VP 1649 Desert Rat Bust wip

[gothicgeek]

My other project ATM is the old Verlinden "V for Victory British Desert Rat WWII" bust.

i was never a fan till i saw one painted on the kitmaker galleries. At South Shields model show earlier this year i picked it up at a super bargain price....

after looking over the kit i decided the face was way too lined and there was a bit too much of a starved look about him. also his eybrows looked like they had been plucked into pencil thin lines.... ?

so out with the knife and some putty

i also added the top of his collar bone as the two big sinews? went down to a point......

so after some umming and ahhing i decided to try and paint him as a middle aged man who's been in north africa for some tim... his skin will be quite tanned ........ i hope

i have used alot of underpainting to try and give some depth to his flesh, about 1/4 of the way to getting the head finished

any crits comments or help welcome

&

 

[sd0324]

I really like how the eyes turned out. Very cool.

 

[rej]

This looks very promising Mark.......the eyes are so realistic.......Welldone!!!!

Ray

 

[JGREEN]

As others have said, the eyes look superb!

Jason

 

[Figure Mad]

Again great eyes, Only thing I can see is the flesh, nothing to do with the tones or the colours you have used, placement of the colours is good as well, from what I can see on screen you need to take a little more time on the transitions between colours, between mid tones to highlights and the mid tones to shadows, make them smoother more gradual. But i do have to say again the eyes are set off brilliantly with the catch light added.

good stuff

Dave

 

[gothicgeek]

I really like how the eyes turned out. Very cool.

Many thanks

This looks very promising Mark.......the eyes are so realistic.......Welldone!!!!

Ray

Cheers Ray... i spent alot of time checking them

As others have said, the eyes look superb!

Jason

Thanks Jason

Again great eyes, Only thing I can see is the flesh, nothing to do with the tones or the colours you have used, placement of the colours is good as well, from what I can see on screen you need to take a little more time on the transitions between colours, between mid tones to highlights and the mid tones to shadows, make them smoother more gradual. But i do have to say again the eyes are set off brilliantly with the catch light added.

good stuff

Dave

Thanks Dave.... re the flesh tones.... this shot is very WIP. i like to base coat in a mid and lay down loose shading colours ( dark reds blues and bright reds, then i layer the mid colour over again and then over with a highlight, i'll re establish some of the under colours re- highlight and then a top highlight



Update....

the mid laid down ( ish )

and a highlight added ( assembled for context, his gaze is not quite in line with the V .... a gesture i am fond of LOL )

 

[The Bushmaster]

Good job Mark.I will be follow your work.

Regards,
Emre

 

[pmfs]

Hello Mark,

Beautiful work so far
I think that you must have used (burnt sienna) instead of the black in the space between teeth, with the black the contrast becomes intense.
This is just my opinion.

Regards from Portugal
Pedro

 

[bonehead]

Hello Mark,

Just a tip: do not use black to shade between teeth.

It always results in a toothy "vampire" look. The thing is, if you view a person from any distance, you do not see the gaps between their teeth (well, except for Madonna and Austin Powers). Generally the teeth of a grinning person will appear as a more or less seamless continuum. I usually paint the teeth with a sandy off-white color with a light wash of sand between the teeth.

I hope this helps.

Cheers!!

Mike

 

[gothicgeek]

Good job Mark.I will be follow your work.

Regards,
Emre

thanks Emre

Hello Mark,

Beautiful work so far
I think that you must have used (burnt sienna) instead of the black in the space between teeth, with the black the contrast becomes intense.
This is just my opinion.

Regards from Portugal
Pedro

Hello Mark,

Just a tip: do not use black to shade between teeth.

It always results in a toothy "vampire" look. The thing is, if you view a person from any distance, you do not see the gaps between their teeth (well, except for Madonna and Austin Powers). Generally the teeth of a grinning person will appear as a more or less seamless continuum. I usually paint the teeth with a sandy off-white color with a light wash of sand between the teeth.

I hope this helps.

Cheers!!

Mike

Pedro and Mike ...... cheers for the input guys .... have tried to decrease the contrast

Mike..... he is sculpted with a set of "english" teeth and they are almost as bad as Austin Powers... i've added more colour round the sides to try and stop the massive gap tooth look





started to add hair to his brows and chest....... will need to do the arm next

 

[WPS]

Mark, I'm impressed you got this old kit to this outstanding level.
Regarding the teeth, you could give them some little specks of burned umber to simulate cariës, that will make them more interesting.

Willem

 

[gothicgeek]

Willem..... Many thanks and still some work to do on the teeth

update.............

the arm is about finished, i may add a few really light hairs and some vein work on the ball of the thumb, but i might be lazy too and just leave as is

the watch was awfull to do but again i'm leaving it alone now.

beard, brows and chest next.

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Another fine bust from the bench of Mark

Teeth are a bit too 'pearly white', thats just a personal thing, easier to tone down then something way too yellow

nice to see him progress,
thanks for sharing.

Cheers

 

[unknown01]

Hello, Mark.
The progress of your figure is wonderful.
I liked flesh color.
The arm with hair and the wristwatch are also wonderful.
I'm looking forward to progress of your figure of future.

Mitsutaka

 

[FigureLover]

You are putting a lot of character into this kit, I remember when it first came out, I didnt like it as I thought he was too wrinkled and rugged. The way you are painting it defies what I originally thought. Love what you have done and cant wait too see how you finish him off.
Ben

 

[mil-mart]

Mark, superb painting great skintone, one to follow to completion.

Cheers Ken

 

[gothicgeek]

Mitsutaka........ Thank you

Ben................ yes i had my reservations, but i'm glad i started it

Ken................ Thanks

update.......

Have been working on the helmet ( it's too small and i think it might be the wrong shape !

|

however i'm gonna use it as this is really another painting exercise so ......

next stage on the helmet will be the strap and toneing down the chipped effect

 

[Brent Fordham]

Very nice, Mark! I really like what you are doing with this.

brent

 

[gothicgeek]

Thank you Brent!

mini oopdate....

done the helmet strap.... need to tone the texture on the middle bit but the basics are down... just all the webbing to texture now

:_|

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Good work on the helmet, even better work on doing the texture on chin strap!

Attention to small details like that is what really makes a figure shine!

Cheers