Bailey
A Fixture
I've taken a break from some of my other projects to work on this dwarf pirate from M Proyec (sculpted by Latorre). The figure is 1/35 scale but, as a dwarf, is closer to 40mm tall (not counting the hat). The figure is close to being complete, though I still need to do the leather work on him and more weathering.
For the face I wanted a slightly unhealthy or unnatural look, so I mixed in some dark purple to my shadow mixes and then more off whites into the regular skin shades. I made a few tweaks to the sculpt. I added the hammer on his pistol using some photo etch, did a little more distressing to his hat, and added more texture to his sword. The original sculpt for the sword included barnacles, but the rest was smooth. Seems to me if there were barnacles on it, the whole thing would be far more crusty and corroded. So I used a technique I picked up from Sproket (David Soper) where you mix baking soda with matte varnish to form a paste. It's a nice way to add some texture to the figure.
For the base, I figured this pirate needed a ship! So I built a portion of the deck out of balsa wood. For the rigging, I coated string in superglue to lock it into the shapes I desired. I found that thin super glue worked best, as it would quickly soak into the string. Just be careful as it can get everywhere. For the long straight sections, I hung the string from my work area and taped some balsa wood to the end for some extra weight. Then soaked it in super glue (place some paper underneath to catch any drips) and, when dry, cut off the ends and clipped the piece to the desired size.
I also added some barnacles and texture to the outside of the hull. The barnacles are from pro-create (grey stuff) and the texture is the same baking soda technique I used on the sword.
I've now started to paint the base, though my focus has been mostly on the outside of the hull. I went with a very dull grey-brown. It seemed fitting for a pirate ship and I think it does a good job of making the figure stand out against the base.
For the face I wanted a slightly unhealthy or unnatural look, so I mixed in some dark purple to my shadow mixes and then more off whites into the regular skin shades. I made a few tweaks to the sculpt. I added the hammer on his pistol using some photo etch, did a little more distressing to his hat, and added more texture to his sword. The original sculpt for the sword included barnacles, but the rest was smooth. Seems to me if there were barnacles on it, the whole thing would be far more crusty and corroded. So I used a technique I picked up from Sproket (David Soper) where you mix baking soda with matte varnish to form a paste. It's a nice way to add some texture to the figure.
For the base, I figured this pirate needed a ship! So I built a portion of the deck out of balsa wood. For the rigging, I coated string in superglue to lock it into the shapes I desired. I found that thin super glue worked best, as it would quickly soak into the string. Just be careful as it can get everywhere. For the long straight sections, I hung the string from my work area and taped some balsa wood to the end for some extra weight. Then soaked it in super glue (place some paper underneath to catch any drips) and, when dry, cut off the ends and clipped the piece to the desired size.
I also added some barnacles and texture to the outside of the hull. The barnacles are from pro-create (grey stuff) and the texture is the same baking soda technique I used on the sword.
I've now started to paint the base, though my focus has been mostly on the outside of the hull. I went with a very dull grey-brown. It seemed fitting for a pirate ship and I think it does a good job of making the figure stand out against the base.
Amazing work
