Ft. Duquesne 79th Cameron Highlander

[thegoodsgt]

I'm the world's slowest painter, a claim that I make with great confidence and pride. That said, with the Atlanta show only a month away, and with only one new figure to display there, I feel compelled to paint at least one additional figure to make the trip worthwhile. So I've decided to paint this Ft. Duquesne 79th Cameron Highlander, a figure that's been in my stash for quite a few years. The figure was sculpted by Derek Hansen, one of my favorite sculptors of all time, although he's seems to have faded away these last few years. I don't know if I can complete the figure on time, but it'll be a challenging exercise.

I always do my groundwork before I paint the figure, which reduces the handling of my perfectly (!) painted figure. The facade behind my man here is from an old Verlinden diorama set with some additional details thrown in for fun. It's hard to tell from the harsh lighting, but I've "pre-shaded" the facade a bit. I'll be sculpting a grenadier shako which will be placed next to the dude's left foot. Oh, and that's bubble wrap taped around the base, again to reduce direct handling of it.

I've primed the figure with Floquil gray primer, and I'm trying something new, a technique which I think Adrian Bay uses: After priming the figure, I airbrushed black from underneath the figure, to enhance the shadows that will follow. I'm not sure it will be effective, given that acrylic undercoats will follow, but it's worth a try. (I think Adrian paints directly over the primer coat.)

 

[IronMike]

Steven,

I never realized what a nice figure that is. Can't wait to see it painted.

Mike

 

[Kreston]

Come on, Steve! You can finish it! I look forward to seeing it in Atlanta.

Kreston

 

[Jason W.]

You can do it Steve! Great setting

 

[captnenglish]

The pressure's on now man :lol: . The figure looks great

 

[Kisifer]

I'm sure you will make it on time Steve. I'm also one of the slowest painters around so i can feel ya. Keep it up my friend.

 

[Manfred]

I'm very interested in your project as I have the same figure waiting to be painted later this year.
Always wanted to try preshading on figures too.

Now I found someone to clear the minefield before me


Manfred
Germany's slowest painter

 

[amherbert]

Hey!

I'm the world's slowest painter!!!!! :lol:

I have that figure. I like your choice of setting for him.

I have looked at the casting a few times since I got him. The proportions are better than shown on the cover art, but his left arm still bothers me. Do you think it's too skinny?

Just wondering.
Andy

 

[Pete_H]

You can do it, Steve!!! A very wise man once told me that "if you can't finish painting the part, cover it with mud."

 

[thegoodsgt]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. This might turn into something like an AA program -- when I feel the urge to watch, say, professional wrestling rather than work on the figure, I'll call one of my "sponsors" for support!

I don't intend for this to be a SBS, but I'll post in-progress photos when I can. Here is the Highlander undercoated with Vallejo acrylics. I gotta say something here. You acrylic painters have my utmost respect. I can barely manage to apply acrylics for a simple undercoat much less a finish coat! (Don't tell anyone, but the trousers and crossbelt were airbrushed!) They'll always be a mystery to me. Even Mario Fuente's article couldn't help a numbskull like me!

In the background, and out of frame, are a couple of photos of the same figure painted by others. That's one of the VLS War Paint books with Euromilitaire coverage, which shows Derek's figure. Ken Sullivan's painting of it was in an old issue of HM. When I can, I like to study photos of how other painters approached the same figure, just to get some ideas about color values and placement of tricky shadows and highlights. It's hard to learn new things in this hobby, so photos from shows and online resources like pF become valuable tools in a hobby where we tend to work in isolation.