clubcat
PlanetFigure Supporter
Excellent progress
Melanie
Melanie
WIP RHA Gun and Crew 1815
- Thread starter Cambronne
- Start date
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Cambronne
PlanetFigure Supporter
I've never thought of myself as a sculptor, I've always been an assembler and painter. Putty was reserved for filling holes and adding tiny details like buttons. But the suggestion to remove this figures helmet and remodel the top of the head was so good, and appealed to me so much I thought I'd give it a go. So here's some pictures of the operation. I think I still need to do some touch ups on the painting, (It's amazing what the photo's show up 
) but I'm pretty pleased with the new head. I guess in common with many others I like putting my own mark on a figure or group, adding small differences from the "stock" figures. So this has made me very happy.
Stuart
) but I'm pretty pleased with the new head. I guess in common with many others I like putting my own mark on a figure or group, adding small differences from the "stock" figures. So this has made me very happy.Stuart
Briggsy
PlanetFigure Supporter
That's some nice putty work, really nice clean swap.
Cheers Simon
Cheers Simon
clubcat
PlanetFigure Supporter
Nice job Stuart.
Melanie
Melanie
Hi Stuart
Hats off to you ...literally .......it’s nerve wracking removing headwear like this especially if the face is painted !
The result looks really good
Are you going to ground out the centre of the underside on helmet to put on the side ?
Thanks for the update
Looking forward to seeing more
Have fun at the bench
Nap
Hats off to you ...literally .......it’s nerve wracking removing headwear like this especially if the face is painted !
The result looks really good
Are you going to ground out the centre of the underside on helmet to put on the side ?
Thanks for the update
Looking forward to seeing more
Have fun at the bench
Nap
Cambronne
PlanetFigure Supporter
Still grinding on with the figures, I've got the paint on all of them, but will leave the final details (spurs, swords, detailing and fixing) until I'm ready to base them. I'm aware the crew are very "clean and tidy" and will need some weathering to look real, again I'll do that when I base them. What do we think about weathering ? I'm tempted to use some of the Humbrol weathering poweders that have just appeared in my local hobby shop, anyone had any success (or otherwise) with them? Or I may just use basic acrylic paints, any tips on this will be greatfully received. Anyway the crew can now wait up on the shelf whilst I turn my attention the the major attraction (for me) The Gun!
Stuart
Stuart
Cambronne
PlanetFigure Supporter
A couple of thoughts for anyone who is thinking of having a go at this set. Firstly, take care fixing the arms, they are white metal and the bodies are resin. The weight of the arms overbalances the figures unless they're on a good firm base. The fit can be tricky, I should 've pinned the arms, but didn't and consequently had a real nightmare with the arms on the trail man (the one who looks like a hockey player!) and had to do a lot of fillings and bodging, which I'm still not happy with. Personally I prefer resin for all the figures as it seems crisper whereas the metal items feel less detailed, but that may just be what I'm used too.
Also, some of the figures have sword belts, some do not. The kit comes with six swords, but three figures don't have a sword belt to hang them from. I'm going with it and not putting swords on the beltless ones. It looks like the sculptor (who did a really good job btw) thought there was some distinction in ranks and didn't arm some of the crew. But from what I've read, every trooper had a sword, (and also a canteen and haversack) did they take them off when going into action? Was there a difference in equipment between the Crew?
Whatever, thet set looks really good en mass, I just hope I can now do justice to the gun they're serving.
Stuart
Also, some of the figures have sword belts, some do not. The kit comes with six swords, but three figures don't have a sword belt to hang them from. I'm going with it and not putting swords on the beltless ones. It looks like the sculptor (who did a really good job btw) thought there was some distinction in ranks and didn't arm some of the crew. But from what I've read, every trooper had a sword, (and also a canteen and haversack) did they take them off when going into action? Was there a difference in equipment between the Crew?
Whatever, thet set looks really good en mass, I just hope I can now do justice to the gun they're serving.
Stuart
Briggsy
PlanetFigure Supporter
Weathering powders can be really good and you can vary them by adding ground up pastel pigment sticks from the art shop.
Be sparing because they can easily build up and obscure details etc, better to build up a little at a time. The purpose made fixer is usually recommended but I always fixed them using white spirit which did the job perfectly well, on vehicles anyway. Once this dries out the powders return to their original colours and though not permanently fixed in place like paint they endure so long as there is no handling of thr figure.
Cheers Simon
Be sparing because they can easily build up and obscure details etc, better to build up a little at a time. The purpose made fixer is usually recommended but I always fixed them using white spirit which did the job perfectly well, on vehicles anyway. Once this dries out the powders return to their original colours and though not permanently fixed in place like paint they endure so long as there is no handling of thr figure.
Cheers Simon
NigelR
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2018
- Messages
- 2,081
Nice work on the figures, they are going to look great around the gun. I like the touches like the tattoos on the guy with the shirtsleeves.
Re weathering, weathering powders on their own are good for dusty effects and for tying a figures feet into the groundwork - use the powders on the groundwork and boots to unify them. However, on figures you need to be carful how you apply them because like Simon says they will just obscure detail without adding much to the finished effect. Also, you need to think about the setting - if these guys are at Waterloo, it was wet and mucky due to the heavy rain on the 17th/18th, so weathering powders on their own won't give the right weathering effect. You can mix them with a medium to make more of a paste which you can apply sparingly to look like mud, and you can also mix them with the paints to give a "dirty" version of the uniform colours. Bill Horan always recommended weathering uniforms by gradually mixing the groundwork colours in with the uniform colours.
Whatever you do, make sure you use the same "mud" colours and weathering mixes on the base to tie the figures with the scene.
Re weathering, weathering powders on their own are good for dusty effects and for tying a figures feet into the groundwork - use the powders on the groundwork and boots to unify them. However, on figures you need to be carful how you apply them because like Simon says they will just obscure detail without adding much to the finished effect. Also, you need to think about the setting - if these guys are at Waterloo, it was wet and mucky due to the heavy rain on the 17th/18th, so weathering powders on their own won't give the right weathering effect. You can mix them with a medium to make more of a paste which you can apply sparingly to look like mud, and you can also mix them with the paints to give a "dirty" version of the uniform colours. Bill Horan always recommended weathering uniforms by gradually mixing the groundwork colours in with the uniform colours.
Whatever you do, make sure you use the same "mud" colours and weathering mixes on the base to tie the figures with the scene.
Cambronne
PlanetFigure Supporter
Work progresses,
I've (nearly) completed the gun. I wanted to do something different here, as simply showing a static gun seemed wrong. Especially with all the figures around it all acting as though the gun had been fired. So I had a go at depicting the gun in use.
It wasn't particularly difficult, just needed some experimenting with a Christmas bauble, perspex rod, led lights and cotton wool. I'm quite pleased with the result, though I want to re-do the smoke from the touch hole currently it doesn't look "right".
I have pictures of the steps to create the smoke cloud and details of how to do it, which I'll post if there's interest.
Anyway another step forward, now to think about the baseing.
Stuart
I've (nearly) completed the gun. I wanted to do something different here, as simply showing a static gun seemed wrong. Especially with all the figures around it all acting as though the gun had been fired. So I had a go at depicting the gun in use.
It wasn't particularly difficult, just needed some experimenting with a Christmas bauble, perspex rod, led lights and cotton wool. I'm quite pleased with the result, though I want to re-do the smoke from the touch hole currently it doesn't look "right".
I have pictures of the steps to create the smoke cloud and details of how to do it, which I'll post if there's interest.
Anyway another step forward, now to think about the baseing.
Stuart
NigelR
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2018
- Messages
- 2,081
I think it looks great, it's the kind of thing I have wanted to try for a long time! The smoke coming out of the touch hole does look a bit too much like a water spout, maybe try to make it a bit wider at the top? There's some good examples in this video (which you may have seen):
I'd love to see the "how to" photos.......
I'd love to see the "how to" photos.......
Merryweather
A Fixture
That's brilliant!
Agree there
Very clever and very effective, you can almost smell the powder and hear the noise
Great update Stuart....please do share the SBS
Looking forward to seeing more
Happy benchtime
Nap
Cambronne
PlanetFigure Supporter
Thanks Nigel, yes it does look somewhat watery don't it. My original idea was to have a LED behind the touch-hole to light the smoke going upwards, but that turned out to be too ambitious,
I may have to return to that idea it I can't make anything better.
Stuart
Cambronne
PlanetFigure Supporter
Thanks, that's appreciated.
Stuart
Cambronne
PlanetFigure Supporter
Cambronne
PlanetFigure Supporter
Right, so here's the detail of how I approached capturing the gun at the moment of firing.
I looked at several online videos of real gun being fired, like this one..
As well as the smoke, which I could do with cotton wool, there’s quite a bit of light coming out of the fireball, so I needed some small lights. They were amply supplied by Jennifer at Small Scale Lights, really good service. I got the nano led lighting package, which was everything I needed, four tiny bright leds wired up to a battery box and switch.
Then to create the projectile, I used a ball bearing, glued to a small perspex rod. The expanding cloud is a clear Christmas bauble (from amazon) which comes in two halves. I only needed to take the hanging lugs off, and drill it to accept the perspex rod.
The gun barrel was drilled to take the led wires, with an exit hole between the trunnions. This matched a hole in the body of the trail, so the wires could eventually exit at the far end of the trail.
The led’s were superglued to the perspex rod, one at the front one at the rear and two in the middle.
The clear Christmas bauble was painted in acrylic with red in the middle, shading to orange and yellow, with the ends of the bauble left clear.
Then cotton wool was stuck over the bauble with PVA glue. I found it best to use many small clumps of wool, rather than simply wrap around the whole thing. The clumps give a convincing “billow” to the smoke and the gaps between clumps allow the light to shine through.
Finally the cotton wool was sprayed with a light coat of matt black. I haven’t got an airbrush, so this was done with a rattle-can of BBQ Stove black I had in the shed. I sprayed from the rear of the gun, with a very light touch. I must say it’s this final spray that make the thing come to life, before that it really didn’t look that good.
I’m happy with the outcome, it took a bit of thinking and a couple of trial attempts but I think it looks right. My best compliment when when I showed the photo to a (non-modelling) friend and they said “Ohh have you got yourself a high-speed camera?”
Stuart
I looked at several online videos of real gun being fired, like this one..
As well as the smoke, which I could do with cotton wool, there’s quite a bit of light coming out of the fireball, so I needed some small lights. They were amply supplied by Jennifer at Small Scale Lights, really good service. I got the nano led lighting package, which was everything I needed, four tiny bright leds wired up to a battery box and switch.
Then to create the projectile, I used a ball bearing, glued to a small perspex rod. The expanding cloud is a clear Christmas bauble (from amazon) which comes in two halves. I only needed to take the hanging lugs off, and drill it to accept the perspex rod.
The gun barrel was drilled to take the led wires, with an exit hole between the trunnions. This matched a hole in the body of the trail, so the wires could eventually exit at the far end of the trail.
The led’s were superglued to the perspex rod, one at the front one at the rear and two in the middle.
The clear Christmas bauble was painted in acrylic with red in the middle, shading to orange and yellow, with the ends of the bauble left clear.
Then cotton wool was stuck over the bauble with PVA glue. I found it best to use many small clumps of wool, rather than simply wrap around the whole thing. The clumps give a convincing “billow” to the smoke and the gaps between clumps allow the light to shine through.
Finally the cotton wool was sprayed with a light coat of matt black. I haven’t got an airbrush, so this was done with a rattle-can of BBQ Stove black I had in the shed. I sprayed from the rear of the gun, with a very light touch. I must say it’s this final spray that make the thing come to life, before that it really didn’t look that good.
I’m happy with the outcome, it took a bit of thinking and a couple of trial attempts but I think it looks right. My best compliment when when I showed the photo to a (non-modelling) friend and they said “Ohh have you got yourself a high-speed camera?”
Stuart
Cambronne
PlanetFigure Supporter
Thanks Mike,
I think the light blue is a function of my photographs, as in front of me the jacket are very dark blue. But I'll check. I've already some ideas about positioning the crew around the gun, and posible lightening the gunward site or darkening the side facing away so this may factor into things.
Stuart
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