kansas kid
A Fixture
First off, I will state that I haven’t posted any work on the PF website for a number of years. As I now crawl into my 78th year of age, I find I’m not getting to the hobby table as much as I use to. But I’m now trying to correct that. I feel we all need to find ways to express what we feel, what is burning inside of us. And for me, model building and figure painting is one of the ways to do that. Secondly, I’ll admit that this subject matter, “The Creature From the Black Lagoon” (a black & white film from way back in the 1950s) is quite different from the norm. Yet, I thought it might be fun, even though it’s something quite different from the usual figure painting subject matter posted on PF.
As a retired newspaper artist, I always try to pick subject matter that has the possibilities for vibrant colours. And Fantasy and Science Fiction offer that possibility, as I see it. There are no rules regarding what colours you pick. I don’t have to worry about making sure Wehrmacht Grey/green is exactly the right shade. All those restrictions are removed.
To me colour harmony and good striking colours definitely attract attention. This presentation is 8 and ½ inches tall from base to the top. (Using the online conversion I believe that would be 216mm or 21.5cm.) Also I think our site attracts a lot of novice or beginning figure modelers. They look at all the posts but do not comment. So that is my main reason for posting this “Lagoon Creature project”; as an attempt to explain some basic techniques regarding construction and ways of thinking about what colours to use. So there is not really anything here that our master figure modelers would be interested in. But hopefully, I can pass on some good ideas to beginners. Such as working with the wonderful product from Aves Studios, (a company in Wisconsin, USA) a great papiér maché terrain cover, Clay Shay and their excellent two part putty Apoxy Sculpt.
Now above is a boring example of how I try to learn the lessons on something that doesn't count. This is my idea of using acrylic paints on the "bottom" of the base to get across the idea of a lake, or water, thus the marine colurs.
This photo above shows the base I bought from a hobby store, and the part that is to be the lake/river bottom. I used Aves Studio's Clay Shay for the terrain. It is the best ground cover I've ever used; a papier mache brown powder mixed with water. And the "pebbles" are formed pieces of Aves Apoxy Sculpt two part putty. To hide the "styrene pin" that fits into the bottom of the Creature's foot, I decided to make underwater foliage made from bond paper and painted with acrylics thinned as watercolours. In some I put a small diameter copper wire to keep the shape that I'd bended those pieces of foliage into.
As a retired newspaper artist, I always try to pick subject matter that has the possibilities for vibrant colours. And Fantasy and Science Fiction offer that possibility, as I see it. There are no rules regarding what colours you pick. I don’t have to worry about making sure Wehrmacht Grey/green is exactly the right shade. All those restrictions are removed.
To me colour harmony and good striking colours definitely attract attention. This presentation is 8 and ½ inches tall from base to the top. (Using the online conversion I believe that would be 216mm or 21.5cm.) Also I think our site attracts a lot of novice or beginning figure modelers. They look at all the posts but do not comment. So that is my main reason for posting this “Lagoon Creature project”; as an attempt to explain some basic techniques regarding construction and ways of thinking about what colours to use. So there is not really anything here that our master figure modelers would be interested in. But hopefully, I can pass on some good ideas to beginners. Such as working with the wonderful product from Aves Studios, (a company in Wisconsin, USA) a great papiér maché terrain cover, Clay Shay and their excellent two part putty Apoxy Sculpt.
Now above is a boring example of how I try to learn the lessons on something that doesn't count. This is my idea of using acrylic paints on the "bottom" of the base to get across the idea of a lake, or water, thus the marine colurs.
This photo above shows the base I bought from a hobby store, and the part that is to be the lake/river bottom. I used Aves Studio's Clay Shay for the terrain. It is the best ground cover I've ever used; a papier mache brown powder mixed with water. And the "pebbles" are formed pieces of Aves Apoxy Sculpt two part putty. To hide the "styrene pin" that fits into the bottom of the Creature's foot, I decided to make underwater foliage made from bond paper and painted with acrylics thinned as watercolours. In some I put a small diameter copper wire to keep the shape that I'd bended those pieces of foliage into.
