Completed "Wounded Brother", Master Box Indian War Series, XVIII century, 1/35 Plastic

[KenBoyle]

Ok, on to the groundwork.

I am trying to use the box art as a loose example of where I am going. These are colorful figures and, like the box art artist, I want the groundwork to be somewhat muted and not take away from the figures.
That said, the groundwork still needs to add interest to the vignette so hopefully I can find a happy balance.

Using Magic Sculpt I have created the base with a small forked stream running through it. It's late autumn and the vegetation I add later will reflect this. As is normal for me, I use the edge of a small piece of slate and a rough pebble as "stamps" to press into the putty to add texture.

The dead tree is a resin casting by Armand Bayardi. I love his work and use it in a lot of my vignettes. The fallen trees are twigs from my backyard suitably damaged with a long nosed pliers.

I have added rocks to the stream bed and will use "Water Effects" from Woodland Scenics to create a flowing stream. More on that in my next post.

Thanks for following.
Ken

 

[Scott Sheltz]

Off to a very nice start. I look forward to the updates on this project

 

[KenBoyle]

Off to a very nice start. I look forward to the updates on this project

Many thanks Scott!

 

[KenBoyle]

This looks a very interesting set- I shall be following closely.
Nice work so far, and I like the idea of doing the groundwork before painting the figures- it makes so much sense but it would never have occurred to me.
And I will probably forget next time the opportunity arises ......

Many thanks Neil! Sometimes it's hard to stop after getting the figures ready for painting and switch to groundwork. For a single figure with minimal groundwork, I don't always take this approach, but for a vignette requiring the positioning of the figures correctly it is always my choice. Take care.

 

[1969]

This looks interesting Ken, enjoying watching your figures and groundwork come together.
Steve

 

[KenBoyle]

This looks interesting Ken, enjoying watching your figures and groundwork come together.
Steve

Thanks Steve!

 

[Viking Bob]

I like the ground work Ken, it's going to be a belter.

 

[KenBoyle]

I like the ground work Ken, it's going to be a belter.

Thanks my friend, much appreciated!

 

[KenBoyle]

First, let me apologise for the photos taken with my phone. When I get to painting the figures I'll use my light box and camera. But, at least you get the idea of what's going on.

Continuing on, I undercoated the entire base in dark brown then painted the stream bottom in a dark blue/green color. I then picked out the rocks is a lighter brown color although they tended to disappear in the end. I may need to do a little touch up later when I see the final photos.

Next, I added water to my stream using the "Water Effects" from Woodland Scenics. This comes in a squeeze bottle and is like working with soft white toothpaste. I applied it with an old brush and attempted to "sculpt" in some water movement. The material dries crystal clear with no noticeable shrinkage and is easy to work with. A caution however. This is a great product for simulating motion such as ripples, waterfalls or rapid moving water, however, if you are looking to create water in a puddle or pond with no ripples, i.e. just calm water, it could be difficult. Think about how you would try and smooth out tooth paste that sticks to whatever tool you use. This is why people use self leveling resin for that purpose.

Anyway, after it dried, I decided to add some white turbulence around the rocks to enhance the movement effect. The acrylic white paint was then covered with Gloss varnish. I may have overdone the white a bit because this is where the rocks disappeared.

Water with white highlights

Now my first pass at using paint to clean up the edges of the stream that I messed up with my water sculpting. Followed by dry brushing with a lighter brown and using various washes of citadel Earth and Sepia.

Lastly, my final (more or less ) dry brush and wash. At this point there is a LOT of brown but, keep in mind, most of the ground will be covered with moss and leaves. That will be part of my next post, tomorrow, hopefully.

Take care everyone.
Ken

 

[Jed]

Really enjoying this WIP Ken

 

[Graham]

Interesting to se the base work as well as the figures. Learning a lot here

 

[KenBoyle]

Really enjoying this WIP Ken

Interesting to se the base work as well as the figures. Learning a lot here

Thanks Jed and Graham! I appreciate it.

 

[DaddyO]

Enjoying seeing how this one shapes up Ken

I bought a couple of the MB kits before Christmas - Prep work seemed to take a long time, but they look pretty sound and I think they'll paint up well
Cheers
Paul

 

[KenBoyle]

Enjoying seeing how this one shapes up Ken

I bought a couple of the MB kits before Christmas - Prep work seemed to take a long time, but they look pretty sound and I think they'll paint up well
Cheers
Paul

Thanks Paul! As long as one is willing to do the prep work, I think the result is well worth it.

 

[KenBoyle]

Ok, here is my finished (again more or less, since I fine tune at the end) groundwork. I think it follows the theme of the Box art close enough to satisfy me.

First, I made a Moss/Grass/Leaves mix using Gale Force Nine Scenics Grass/Straw (yellow brown) and Winter/Dead (Drab Green) static grass. To this I added a mix of various items from my wife's spice cabinet (anything looking like leaves). I then shook it all up.

Using an old brush I spread Matte Mod Podge (my glue choice) over a small section and dumped my mix on. I then shook off all the excess and repeated the process until I was happy with the result.

Finally, I added a few grass tufts in the same color scheme to a couple of spots.

My hope is the resulting Ground work is interesting but still rather simple and won't detract from the figures. I guess we'll find out at the end.

Speaking of the figures, I added a couple of "tease" photos of the head of the Indian who just fired the musket. Now I need to get moving and paint the rest.

Until next time.
Cheers,
Ken

Vegetation

Vegetation with figures added for reference

First Figure head painted

 

[Graham]

Scenic look good but that head looks spectacular

 

[balder]

Really nice groundwork. The head is excellent.
-Gerald

 

[VisjeMar]

Nice work on the head. The ground work looks great

 

[Nap]

Hi Ken

Groundwork has come out well ...what's the water made of or us it paint effects

As for the head ..your painting shows just what can be done with these figures ....like the warpaint and the feather work

Thanks for sharing the update look forward to seeing more

Why not enter a piece into the class of your choice in our new look FOTM and also our Vignette & Diorama comp,

Happy bench-time

Nap

 

[KenBoyle]

Scenic look good but that head looks spectacular

Really nice groundwork. The head is excellent.
-Gerald

Nice work on the head. The ground work looks great

Many thanks Graham, Gerald and Martin!