, but due to it's size, I am not sure it was the best choice for a first figure. Anyhow, it was cleaned, filed, mounted temporarily on a base, and primed with gray automotive primer. After the primer dried I discovered yet some more mold lines, filed them again and re-primed. I started block painting the skin areas (face, hands, Vallejo basic skin tone), belt, boots, bicorn (Vallejo black) and pants (Vallejo white). The white was translucent, so I'll add more layers at a later date. The rest of the blocking process will also be done later, with Vallejo acrylics.

After blocking done, I plan to paint the entire figure with W&N oils.

Here are pics from today:

 

[Nap]

Hi there gazer

Good on you a nice start .....don't envy you on the scale though

Keep us all updated inbetween the hyper toddlers

Nap

 

[gazer]

Some more blocking with Vallejo acrylics - blue for the uniforms, another coat of white for the trousers, brown (mixed from red, yellow and black) to the hair. As promised, tiny steps, too far apart...
Sincere feedback and suggestions (technique, historical aspects, etc) will be appreciated

 

[Nap]

Hi gazer

Good tidy start on this , might I suggest you base coat the gold lacework in a dark/mid brown .

Nice to have updates

Happy painting

Nap

 

[gazer]

Thank you very much Nap!
The "gold" part already started to daunt the back of my mind...
One question though: The general plan is to do blocking with acrylics and the actual painting with oils. So, just to be sure, what you are actually suggesting is to do the blocking for the golden parts (epaulette, aiguillette, etc.) with brown?

Benny

One more thing (not related to the topic of this thread): for some reason I can't figure out how to include a quote of the post I refer to when replying...

 

[gazer]

Hi all!

Some progress, but before, inspired by MrBMBuilder, I have tried my own homemade wet palette for the acrylics, made from baking paper, Vileda reusable sponge cloth, and a plastic box with an air tight lid. Worked pretty nice, although, as a beginner, my point of reference is not very robust:

I continued with basic blocking, following Nap's advice at blocking the golden lace parts with brown. The last major thing before finishing the blocking, would be to figure out how the back of the uniforms looked like for this particular outfit (the red double-breasted)



Cheers,

Benny

 

[gazer]

Hello all,

Progress is VERY slow - I get on average an hour at the bench every a month or so, but enjoy it immensely.
I painted the skin of the face and hands with W&N oils. Some thoughts and lessons:
Technical:
1. The acrylic base coat was not even, so the results of the next oils layer were not great either
2. On the first oils layer I was not meticulous enough in mixing and preparing the palette, nor in application
3. I cannot praise enough my X 2.5 Optivisors (I got a new set of lenses from Donegan )

General and "philosophical":
1. I employ "classic" miniature painting techniques for this 28mm figure, rather than "classic" wargaming painting techniques. This is my first "serious" attempt at figure painting, so it seems that it wasn't the best choice for a "first"
2. In the few hours of actually working on the figure I learned from my results (and mistakes and failures) not much less than from countless hours in front of books, articles, and videos.
3. One needs to know where to stop. As surgeons say: "The enemy of the good is often times the perfect"

For the next step (who knows when) I plan to paint the blue uniforms with oils.
I will appreciate remarks for the work done so far, and the steps ahead. Please, no mercy!

Cheers,

Benny

 

[gazer]

Hello all,

Some more progress after a long time. I repainted the hair. I also painted the gold braids and aiguillettes, but it turned out too metallic and did not match period oil portraits of Larrey (first picture). So I started painting over that with Yellow with a bit of gold ochre - this is the first layer. Darker layers and highlights will follow, hopefully making it a bit less "lemoni"
I also painted the eyes - Vallejo off white for the eye itself, Vallejo grey black mixed with raw umber for the pupil/iris, and overall wash with red.
I would love to get your input and advise!



Cheers!

Benny

 

[gazer]

Better closeup pictures:

 

[gazer]

Hello all

I had some more time to work on my Larrey:
I fixed the aiguilette color and it is more to my liking now - I used oils straight on the previous "lemony" layer, using a palette mixture as described by Danilo Cartacci in his book: burnt umber, gold ochre, naples yellow, and titanium white.
I added his two medals - Legion d'honneur around the neck (There should be 5 leaves, but this is so tiny and had detail of 4, so i went with that) and Iron Crown of Lombardy on his left chest.
Historical note: the above means that it must be from after 1807, when he received the later medal of the two, but to be honest, with all my research so far, I could not figure out when he had the double breasted uniform with the red breast plate. If someone here knows better, please let me know
The little grey "thingy" on the edge of the bicorn is some MagicSculpt for the gold braid to be painted later when I'll work on the bicorn
Final detail for today: some Vallejo bronze and Humbrol steel for the sword.

Thank yo for watching. Comments (positive AND negative) are welcome!

Benny

 

[gazer]

A little progress:
Worked today on the white breeches. My first time attempting to paint white fabric. I went for a cool tone:
Base cote of bluish mid-light grey (mixed with Vallejo acrylics) and successive lighter highlights towards off-white.
The image below shows very coarse brush strokes. I do have to improve, but in real life it does look better


As always, would welcome comments.

Cheers,

Benny

 

[Warren SMITH]

Nice work, what are your plans for him, a stand alone or with a few of his orderlies..

 

[gazer]

Thank you Warren!

I do have the entire set (http://www.warlordgames.com/new-baron-larreys-ambulance), but since my pace is SO slow, and since this is my first "serious" attempt at painting a miniature figure, I think I will try to finish him as a stand-alone piece to have some sense of satisfaction and achievement.
I think the rest of the set can completed without the standing Larrey, and still create a compelling vignette (I am not a wargamer, so I don't plan at this point to purchase more 28mm figures)

Cheers,

Benny

 

[gazer]

Hello everybody, A nice off-day alone at the house so it's finally since October that I could work on my Larrey.
His now more or less complete. Mounted on what will be the final base.
What's left to do:
1. Maybe a very dark glaze on the boots, to bring together the leather highlights and shadows - I think they are not very realistic now. Please tell me what yous think
2. Paint the small terrain - it is the base + some magic-sculpt added to enlarge it a bit. Maybe I'll add a small amount of grass
3. Gentle weathering




Please share your constructive criticism!

Best

Benny

 

[Nap]

Hi Benny

Nice to have you posting on this

Small scale work is harder , I think the boots woukd benefit a satin wash

It's a nice figure but a shame IMO he's not with others in a diorama

Thanks for sharing

Happy bench time

Nap

 

[gazer]

Hi Benny

Nice to have you posting on this

Small scale work is harder , I think the boots woukd benefit a satin wash

It's a nice figure but a shame IMO he's not with others in a diorama

Thanks for sharing

Happy bench time

Nap

Thanks Nap

I will include a satin wash - will Vallejo's satin do after the oils of the boot are fully cured?
Regarding a diorama - I did think about it, after all this figure is a part of a set I bought. However, as I wrote to Warren SMITH above, I am still a beginner, and as you can see, VERY slow, and I wanted to finally achieve the completion of my first "serious" figure, So he will be a stand-alone. The rest of the set, IMO, can be built and painted to become an appealing vignette even without Larrey.

Cheers

 

[gazer]

Finally I decided to call it complete!. Far from perfect, but for a first "real" figure, I am happy. Learned a lot in the process, and from mistakes along the way. Also I appreciate inputs along the way from fellow planeteers.
Since last time:
1. satin varnish for the boots
2. Self made base from painted and varnished wooden cube. The nameplate is from a local laser-engraving shop to whom I provided a microsoft-word generated design. The cost was astronomical - 20 NIS (about 5 USD)
3. Groundwork with some refined backyard dirt, backing soda. Vegetation from ammo-mig turf and self made grass from painted wood dust from my brother in law's furniture restoration workshop.
4. Touch-ups here and there
5. Dust pigments for the groundwork, grass, and boots

Please share your honest comments and feedback with me.

 

[KenBoyle]

Nice work Benny, especially on a 28mm first figure.

Cheers,
Ken

 

[gazer]

Nice work Benny, especially on a 28mm first figure.

Cheers,
Ken

Thank you very much!

 

[MoboSchreuder]

Looking great very nice paintwork

Mobo