WIP 42nd Highland Infantry Regiment "Black Watch" at the Battle of Quatre Bras, June 1815

[Warren SMITH]

All good Steve, its a passion for me to collect and paint figures. If I let my lack of brilliance hold me back I would never have achieved anything in life.. Its a pleasure watching what yourself and others can do, sculpting, painting, creating etc You are an inspiration to use mere mortals...

 

[Steve Ski]

its a passion for me to collect and paint figures. If I let my lack of brilliance hold me back I would never have achieved anything in life.

It’s a pleasure watching what yourself and others can do, sculpting, painting, creating etc You are an inspiration to use mere mortals...

Well, leme tell yuz, Warren, you inspire me too, seriously. That's what makes this "Sport" such a hoot, the Brotherhood.

It doesn't matter how incredibly awesome, or stupendously impressive we paint, it’s the sheer love of this “Sport” that makes it so enticing, enjoyable, and so much fun to, “sniff paint and glue our fingers together”, as we share amongst ourselves.

Man, it can’t get any better than that, as an art form, IMHO! There really hasn't been a true reconning of our particular art form, other than amongst a small minority. Someday someone might actually look and recognize that there's been a few Rembrandts, a few Angelo’s, and many others amongst this croud of oilers, acrylics lovers and ground pounder base builders. But until then, we'll Ruck On! Personally, I feel we are the most underrepresented art form that has such a massive audience of the older generation who have an imagination, but that is slowly changing. Let's speed up that process by good old hard work!

Keep doing what you’re doing Warren, I love your attitude!


Ruck On Bby!

 

[Steve Ski]

Rifleman

Saving the easiest one for last,….well almost last, this rifleman was very straight forward in painting. Using all the techniques as mentioned before this paint went smoothly. One change was to use a “liner” brush for the tartan black stripes, as someone had mentioned I do. I hesitated to use it, but decided; heck, there’s enough room to screw this up and clean it, why not. With a little more practice I think I’ll have this brush type dialed in, but there was certainly a learning curve that came with that brush. I’m now a convert! Stretch the envelope, right?

I hear the drums a-beating, ratta tat tat, ratta tat tat,………………… Yes, Drummer Boy is next up to bat. He’s got a lot of fluff to him as well.

Now comes the sneak-peak. This really looks pretty shabby, IMHO, but when it’s all painted and shaded correctly, I don’t think much will be noticed. I certainly can’t get that “high speed, low drag” intense brush work on this drum as others have done, but I know my limitations, and this is one of them. Who knows, when it’s all said and done, I may scrub it and repaint it. It won’t be the first time I’ve done a scrubbing, lol.

Thanks for watching, all comments welcome, of course. Cheers, Ski.

 

[Nap]

Hi Ski

Blooming great result on the last rifleman , he does look determined

As for sneaky peak ......great start ...look forward to seeing more

Have fun

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[NigelR]

Excellent progress, keep going!

 

[Steve Ski]

Thanks, Gents, grinding on we go, lol.

 

[Warren SMITH]

The end is in sight, and the figures are stunning.. The drum pic is blown up so in real life that detail painting is excellent, finish it off before making any decisions..
Smithy

 

[Merryweather]

Steve, I'm embarrassingly late to this party,and I have had to spread the catching up over a couple of days, but what a tour de force!
I guess our projects are very similar in theme but I wouldn't dream of taking on so many tartans-
I did one and it nearly broke me so HUGE respect!
And in OILS. I probably should also have a drummer in mine but I have wimped out because then I would have to paint the drum...
I must agree the sculpting of this group is top notch. It's going to be one to be proud of when it's finished, I'm looking forward to it.
All power to your brushes
Neil

 

[fesak_j]

Hi Steve, you are running a great project........painting freehand: I suggest to paint first a silhouette (by black colour or dark blue or dark brown) of what you want to paint. The silhouette gives you a depth. Than part by part to paint the whole emblem. In case you are unhappy with any part, you can just repaint the exact part and start again - at least it works for me as you can find the outcome in my threads.

 

[Steve Ski]

finish it off before making any decisions..
Smithy

I agree, and that I did, Warren. Thanks, Buddy! Pics comng soon.

I probably should also have a drummer in mine but I have wimped out because then I would have to paint the drum...Neil

Hey Neil, no worries, thanks for stopping in.

Yes, I've been pulling hair all along this trip, lol May I quote and old saying from a former line-boss? “When yur arsholes and elbows in alligators, ya begin to wonder why you came to drain the swamp!”

Yes, I think that describes this project quite nicely, HA! Thanks again, Neil!

Hi Steve, you are running a great project........painting freehand: I suggest to paint first a silhouette (by black colour or dark blue or dark brown) of what you want to paint. The silhouette gives you a depth. Than part by part to paint the whole emblem. In case you are unhappy with any part, you can just repaint the exact part and start again - at least it works for me as you can find the outcome in my threads.

Thanks for that tip, Fesak, and thanks for stopping by!

I actually use white acrylic paint and freehand the outline, (silhouette) very thinned out paint. This works just like you mentioned. If it fails, I recoat with the base tone, off we go again. I'm still in awe of some of those gals I posted early on, youtube links, they are incredible, naturals. But, like I always tell my wife, women are naturals at painting in detail, they apply "war paint" on a daily basis. HA! Yes, I did get a sideways glare from that comment, HA!

 

[Steve Ski]

Drum Works

Fortunately, I didn’t see the need to redo this drum emblem pattern. It’s not perfect, but it will work out just fine. Now back to the Drummer boy!

All comments welcome. Cheers, Ski.

 

[Bundook]

Remember it rained heavily at Quatre Bras, Ligny and Waterloo. (“…The rain fell so hard that the oldest soldiers there never saw the like…” - Rifleman Lewis, 95th) so those kilts and bonny feather bonnets would look decidedly bedraggled, with the red dye running out of the OR's jackets and staining their cross belts pink.

 

[Steve Ski]

so those kilts and bonny feather bonnets would look decidedly bedraggled, with the red dye running out of the OR's jackets and staining their cross belts pink.

Thanks for the intel on that, Bundook.

All weatheirng will be done at the end after the base has been completed. If you've got an example of your work with some of that weathering I'd greatly appreciate reviewing it. The more examples the better. Finding really good pics hasn't been easy and only by some of the guys like Kevin, and a few others, was I able to get a grip on this era. I am way out of my norm, other than putting a brush to the resin.

Thanks again, Bundook! Cheers, Ski.

 

[1969]

Thats a nice looking paintjob on the drum, don't know how you manage it at that small scale.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Steve Ski]

don't know how you manage it at that small scale. Cheers Steve

Thanks, Stevo. The toughest part is in progress, the fluer de lis' on the coat. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, what did I get myself into, HA!

 

[Steve Ski]

Gents, I'm at as point of decision that could use some input from those of you who know the Napoleonic era and hopefully would have some real insight into the decorations on the “sleeves” of this lil feller, “The Drummer Boy”, specifically the 42nd Highlanders of the Black Watch in 1815, if you please.

Question is, the decoration on the strips of the sleeves, are they fleur de lis, or are they just plane dots or diamonds? I’ve seen most renditions in paintings show dots, but the previously done set of figures by Julia shows what appears to be the fleur de lis. I’ve already had someone mention that would be a French emblem, yes, but that’s what I see on a few of her pics specifically.

Now, given the scale and the complexity of this task at hand I’d be a happy camper if I could get by with dots, or even diamonds, but I’d like to be accurate if it’s at all possible to do so. Themz is some tiny bits to paint and I’m getting bug-eyed just thinking about it, lol.

I’ve scoured the web for discernable pics, to no avail, they’re all blurred or not specific enough to make a clear call.


Any suggestions would be appreciated and thanks in advance, Gents. Cheers, Ski.

 

[Steve Ski]

Well, someone may have already given me a substantial answer to my question from another post elsewhere.

"Photo for educational purposes only."

I scoured for quite some time, but I recon I’m not privy to finding detailed information like this, yall have been better at it than me, lol.

This does say from the Australian War Museum and the cuffs are different, so there's still a reasonable amount of doubt, IMHO.

So, I'm in stand-by mode for the time being. Now, if someone can verify, cause I don’t know the back story on this pic or the time frame, if this is accurate. I’d be more than happy to make a pass and run with dots or diamonds, but I don’t think that will fly, HA!


Thanks, Yall! Cheers, Ski.


P.S. Quick search reveals: Australian Colonial Forces, 1854-1900
Sudan, 1885. More researxch is due, woprking it.

 

[Nap]

Hi Ski

Have a look at this , shows drummer lace ( stylised fleur de lys )

See this as well , excellent pics https://www.planetfigure.com/threads/news-july-2021-figures-of-v-danilov-vd-54002-m.340390/

The jkt you posted is much later in date

Hope this helps

Nap

 

[Steve Ski]

Thanks, Kevin.

Yes, the pic I posted is way off target period-wise, but it does have the fleur de lis. I've seen Julia's example, but I was hoping to "not" have to do them, HA! Ya, I'm a chicken, lol. I've got a request in for info with the Highlander Museum, see what they might come up with.

Your template example is not specific enough to get a real discernment of what that pattern actually is. That's the issue I've been running into during my search, nothing very clear, when blown up they're blurred.


Thanks for the assist, Kevin!

 

[Nap]

Hi Ski

Looking at the lacework it " might " be a stylised thistle ........but can't say I've seen that often

Be interesting to see what the Museum comes up with ...always good to learn

Perhaps you could "trial" paint a small section of lace on the drummer and see how it looks visually

Look forward to seeing more ....it's going to look great

Happy benchtime

Nap