Andrea Musketeers

[btavis]

I am still painting gray army stuff and had to do the Four Musketeers by Andrea. They are such fabulous pieces and I have done two so far.

Just to keep things interesting I painted these in Humbrols. Incidentally I just read today that Humbrol is coming out with a line of acrylic paints this month. Sounds interesting.

 

[captnenglish]

These look great Bob. I have them in my grey army too, might just have paint them. Humbrols huh?

 

[megroot]

Looking great Bob.

I must admitt that painting with Humbroll looks like painting with acrylic.
That is why you can get these results.
Great painting.

marc

 

[Guy]

They turned out great Bob. Good to see another enamel user.

 

[Christos]

They are looking good Bob!
regards
christos

 

[Sambaman]

Bob,
damn fine work! These two turned out nicely. I was just looking at these figs yesterday thinking the same thing, that they are nicely done and look like a joy to piant. Be sure to show us the last two when you are done!

Jay H.
OKC

 

[Figure Mad]

Hi Bob

Nicely done, you started with the best two out of the four figures in the set, nice to see a couple of nicely painted figure on good groundwork..

I have had two of the Athos figures to date, I have found the figures to be not the best cast, whats your thoughts, did you have any problems with the figures at all

Dave

 

[btavis]

Dave, the only figure in the set that had casting problems was Aramis which is the one I am working on now. The right side of his face had some problems in which there was a blob of metal that had to be filed off. Other than that I found the castings to be not that bad (I have seen far worse from Andrea). The parts of the figure fit well together except the cape on D'Artagnan. It didn't seem to be right not matter how I positioned it. I haven't really gotten to Porthos yet but just eyeballing it last night there didn't seem to be any glaring problems. I will post these last two when I get them finished.

Humbrols are something like painting with acrylics except you can blend a bit which is impossible with acylics. A couple of things you have to do though: first leave the tops off of those crappy tins. If you let the paint skin then you do not have problems with the paint drying glossy. You need to punch through the skin to get to the paint. This is the Bill Horan method and it works. I hate those damn tinlets and one of the things about the new acrylics they are coming out with is they are in better containers. They must have listened to their consumers.

The other thing with Humbrol is when you put down the basecoat you really have to let it dry overnight. Then is gives a great foundation for over painting. Either that or you can base coat with acrylics if you can match colors well. I have done both depending on how much of a hurry I am in. For blending sometimes I stipple along the edges where the two gradient colors meet. This prevents painting the gradation into oblivion. That is a big problem with oil paints as well. I use Turpenoid thinner with a dash of lacquer thinner in it for thinning. I think Humbrol is either Toluol or Xylol based and either of those will work but they are pretty harsh. Turpenoid has become my favorite thinner of late. No smell.

Also, Humbrols mix nicely with oils. I use a lot of Sepia oil for shadowing and mix directly with the Humbrol with no problems. I let the Sepia sit in a 3X5 card to dry out some of the oil so there are no glossy problems.

 

[Roc]

Beautiful work Bob, my compliments.

Cheers
Roc.

 

[garyjd]

Bob, nice work. Still taking a little break from the dios? I'm sure there's an idea or two brewing in your head.~Gary

 

[Brad S]

Hey Bob,

Nice to meet you in Tulsa. The figures look great. Will be interested in what type of base scenery you use for each one.

I have just started Porthos. Was going to paint all of them to go with the Athos figure I had in Tulsa. Kind of funny how the castings turn out. Of the 4 I have, Athos and Aramis will have a a couple fit problems. I thought they all were pretty good but not up to the usual standard by Andrea. It appears to me that they cranked them out pretty fast.

Brad Spelts

 

[Brushguy]

Just beautiful!

 

[btavis]

Brad,

My experience with Andrea is that sometimes they are good and sometimes they are not. Pretty inconsistant. They do not compare with the quality of Elite or Poste Militaire. Pegaso is also iffy sometimes. Personally I wish all manufacturers would switch to resin. Metal is hard to work with for modifications or if there are casting problems that need correcting.

 

[MBABSIT]

Very good job painting Dave, but here's some constructive criticism for you. The "flames" at the corners of the cross should be red, as well as the heels on the boots. For the second company, orange (or yellow) five pointed flames, and orange (or yellow) bootheels. The first company was called "The Grays" because of the color of the horses, the second company rode black horses. A good reference is a new book out, "The Four Musketeers: the True Story of D'Artagnan, Porthos, Aramis, & Athos" by Kari Maund and Phil Nanson. The book not only discusses the lives of the real musketeers, but also dress, equipment, and history. I found mine through the History Book Club.

 

[DaveCox]

Very nicely painted, they'll make a great vignette when all four are finished.

 

[btavis]

Originally posted by MBABSIT@Aug 5 2006, 10:13 AM
Very good job painting Dave, but here's some constructive criticism for you. The "flames" at the corners of the cross should be red, as well as the heels on the boots. For the second company, orange (or yellow) five pointed flames, and orange (or yellow) bootheels. The first company was called "The Grays" because of the color of the horses, the second company rode black horses. A good reference is a new book out, "The Four Musketeers: the True Story of D'Artagnan, Porthos, Aramis, & Athos" by Kari Maund and Phil Nanson. The book not only discusses the lives of the real musketeers, but also dress, equipment, and history. I found mine through the History Book Club.

Walter,

Now you tell me! Just kidding. That is quite interesting and good to know. As a matter of fact I have seen their tunics in very dark blue as well instead of the lighter shade. I painted the other two in the series and should have some pics in a day or two. I really enjoyed this series and it was a lot of fun just to paint for a change. I am starting to like Humbrols a lot. I still hate the damn little tins though.