WIP Young Miniatures British infantryman Somme 1916

[WarhammerAdjacent]

Hi all,
I ordered this bust on the way back from a tour of the WW1 battlefields last week and couldn’t resist starting it.

It’s beautifully sculpted, I’ve made a couple of modifications so that he can represent a soldier of the 12th battalion of the York and Lancaster regiment, AKA the Sheffield Pals.

So far I’ve changed the insignia, roughed out the highlights etc with the airbrush and done most of the work on the face.

 

[Nap]

Hi there

Great bust choice , nice additions and a good start on the fleshwork

Always feel the rank chevron is too upright

Following with interest

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Robert Vaglio]

Nice start the face looks great, Young does make some really nice stuff.

 

[marco14]

Have this one also looks already very good, keep it up the good work
Mario

 

[Mike - The Kiwi]

Great subject & cracking start!
Nice small mod to help personalise him to your chosen unit & its story.

I’m heading over to WW1 battlefields later this year.
What would be your advice on where to go & what to look out for?
MikeTheKiwi

 

[WarhammerAdjacent]

Hi Mike, thanks. That’s a big question. I suppose it depends where you’re going my ‘must see’ sights would be the Ypres area (stick around for the last post at the menin gate in the evening) including Tyne Cot, Essex farm, Hill 60, sanctuary wood is worth a visit too. If you can get to the Somme Thiepval is worth stopping at, Newfoundland park is an outstanding sight, well laid out with guided tours. My personal wild cards are Sheffield City Park near Serre, you can stand in the trenches the Pals battalions left from on the first day of the Somme, see the cemetery that roughly marks where the Sheffield City battalion was destroyed and up the hill to their objective. I visited Mons for the first time last year which was interesting, you can see the bridge the fusiliers defended, follow their retreat to the town hall (where the Germans dragged out the mayor and a load of civvies to use as human shields) and have dinner in the square which is lovely. The cemetery with the graves of the of the first and last casualties of WW1 are there too, plus Waterloo is a 40 min drive away.


I hope that helps, hope your visit goes well.

 

[Gary Edmundson]

Nice work on a great bust. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

[Mike - The Kiwi]

Hi Mike, thanks. That’s a big question. I suppose it depends where you’re going my ‘must see’ sights would be the Ypres area (stick around for the last post at the menin gate in the evening) including Tyne Cot, Essex farm, Hill 60, sanctuary wood is worth a visit too. If you can get to the Somme Thiepval is worth stopping at, Newfoundland park is an outstanding sight, well laid out with guided tours. My personal wild cards are Sheffield City Park near Serre, you can stand in the trenches the Pals battalions left from on the first day of the Somme, see the cemetery that roughly marks where the Sheffield City battalion was destroyed and up the hill to their objective. I visited Mons for the first time last year which was interesting, you can see the bridge the fusiliers defended, follow their retreat to the town hall (where the Germans dragged out the mayor and a load of civvies to use as human shields) and have dinner in the square which is lovely. The cemetery with the graves of the of the first and last casualties of WW1 are there too, plus Waterloo is a 40 min drive away.


I hope that helps, hope your visit goes well.

Cheers mate!
Some good tips that I’ll factor in.
MikeTheKiwi

 

[WarhammerAdjacent]

A little more progress; I did some work on the uniform tonight, I wanted to try stippling to create texture but I’m not sure I like the way it has turned out. I struggled to make the ‘dots’ small enough and I’m not convinced by the colour transitions. I am going to leave it for tonight and come back tomorrow with fresh eyes, I might try using glazes to help blend it a little, maybe a thin khaki wash. If anyone has any thoughts or tips fire away, I’ve not really used this technique much before so I’m very open to suggestions.

 

[WarhammerAdjacent]

Toned down the stippling a little and pushed the highlights a bit too. I’m wondering whether it’s time to move on to the webbing and then maybe switch to oils to bring out the shadows once I’ve put the figure together.

 

[WarhammerAdjacent]

A little more work on the equipment

 

[Nap]

Hi

Nice updates , personally not convinced by the uniform textures /colour but Mikes the man far better to advise , I would tone it back

Equipt looking good

Following with interest

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[WarhammerAdjacent]

Thanks, I think my phone camera is exaggerating the colours slightly and there are definitely highlights I need to tone down. My plan at the moment is to get the rest of him to the 80% mark then leave him a few days and come back and decide what needs doing to finish him off.

Edit: I unexpectedly got some free time this morning so I put him together. I’m pretty pleased overall, although I think I need to go away and come back with fresh eyes. I’ll get better photos in a little while too, my usual setup is a little buried so I’m reliant on my phone camera.

 

[TERRYSOMME1916]

Stefan great work so far, just finished this bust myself a few weeks back and I am now onto the WW1 German bust (the one smoking a pipe) as a companion bust, I will be over on the battlefields next week, couple of days in France and a couple in Belgium, a heads up for anyone heading over (Mike) as far as I know the Last Post ceremony in Ypres will take place on the plateau at the side of the Menine Gate due to restoration work that is being done to the actual arches and areas that display the names, if anyone is visiting the Thiepval Memorial in the Somme area, there are lots of things to see and being an Ulsterman I would recommend a visit to the Ulster Tower memorial which is about 5 minutes away and you can pre-arrange to enter Thiepval Wood for a tour where you will see newly refurbished trenches that accommodated some of the English Pals regiments before the 36th Ulster Division found themselves taking up residence on the lead up to the 1st July when they left the wood on the whistle to make there way towards the enemy lines, the guided tour is excellent, another small but very poignant memorial is the Hearts Football Club memorial, Tommy's Bar/Restaurant is also worthwhile for refreshments but he has a mini Museum in there with Artillery pieces etc.
TERRY

 

[WarhammerAdjacent]

Hi Terry, thanks, I look forward to taking a look at your work on here this afternoon.

I've actually got the young German stormtrooper (no pipe) to do alongside this one although I'm now wondering how to approach the face as most renditions I've seen seem to be a bit green around the gills and I'm not particularly keen on that approach.

Ulster tower is a great call, definitely worth a visit. Re Ypres the ceremony was actually in the gate when I was there last week, although obviously they may have started work since then. We were lucky, there was a brass band and everything which I haven't seen before. Enjoy your visit.

Stefan

 

[Nap]

Love it ...great info from Terry ...what PF is about ...sharing

Hope we see photos from the battlefield/ museum visits

Never forget history

Nap

 

[Mike - The Kiwi]

Thanks, I think my phone camera is exaggerating the colours slightly and there are definitely highlights I need to tone down. My plan at the moment is to get the rest of him to the 80% mark then leave him a few days and come back and decide what needs doing to finish him off.

Edit: I unexpectedly got some free time this morning so I put him together. I’m pretty pleased overall, although I think I need to go away and come back with fresh eyes. I’ll get better photos in a little while too, my usual setup is a little buried so I’m reliant on my phone camera.


View attachment 466428 View attachment 466429 View attachment 466430

Really come along well. Nice gritty effect overall.
He’s also quite colourful with extra insignia mate.
What are you most happy about on this project Stefan?
MikeTheKiwi

 

[WarhammerAdjacent]

Hi Mike, thanks. I think the insignia are quite aesthetically pleasing which was a nice coincidence. Overall I think I’m happiest with the face as they’ve always been the bit of figure painting that scared me. It’s such a lovely sculpt that it really wasn’t a massive challenge but it’s nice to have an approach that works as a starting point to try new things. I think it’s probably similar for a lot of newbies who start struggling about faces and then realise that getting the colours, shadows, texture and such right on fabric is probably much harder.

I’m rather looking forward to my next figure now.

 

[Nap]

Hi Stefan

Well done to you a nice result , agree ref the insignia , do share the final pics in the Completed forum once all based up etc



Thanks for sharing and supporting our friendly for all levels Competition ( the new one will be set up on 1st May )

Look forward to seeing more

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Mike - The Kiwi]

Hi Mike,
…
I’m rather looking forward to my next figure now.

Now that is what we like to hear mate!!
Practice & keep learning with each new project.
I’m struggling in my latest one, a bust too.
I just need to get it done, despite being disappointed with some aspect that didn’t work out. Press on & enjoy.
MikeTheKiwi