I couldn't resist...

[Calvin]

Thanks. There are many kinds of marble, and the most common has a very shaded veined aspect. Maybe, to reproduce it, the best medium will be the oil colour, but I don't like it any more, so all is done with (Vallejo) acrylics.

The base coat is a mix of ivory white and some pale sand. After 5 min., with the paint still fresh, a tiny coat of satin medium has been applied and a first set of spots and lines has been applied (and blended) over the satin coat with a very light gray.

Spots and lines must be very irregular and small, and must be worked over the satin coat using a mix of water and more satin paint. When the paint is still fresh (after 10 min.), another coat of satin has been applied. This coat must dry for 15/20 min. (or less, if using a bulb lamp) and next the above process can be repeated with light flash and pure white. Finally, the last coat of satin was applied.

There is not a special tecnique or some kind of trick, the only expedient is to work while the paint is still fresh. I'm sorry, but I made it in a hurry and I have no patience to stop every 5 min. to make a progress pict.

 

[Einion]

Looking good Luca, great photos too.

About the shield, I'm of the opinion that we should only indicate wood grain at the painting stage; except for the most weathered wood (like a battered old fence) anything we sculpt, at almost any scale, is going to be overscale. Nice to see through-rivets on the face of the shield, shame there weren't more of those in Kingdom Of Heaven!

Einion

 

[Calvin]

About the shield, I'm of the opinion that we should only indicate wood grain at the painting stage

After reading your remarks about the shield, I decided to give it a try. Moreover, painting the wood on the front of the shield gives me the opportunity to experiment with a different approach to the hospitalary's cross.
I don't trust in brand new shields, as many painters does, so after a little search on the web, I found this drawing of a knight templar, which I think is much more near to the real one than the thousands of pics available about such volunteers.

While some shields was covered with a cloth, others was just painted, directly on the wood. Now I think it's possible to suppose that the paint of such times was not strong like the current, so I tryed to imagine how can looks a real shield, battle after battle and under the rays of the sun.

This is the result, not perfect at all, but different. After reproducing the wood, I applied a very tinned coat of gray and black, to simulate the remainder of the original black paint. When done, the same procedure has been used for the white cross. At the end, just a few lines with a more light wood, to simulate the veins.

 

[megroot]

Luca i follow this from the beginning.
It is not finished yet, but this is a great one. The painting, the conversion.
Maybe someday i gonna try that myself.

Marc

 

[Calvin]

Maybe someday i gonna try that myself

Thanks Marc, but consider that I was just thinking the same before starting. Just start, don't care about the rest.

I do it this way, even suffering the 'never satisfied whimper' syndrome, but as Keith points out, there is the 'what is next therapy', so I've just found another subject.

In the meanwhile, these are the pictures of the finished crusader.

I still have some difficulties in shading white/light colours, and in blending tones on the face. The column is too small for the scene, and the flag and the jug are not as I want, but in spite of this I hope you like the overall result.

 

[jjgurk]

Luca, Fantastico! Your sbs has been most educational and helpful. Great great stuff. The marble column is outstanding.

John

 

[yeo_64]

VERY NICE, Luca !! Thanks for sharing it with us. So,what's next on the bench ? Cheers!
Kenneth.

 

[ArturM]

GREAT JOB, Luca. Very interesting conversion. The base is beautiful and a crusader is fantastic! I really like it.
cheers

 

[Dan Morton]

Remarkable achievement, Luca. You're a "beginner" like I'm a casaba melon, my friend. Let the "crowd" be the judge, but, in my humble opinion, you're a very talented "journeyman".

I can't wait to see what you come up with next!

all the best,
Dan

 

[megroot]

Thanks Luca,

This is inspiration. Great work.
Thanks for explane.

Marc.

 

[arthur]

Luca,
WOW!
What a project! Thank you for sharing all the steps you took in creating this vignette.
Final result is truly superb !
If I could only make my knights look like that.
Cheers,
A.

 

[nagashino]

Hi Luca

This has turned out to be a little masterpiece. You deserve a lot of credit for the skill and vision of it all. Sure, we all look at our work and think "yes, I could have changed that, done this bit differently" but at the end of the day, the final result is another bit on the learning curve and another step along the road to satisfaction.

Good stuff!

So you say you have something else in mind now - any hint as to what it might be?

Phil

 

[Alex Lopez]

Que gran trabajo Luca!! La foto escenica es IMPRESIONANTE!!! Ya la he salvado en mi archivo de imágenes preciadas

Saludos.

Alejandro.

 

[Calvin]

Hola gente,
and many thanks to all. I know that it sounds like a commonplace, but most of my skill comes from seeing and studing your work through this site.
About the next, one of my preferred is the Mike Blank's style, in my opinion so simple and clean but so (awfully) effective and inspiring. On Mike's Lake Peipus diorama there is a red bishop on the focus of the scene and this is what I would like to reproduce.