Sepoy Khuda Dad Khan

[pgarri27]

Hi Dan,
That's a great job on this figure. I very much like what you did with his nose. Keep up the good work.
Pete

 

[Dan Morton]

Thanks, gents! Khuda's not terrible for my third attempt. I doubt my meager talents will rise much above mediocrity, but what the heck, it keeps me from buying a Bass boat and hanging around fishing tackle shops.

Pete - About the nose - that was pure sculpting luck on my part. One of the non-Osprey photos I pulled off the web using the 1914-1918 forum clearly shows a large broken proboscis, so...

Phil - Thanks so much for the compliment! It's my first shot at trying to get a likeness and I'm glad you think it's in the ballpark.

Phil Walden - WWI has so many possible figure subjects there's no possibility of exhausting them all! I can recommend several useful uniform and equipment references, if you'd like. Haven't decided for sure but I think the next piece I'm going to attempt will be a multi-figure vignette the title of which will be "On the Wire". I'll leave the rest to your imagination.

I still can't get over how much frustration and angst was caused by a little +$%^& ammunition bandoleer.

all the best,
Dan

 

[LCoote]

Hi Dan, my only suggestion would be the grip on the weapon, a vickers weighs nearly 40 kilos so he'd need to have a good hold to avoid dropping it. I think it probably should be resting in the crook of the elbow rather than the forearm with the other hand gripping the spade grip.
Anyway nice work all the same, keep at it

 

[Dan Morton]

Thanks for the comment, Leight and you're right! When I mount it after painting, I'll be sure it is in the crook of the left arm and firmly held in the right hand. In the Mike Chappell picture, one finger is crooked around part of the upper trigger bar. I probably need to remove some of the fingers on the right hand and wire/putty replacements to hold the bottom part of the Vickers firmly.

all the best,
Dan

 

[slaj]

Dan, looks pretty good. Show us more when painted


Stephen Mallia

 

[LCoote]

Actually Dan, there's no reason why he couldn't be holding the grip with one finger provided he was cradling the weapon somewhere near it's point of balance. Sorry, I haven't seen the illustration by Mike Chappell, is it based on an actual photo.

 

[Dan Morton]

I looked more closely at the Chappell painting. The index finger is over the top part of the spade grip and the rest of the hand is holding the weight. I may be able to mount the Vickers without breaking any of his fingers, etc.

I'm not sure if the Chappell painting is from a photo, but he may have used one I found on the internet. I found 3 photos of Khuda, but one was taken in later life at time of his retirement from the Indian Army. The two of greater interest were of poor quality, but good enough to show facial features. Not much info on when the photos were taken, but both after he won the VC.

One looks like Chappell might have used it for his likeness of Khuda. It's a straight ahead front view showing face and torso only. The pose with the Vickers was probably artistic license. The other photo, which is a 3/4ths view is actually more interesting, showing more moustache and hair, the broken nose and a disdainful, reserved expression. The retirement photo shows almost the same facial expression as in this 3/4ths view!

all the best,
Dan

 

[Dan Morton]

Sepoy Khan c'est fini'! I believe I've done about as well for him as my meager talents allow. Hope you like it!

Incidentally, I forgot to put on the 129th Baluchi insignia on the epaulettes, but at the size of these photos, you couldn't see it anyway!

all the best,
Dan

 

[Calvin]

Dan, friend, I know you will not take it as critique, so I'll try to expose my humble opinion.
I suppose you are using acrilics, right ? So try to mark a little more the shades and the lights. Here in Spain people does it through a method called 'veladuras', something like 'transparency'.
I noticed that is very hard to obtain a good 'veladura', but the Vallejo #596 glaze medium (medium veladuras) can help you.
Mix it with water (20% medium and 80% water), next add JUST a bit of colour (all the stuff must be very thinned, with the same consistency of the water), wet the brush and unload it on a piece of paper (not tissue, just white paper).
Next pass the brush on the area you want to highligth or shadow very gently, the brush must skim the piece and not with the tip, but with the main body (ahhrg! what english! you understand me ?!?).
On the opposite, the Italian school (see Diego Ruina) uses washes. Only wather with JUST a bit of dark colour, wet and unload the brush and pass it on the shadow, putting first the tip of the brush and next the entire brush. The brush must be a bit more loaded in respect to veladuras, and you must wait between a brushstroke and the following (the water must dry to avoid a disaster).
Moreover, as water tends to go down, when appling a wash, you must place the piece in an appropiate pose (to avoid the 'torrent' effect...).
For what I read (and see) Ruina uses the pure black for his washes, but because his tecnique is really different from others (he starts from a very dark base colours, adding layers of lights and using the black wash at the end).
Try it, it's not easy (at least for me...) but amazing, trust me... :lol:
For what I see, you should try using your uniform base colour with Vallejo #921 (uniforme ingles) for shadows and base + #858 (amarillo hielo) for highlights.
Aho!, a capoccione!, don't miss to show me the result!

 

[Guy]

Excellent likeness Dan......the figure I like from the knees up.....after studying the figure the knees seem too far, or too low with a long distance between the knees and waist. I guess its the proportion that is off in my eyes. I look forward to seeing this painted.

Whats your next project?

 

[Dan Morton]

Guy, it...uh...actually has been painted. Altho, after Luca's explanation of shading and 596 glaze, mixed shadow and highlight colors and partly re-painted. And, it's improved. Not as much as I'd like, but I think I understand what he explained anyway and can do it for the next one - Lt. Gen. Skoboleff.

As to the legs being somewhat short-looking, well they are actually even shorter looking in Mike Chappell's painting. It's an optical illusion, sort of, I think, caused by the very long Indian tunic. But I think you're right about the thigh portion of the leg being slightly too long. The knees too far apart? Maybe. Proportions, proportions - when will I ever get them right?

Thanks very much for the critique!

I'm currently working on a figure of a Japanese Lieutenant of 3rd Cavalry Regiment - Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. See the front cover of the Osprey MAA # 414. He's the fella with the enormous fur coat. Again, if I pull it off, or come anywhere close, I'll be the one most surprised! I've sculpted the head, hat and parts of the tunic and trousers, but not ready to post photos just yet. I used your Sculpey trick on the hat visor. Worked great!

All the best,
Dan