Completed Critique Grenadier Arw

[ghamilt1]

Hello everyone;

This is my latest attempt, Romeo Model's 75mm Grenadier which I picked up at the vendor's tables in Chicago in October. For the life of me, I cannot take a decent photograph, so I'm afraid these images will have to do to give you a sense of the figure. But don't let the poor pictures stop you from weighing in with an opinion, critique, question or comment. Thanks as always for having a look.

 

[Don Johnson]

Overall, I like what you've done with this figure, and would be pleased to have it in my show case.
I'm not sure how I feel about the distressed leather edges on the cartridge box and strap. My initial reaction was that there was a bit too much - the technique used definitely conveys the idea of cracked leather, but the volume of distress is . . . well, I think less might have been as effective. On the other hand, the few scratches on the musket butt are very well done. (I'm not an arms expert, and will defer to others with more knowledge, but didn't Long Land Pattern muskets generally have brass butt plates?) The coat looks a bit more orange than I use, but I'm willing to believe that's more of an image issue, than a painting one. The gaiters show some campaign wear which is subtlety done. The face and hands look good, as does the powdered hair and braid. The groundwork conveys the campaign look that is consistent with the wear and tear on other parts of the kit and uniform. I would love to see this in person, to see how "real light" impacts these items which show up in a 2x or 3x photo image.
I like this sculpt, and hope to paint it one day in the colors of one of the regiments which served here in North America during the French and Indian War. I will keep the image of your treatment as a reference.
Thanks for sharing it with us!

 

[Mike Stevens]

Nice work on this figure. Its one of my favorites and sitting in the GA. I have to agree with Don on the reds. They look pretty orange to me. On the upside the blues look good an so does the lace. Looks like more than a few hours put in on the lace. Like the ground work too.

 

[ChaosCossack]

Beautiful piece... Painted this one last year and it was a joy to work on.
Your paint job does the sculpt fine justice.

Well done

Colin

 

[Mirofsoft]

I always liked this uniform
Here we have a good representation of it

 

[Tony Barton]

It's a nice figure, and you've done it justice. I would only concur about the distressed leather on the pouch being a little too much.
I would otherwise remark that the Long Land had a large brass buttplate , and probably a polished barrel at that date ; powder was not normally worn in the hair on campaign ;and most Regiments after the 1740s wore grey , brown or black gaiters when on campaign.

 

[megroot]

very, very nice paintwork.

marc

 

[ghamilt1]

Gentlemen one and all, let me just express my sincere thanks to everyone for your thoughtful and very helpful comments. When people take the time to offer the kinds of constructively critical comments I see here, I think everyone benefits and I want you all to know that I do appreciate these comments and suggestions. Don, you are right, the orange colour of the reds is due primarily to a photography problem. It isn't that colour in real life and I just have no explanation as to why my camera recorded the colour this way. But the other comments about the distressed leather on the cartridge pouch and the butt plate on the musket are most welcomed, and I will address these issues right away. Thanks again guys.

 

[ubbi]

i like this painting , very well done IMHO, yes probably excessively disatressed the leather on the cartridge pouch, i know the americans called the english troops ..the lobsters, that because probably they had a touch of orange on their reddish uniform...so a touch of orange as you did it sounds good..

 

[taffjones]

Love it, I think its fantastic. I really like how the colours go together nicely.

 

[ghamilt1]

Thanks Taffjones and ubbi, I've read many times that the red dyes used by the brits would often fade, so I think there is a lot of room for discussion on the exact nature of the red tones on British uniform. Thanks for commenting guys.

 

[DEL]

Lovely job on this fine figure Glen.... good to see that someone else is as duff as me when it comes to photography
Once you've addressed the distressing on the leather etc to bring it more in line with the rest of the paint job you'll have
a first class figure.
Cheers
Derek

 

[ghamilt1]

Thanks Derek. Its like I said, I am absolutely hopeless when it comes to taking pictures. The pouch shouldn't too much trouble. I'll just go back into it with some black and that should take care of it. As an aside, I have seen some examples where the cartridge pouch is stenciled with a regimental cypher. Is that something that I should look into? Is it accurate for this regiment, and if so does anyone know of a good reference? Thanks in advance.