According to Rod Allison, who painted it, it was completed and he was happy with the outcome. But for some reason he never sent photos of the completed piece. After several e-mails, I gave up. I would be perfectly happy now if he would just post some photos of the piece.
Frankly this has happened a couple of times to me. If a painter wants to keep a vignette of mine, all they have to do is ask. I have little interest in keeping most of them on my shelves. I'm not a model collector by nature. All I would ask in return is that the painter agree to paint another vignette of comparable size at a later time and mail that one back to me.
I hope you don't think this is whining. And I'm not even particularly mad about these experiences. I believe honesty is always the best policy and do my best to be honorable to those painters I work with.
I have had great experiences working with Roger Newsome, Andy Herbert, Marc Megroot, Kreston Peckham, Rafael Gonzalez Aquayo, and Ulrich Biroth. A perfect example was what happened with my friend Rafaelaga. He has "Goodbye Old Man" now and has just re-started painting it after a lapse of several months due to family illnesses. At first he wrote me and said he would have to send the piece back incomplete, but after a few weeks, he reconsidered and said that he would find time to finish it. I'm more than happy to wait for the quality of finish that I know he will produce.
But - friendship and honesty are always more important than any model project.
All the best,
Dan
