WIP Critique Alexandros Boxer

[Eludia]

Onwards and upwards, next up on the bench is the 75mm Boxer from Alexandros. I've been itching to do this one for ages, I love the pose and it just screams "Karate Kid" at me whenever I look at it. I know there is an accuracy issue with the nunchucks but that doesn't really bother me, I'll be painting this one for me, not the button counters

Keeping the Karate Kid idea in mind, I've decided to depict him perched on top of a pier post in the middle of a pond or suchlike. This is the first time that I've used water effects so I'm a bit apprehensive. My first attempt is looking like it will be a fail, I think the resin is reacting with the matt varnish I've used on the algae at the base of the post and is looking a bit, erm, cloudy shall we say. I don't know if this is a normal effect of the resin curing, I'll find out when I look again tomorrow but at the minute I'm not confident.

This is where I've got to so far:



Critique and advice is welcomed as always

 

[Gellso]

Looks like part of the scene to me mate.
Gells

 

[DEL]

Don't think you should worry too much about the cloudy effect. If it stays once everything is cured treat it as a reflection of the sky.
The only thing I'd suggest is something like a lily pad or rushes to make it look a bit more .......... well pondy

 

[Oda]

It looks fine to me too.Very novel and creative idea for the base.I'll follow this one.

Oda.

 

[Eludia]

I had another look this morning before setting off for work and it doesn't look good at all. I'll leave the resin to set properly then I'll try and peel it off. Next time I'll try sealing everything with Klear before pouring the resin.

Every cloud has a silver lining though, I'll take the opportunity to busy up the base this time with some pond vegetation (and maybe a frog ) Cheers Del

 

[Viking Bob]

Looks fine and a great idea for a base.

 

[megroot]

Awesome idea.

Marc

 

[Buckledresin]

great work so far chap

 

[Jazz]

Chinese proverb..."Great things always come from small mistakes"
Not really a Chinese proverb but it sounds good. This is looking really good. Love the pose and the idea behind this. Looking forward to seeing some underwater foliage and maybe a couple of Koi Carp?
John

 

[Eludia]

Thanks for the support guys

I had a couple of hours in the shed tonight. I stripped the resin off the base, it came off surprisingly easily, and resprayed it dark green. I also reprimed the figure so that's now ready for paint. I found some aluminium tape tucked away in a box and, along with some 1mm florists' wire, I started making up some bulrushes. I got about 14 or 15 done before I'd had enough and called it a night, I'll do a bit more tomorrow before switching my attention to some water lilies - slowly slowly catchy monkey.

I don't think my skills would be up to painting a 3D looking carp on the flat surface of the base. I've seen this done somewhere before and it looked amazing but, unfortunately, it's beyond my skill set methinks. I might be just about able to sculpt a little frog to sit on a lily pad though, we'll see

Anyhoo, enough prattling, a couple of iPad pics of tonight's progress:

 

[Oda]

Like your ideas very much.I have a good feeling about this.

Oda.

 

[Jazz]

Nice looking rushes mate. This is going to be really good. Can't wait to see how it progresses.
John

 

[Buckledresin]

how would one go about making them rushes chap? is it foil?

 

[Eludia]

Yeah Paul, it is a small strip of shredded foil (like a grass skirt) wrapped around a bit of wire to represent the central stalk. I'll make the bud on top from putty. I used self adhesive aluminium tape which made the cutting a bit easier to do as I just stuck it to my cutting mat.

 

[Forté]

Loving it. One of my favourite Alexandros miniatures.

Just to ask, what's the accuracy issue with the nunchucku? I'm sure there was a Chinese equivalent for threshing rice.

 

[Eludia]

From what I've read, the nunchucka is an Okinawan weapon developed from a 2 piece staff introduced by Chinese immigrants. As a weapon is was regarded as a bit naff, especially against the many long reach weapons of the day so was rarely used other than as a street weapon for protection against knives and fists. It's popularity mainly comes from the Bruce Lee films in the 70s. Note that this is what I've picked up from my usual cursory Google research, it may be totally wrong.

Regardless, I think they look kinda cool tucked into his waistband so I'm keeping them

 

[Forté]

Do seem quite cinematic. But like you say too, they cool on this sculpt.

 

[DEL]

They do look good. In the modern version they are very much used for developing hand and eye speed and coordination, effective use as a weapon requires considerable expertise.
Historically there's plenty of references of similar types with an agricultural heritage. Probably the one most people will know is the flails employed by the Hussite Peasant soldiers. These were much larger two handed versions and consequently much more effective than what most people think of as nunchakus.
Lots of modern handheld impact weapons have their origins in medieval agriculture. Another assiciated with the far east is the Tonfa which is believed to have come from the handle on a grinding stone. For a while this became the side handled baton and was the darling of police forces world wide. Like the nunchakus it required a fair degree of skill to wield effectively and has now largely been superceded by the extendable baton which has the added advantage of looking a bit 'ninja cool' as it's extended with a flick of the wrist.

 

[Jazz]

I had a mate back in the 70s who idolised Bruce Lee. He had a pair of home made nunchucks and practised with them daily. One day he cracked himself between the legs. I was crying with laughter for about an hour. He was just crying.

 

[Forté]

That just made my day