Completed "Following the Enemy", French & Indian War, Best Soldiers 54mm Resin

[KenBoyle]

French Trapper & Shawnee Ally, French & Indian War, Ohio River Valley, Fall 1754

I'm continuing with my French & Indian war vignettes. This time in 54mm with Best Soldiers' "Following the Enemy" sculpted by Alan Ball. I must say, Alan has done an amazing job on the sculpting with this one. Impressive to say the least and Best Soldiers' resin casting was superb.

I set the time and place to the Fall of 1754 in the Ohio River Valley. In July of the following year British General Braddock and his expeditionary force would be defeated at the Battle of Monongahela. Accompanying Braddock was a young Virginia Lieutenant-Colonel named George Washington and a wagoner named Daniel Boone.

The kit comes with two trapper heads and two Indian heads. I chose one of each as you can see. There were no changes to the figures. The kit also comes with a marvelous base. Normally I don't use the bases supplied but, in this case, I used the base as the starting point for my own creation. I put together my usual Magic Sculpt foundation and placed the base on the back two thirds. I then added the front one third including the fallen tree and blended everything together. I followed this up with some static grass and leaves (from my wife's spice cabinet).

Painting was all done with acrylics, primarily Reaper and Vallejo. Tying everything together with liberal use of Citadel Shades/Washes.

Thanks for looking,
Ken

 

[Chazman]

Another nice one, Ken ! How'd you make the nameplate?

 

[clrsgt]

Nice work Ken. You've got ground work down pat.

 

[KenBoyle]

Another nice one, Ken ! How'd you make the nameplate?

Thank you sir!


As for the nameplate. I use a small brother p-touch label printer that works stand alone or attached to a pc. It accepts a 3/4 inch white on black cartridge tape that feeds and cuts automatically. It can handle 3 lines of text with a double line border. After printing, I apply the tape to an old 1/16 inch thick black plastic binder to add thickness, and cut it out with an exacto knife. It provides me with standard looking nameplates for all my work. Since I make my own walnut bases and prefer shorter rather than taller bases, the nameplate size works well for me.

Cheers,
Ken

 

[KenBoyle]

Nice work Ken. You've got ground work down pat.

Thanks Mike! I really enjoy making the groundwork and definetly have standardized my approach.

Cheers,
Ken

 

[HansDig]

That"s a lovely vignette. Great scenery, great setting, great paintwork!!

 

[Chris Oldfield]

Excellent work, Ken - especially the base & groundwork, sets the whole scene off nicely.

 

[Nap]

Hi Ken

That's a really lovely piece of artwork , love your painting style and the base work is just great

Like the detail painting as well

What's your flesh mix

Why not enter a piece into FOTM and also vote in previous months

Thanks for sharing

Happy benchtime

Stay safe

Nap

 

[Borek]

Awesome work. Beautiful pastel tones, very stylish painting. well done

Cheers Borek

 

[Viking Bob]

Stunning Ken, nice very nice vignette, superb painting,lovely groundwork.

 

[Steve Brodie]

Thats rather special.

 

[Babelfish]

Very nice painting & presentation Ken.

- Steve

 

[DaddyO]

Fine piece of work Ken - I've got the Indian figure in my stash which I might dig out and take a closer look at again (although I think I've nabbed a hand for another figure)

Love the presentation and blending the kit base into your own is clever
Cheers
Paul

 

[KenBoyle]

Thanks everyone for the very nice comments. They are very much appreciated.

Please try and stay safe in these trying times.

Cheers,
Ken

 

[mortier]

Excellent painting and groundwork,congrats Ken

 

[KenBoyle]

Hi Ken

That's a really lovely piece of artwork , love your painting style and the base work is just great

Like the detail painting as well

What's your flesh mix

Why not enter a piece into FOTM and also vote in previous months

Thanks for sharing

Happy benchtime

Stay safe

Nap

Thanks Nap!

As to my flesh mix. Like many painters, I have various flesh specific paints and I will use them on busts because of the larger scale. However on most of my 36mm through 90mm figures I use a mix originally suggested by Doug Cohen. The mix handles Caucasian people with a tan and native American complexions, the bulk of my works. Others races require more finesse. I simply use black, white, reaper orange brown, reaper clotted red and possibly a little violet in the cheeks.. Then I add to that by applying Citadel flesh shade/wash. The first wash blends the lights and shadows. Additional washes create a sunburned effect all the way to a native American complexion. In between washes I might re-highlight certain areas. Sometimes for me simple is best.

Cheers,
Ken

 

[megroot]

Really nice paintwork.

marc

 

[KenBoyle]

Really nice paintwork.

marc

Thanks Marc!

Cheers,
Ken

 

[Ulrich]

That is a really nice version of the kit. I like the colourscheme a lot

 

[Viking Bob]

Fine piece of work Ken - I've got the Indian figure in my stash which I might dig out and take a closer look at again (although I think I've nabbed a hand for another figure)

Love the presentation and blending the kit base into your own is clever
Cheers
Paul

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