WIP Critique Napoleon bust, Young Miniatures

[tonydawe]

Hi guys,

I started this new bust of Napoleon Bonaparte from Young Miniatures last week.

The bust comes with a choice of two heads, but in my opinion, this is the only head worth painting.

Next step is to paint the medals before adding the cloak and the arms and making it impossible to reach the chest area.

 

[JCOX]

Great start Tony! What's wrong with the second head? Not up to YM's usual standards?

 

[tonydawe]

Hi James,

It's only my opinion, but the alternate head just doesn't look good to me, whereas the one I've chosen has a determined look about him which I like.

Maybe its the painting job done for the box art, or maybe its the sculpting, but I just didn't like it. It might actually be a better representation of Napoleon, but I was grateful of the option of an alternate head.

I suppose its an individual choice and creates opportunities for different modellers to create a range of different looks from the same kit.

Here's the other head supplied in the box.

 

[anstontyke]

great start tony
looking at your painted face and the box art i think you have made the best choice.

tony

 

[megroot]

Great start Tony,
You made the right choice with this head.
Marc

 

[lancer115]

A great start, really looking super, and I agree with Tony and Marc definitely the right choice of head.
Looking forward to seeing your progress .....John.

 

[TERRYSOMME1916]

Tony, face nicely done and great progress within a week, it takes me forever lol.
TERRY

 

[SUPER ANTO]

Beautiful start and correct choice of head.

 

[JCOX]

Hi James,

It's only my opinion, but the alternate head just doesn't look good to me, whereas the one I've chosen has a determined look about him which I like.

Maybe its the painting job done for the box art, or maybe its the sculpting, but I just didn't like it. It might actually be a better representation of Napoleon, but I was grateful of the option of an alternate head.

Thanks Tony, I agree neither head looks like him, but the one you chose is much more dramatic. Anyways, great job and looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

[Guy Van Ginneken]

A great start sir !

 

[peedee]

Lovely this Tony, nice to see him looking a bit moody.

Looking forward to the next step.

Paul

 

[tonydawe]

Thanks for your comments Tony, Marc, John, Terry, Antonio, James, Guy and Paul. They are greatly appreciated as always. Most of you seem to support my choice of heads too, which is pleasing.

So, last night I painted the medals and shoulder braiding in preparation for adding the collar and the lapel flap of the jacket. Unfortunately, the lapel flap overlaps the front of the chest and largely obscures the medals, but I know they're done.

The next step is to get the arms and hands glued on and aligned properly and then start to paint the overcoat.

 

[Nap]

Hi Tony

Napoleon's image is IMO better suited to your choice of head as always your work is impressive from the start ...

Looking forward to seeing more of those medals ....meantime going to admire your fleshtones

Thanks for sharing

Nap

 

[Chrisr]

Another impressive effort Tony.

The face is excellent, and I agree with your choice of heads. The other option doesn't express the confidence Napoleon had.

Chris

 

[Guy Van Ginneken]

No doubt, you picked the best head, this IS Napoleon. Your paintwork is phenomenal. Do you use oils or acrylics ? I'm enjoying your progress sir so please keep 'm coming.

 

[Ybrossculpts]

Hi Tony,
Great to see this bust being brought to life and as usual with your talent it is looking great.
Regards
Chris.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

 

[Andrew Perren]

Great work Tony.

 

[phil_h]

Excellent work so far - and yes, your decision about which head to paint is spot on...
Phil

 

[davidmitchell]

Looking excellent Tony can't wait to see this one finished.


Cheers David

 

[tonydawe]

Thanks very much Nap, Chris, Guy, Chris, Andrew, Phil and David.

Guy I paint in oils over acrylics, which means my initial paint job is in acrylics, and then I tend to apply a series of oil washes over the acrylics.

The arms and hands are now added and the bust complete, but still a long way from finished. The head is just blutaked in place for these photos, so I can work on the collar and lapel of the overcoat.

I need to do some gap filling where the arms join the upper torso.

I've used Josonja French Blue as the base coat on the overcoat, but will add different colours to create more tonal variety.

Once that is done, I'll crack open the oils and start to apply washes.