Some current WIP 54mm figures + first sculpt

[kiwibelg]

Hi guys,

This is my first posting of my figures on the site. Go easy on me

I am back at the bench after a six year lay off, kind of lost my model mojo after my divorce.
During the shifting of houses I lost my whole stash...from finished figures through to paint...the whole shebang .

Over  the past month or two so I have slowly begun to build up a decent stash of figures and products,paint etc.

I used to model  armour and 1/35 scale figures but changed to focus in 54mm scale.My figure painting was absolutely terrible until I started to attend a local club and somehow my fortunes changed with plenty of practice.

I have at least 6-7 figures on the work bench at the moment, two are close to completion and others in various stages of disarray .
Primarily I work with Vallejo acrylics, have tried working with oil in the past but I never felt comfortable with it.

This is the first figure, I don't know which brand  it is but I liked the quirkiness of this little fellah somehow...and he looks a little.. inbred?!
 








A few others on the work bench:



54mm Nocturna Gnome plus base:













And here is a small side project I'm trying to recreate with my first attempts at sculpting:









Plenty of stuff to keep me out of trouble!! Anyways, looking forward to placing more of my work up here on the forum.

Cheers,

Shay

[Leon]

WOW!!! Those are some great looking figures and sculpting's Shay.

The cat looks like my cat Pippi.

[deafpanzer]

WAY TOO COOL! You are truly talented sculptor... could learn plenty from you.

[nicusi]

What a lovelly surprize, a lot of good figurines there! And already some good projects (I like a lot the ground for your gnome, I think. The gnome has very well defined the arms and the face, not at the same level the cap and the trousers, I think they still need some shadows and lights. And I can't explain a too glossy effect. But for the rest, very good results!).
And the first figurine, indeed very expressive.
Lovelly project inspired by the famous cartoons personages!
Bref, an excellent entry! Keep it on and show us your progress, we have what to see!
Happy New Years!
Nicolae

[dennis]

Welcome Shay, great start love the Winnie the Pooh and Piglet pairing. I too am worried about the gloss on your Gnome, you can get this with Vallejo the answer is to shake the bottles vigorously, I also add a very very small amount of Vallejo's Matt Varnish to my paint mix as I apply it this helps with the matt effect of the paint.
Great start have fun and keep us posted with the Pooh pairing.
Happy New Year
Dennis

[kaytermarram]

Hey Shay, this all looks very very good! For me, as an acrylic painter, the best choice you can make painting in acrylics, hehe (the oil guys will see it different, harhar!)! To me, it seems, you paint the figures that you like; from seeing your work space, there are so many different designs. Thats way cool! The "inbred guy" (I have seen this figure somewhere, do not ask where, but I know it) looks really good, maybe a bit more contrast and shading. The Base you have done is top notch detailed, I really love it. But now, the icing on the cake, your sculpts of Pooh and Piglet. I love them! I sculpt since several years and you are absolut on the right track. Please finish them, they are really good and all is fine for now. More please!!

Frank

[kiwibelg]

Dec 30, 2014 18:45:44 GMT -5 Leon said:

WOW!!! Those are some great looking figures and sculpting's Shay.

The cat looks like my cat Pippi.

@leon, thanks mate. This version of Pippi gave me some headaches to paint!! Have you ever put Pippi in a plastic bag with oven cleaner when she/he has misbehaved??

deafpanzer..this feeble attempt was my first foray in sculpting, still a long way to go but I think I'm getting hooked. Trying out something different within our genre was interesting.

@nicolae and Dennis. Thankyou for the constructive comments, I haven't been painting for too long so I still consider myself a newbie! Never thought to add a little matt varnish into my paint..I will use this tip with my other figures!
In the past I coated my figures afterwards with a matt varnish.
 
As for the highlights and shadows on the clothing, I can still correct these before I put him on the base. I tend to  have a difficult time trying to find the right balance between "too much" and "not enough"with  highlighting and shadowing clothing..it took me long enough to be able to be mildly satisfied with my attempts at faces!

My first figures all looked like this chap..monotone face, larger than life eyes and little or no definition:



Thanks everyone for taking the time to look at my stuff, your comments and feedback are appreciated!!

Time to work on "Project Pooh" before the party, a Happy New Year to you all

[kiwibelg]

Hi Frank,

Thanks mate, I don't think I could go to the "darkside" by using oils!!Hehehe
After working with Vallejo you tend to get hooked on it, but never the less I'm trying out another brand at the moment from Amsterdam All Acrylics...I always dilute my paint to a milk like value so I don't think too much can go wrong trying out something new!

As for the figures...I see something I like and generally it has some quirkiness to it, as my GF would say..just like me!
Do you have a  link to your sculpts? Would like to check them out!
Shay

[TRM]

Some really nice figure work there Shay!!

[kiwibelg]

Thanks Todd!! How is the European Tram dio coming along?
All the best for 2015
Shay

[dennis]

Happy new Year Shay, I am afraid I have sold you a bum steer on the Vallejo Matt Varnish mate, I mean to type Vallejo Matt Medium. It is I believe designed to add to your paint prior to painting. Just a word of caution do not add a great deal just a touch otherwise your paint will go a bit "gritty ". Sorry for misleading you mate, all I can say is that I was tired after a night shift.
I look forward to seeing more of your work, this is the site to progress on, apart from when daft old duffers give you bum steers.
All the best
Dennis

[kiwibelg]

Jan 1, 2015 1:35:48 GMT -5 dennis said:

Happy new Year Shay, I am afraid I have sold you a bum steer on the Vallejo Matt Varnish mate, I mean to type Vallejo Matt Medium.

Happy New Year to you to Dennis!!
No worries mate, that might of been an interesting painting session !!

Once again, thanks for your valuable input ..anything to help improve my painting technique is well received !

Shay

[kaytermarram]

Shay, you can look here in the figure forum under "Sculpters and figure conversion" and check out "Franks Projects". I have some Resident Evil stuff here and a 75mm Predator, all finished and under construction. And yep, diluting the paint to milk´s consistence is the way I lay it on, too. Works wonders but is very time consuming. I have some figures painted here, too. Fantasy characters, of cause!

Btw, a HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and all mates hanging around here!!

Frank

[kiwibelg]

Hi Frank,
HNY to you too mate. Thanks for your reply, I was just looking through some of your projects!! Inspirational  stuff

I know what you mean about working with acrylics, dilution can be a pain in the butt. The first time I worked with them I wasn't adding anything to thin the paint..the results were shoddy to say the least.

Luckily I had a day workshop with Gino Poppe, he couldn't stress enough the importance of diluting paint. Super friendly guy and next to Marijn Van Gils one of my modeling idols.

Cheers,
Shay

[kaytermarram]

Yeah, I know Gino Poppe, a well known guy! My idols were Bill Horan and Doug Cohen, but I haven´t seen stuff from them since a long time, sadly... And yes, I do mostly monsters and mayhem, game characters and designs I find in THE ART OF... books (best I bought lastly was THE EVIL WITHIN, absolute unbelievable creeps inside!). But I have done Disney figures (Scrooge McDuck till now and a Micky Mouse as Indiana Jones in the making), Brom designs, Aliens galore, a Pinky Demon from DOOM III and many more. Can´t wait to see more of your progress!

Frank

[armorguy]

wow Shay, you became a Master imho. The figures you show us look lovely, you work with acrylics ? I still don't manage to get good results with them.

[kiwibelg]

Hey all,

Frank,
I picked up a couple of those Minions at a show recently..you might of seen them about the place? They are in the style of horror classics, couldn't resist not getting them! Can't always be too serious eh 

Guy,
Thanks for the compliment mate! Nowhere near the master status, I'm just happy to be back modeling and trying to improve my skills with each project I do. A little like yourself I imagine! Really glad to hear back from you after all of these years..I will send a PM this weekend!!

I plugged away a little bit further with my "Pooh Project", I had Pooh & Piglet lightly  sanded, washed and sprayed with primer.
There were some slight gaps etc. that I had to deal before giving another light coat of primer. As I mentioned these are my first sculpts, so I haven't been really expecting to get miracles out of them!

Piglet was originally to have a green vest but I chose instead for a purplish colour which I think enhances his piggy features.





The buttons of Piglet's vest were made from one of those small lead candles from the Ikea. I made a make shift punch from the reverse end of an old drill bit, pushing down gently until I had the amount required. The few buttons that were left over were used for Pooh's eyes.
Not entirely happy with Pooh but still have to paint his nose, eyebrows  and add highlights and shadowing.



Oh and here is my official Vallejo paint shaker!! It keeps him busy while watching me paint



Shay

[Leon]

Making nice progress on Pooh and Piglet Shay.

Love your official paint shaker.

[deafpanzer]

Gosh, I really dig your work... Pooh and Piglet look lovely! It was the theme of my oldest son's room when he was a baby. Great memories!

[kaytermarram]

Shay, this is really cool! When this is your first sculpt, heck, what may the following look like? Absolute top work here Buddy and I really cannot wait to see the little scene when finished. It is really heart warming and from time to time, after doing all those Monsters, the more quiet scenes are what inspires me even more! And for your second hand dude: it is allways refreshing to have the small ones around and show them the meaning of a good hobby. You can´t start soon enough, hehe! !

So I love to see the little figures painted and am very curious what you will come up sculpted next!!

Frank

[TRM]

Well done on the Poo Progression Shay!! Things are shaping up nicely!! Nothing wrong with a little "office help"!! He seems to be doing a fine job mixing the paint!!

[kiwibelg]

Hi guys,

The paint shaker keeps me on my feet these days!!
Thanks for the comments, the sculpting feels pretty rewarding the further I carry on with the painting. I did some work on Pooh's face trying to give him some extra character, still some work to do on his eyes etc. 

While shopping yesterday I came across some cheap balsa storage boxes of various shapes and sizes, so I chose an oval shaped base.
It has been coloured in a light oak varnish and I placed some "joint" tape, the mesh like tape plasterers use before filling up gyproc. Afterwards adding a two part epoxy resin that dries extremely rubbery, this will stop the plaster from cracking and allow pretty much anything to stick to it.
Sorry about the quality of the iphone photos!

Shay, this is really cool! When this is your first sculpt, heck, what may the following look like?

Frank, seeing as I have caught the sculpting bug I roughly cut and assembled and old figure this evening that will be used in my next sculpting project. His head will be replaced, clothing shaved back and I will be sculpting some new baggy looking clothes. I used to skate a lot (still do but the knees don't like it!!) and I always wanted to create a skate themed  dio. Probably will be adding a wall or concrete vert of some kind to place him on.



Thanks for looking,
Shay

[nicusi]

Hi Shay!

Glad to see your project advancing more and better. With such help from your boy, you really are very focused.
Lovelly scenes!

[deafpanzer]

I could learn a great deal from you for sure... your work looks great!

[kaytermarram]

Yeah, try to make some "stylish" clothing (ok, what the young folks call stylish, hehe!), a Baseball Cap, sunglasses, heck, tons of ideas. Seem to be a cool new project, I am curiously looking at of couse! Maybe I will do sometime a figure called "The skating Dead". As a Zombiefan, ya know...!

Frank

[kiwibelg]

Thanks for the replies guys!!

I could learn a great deal from you for sure... your work looks great!

Deafpanzer..I like to think that we all can learn from each other! I have already collected an amazing amount of information from other forum members since joining here!
 
Frank..I also have a soft spot for zombies, just recently got a hold of the MasterBox "zombie" kit. Itching to get started on them but I have to get these other projects finished!! I will quietly plug away with the skater every once in a while

I haven't had any time this past week to get much done, back at work again  and generally just too tired in the evenings. Made up for some lost time today though  and spent a few hours getting my groundwork for "Project Pooh" laid out. Not entirely happy with the result but I think it should be ok once the figures are added.

Excuses for the Iphone pics, quickly took them on the fly!






And a little bit of humour 



Cheers,
Shay

[TRM]

Outstanding work on the Poo-base!! Perfect!! Using that limited time wisely!!

[nicusi]

Shay, you've got there a piece of art, my friend! Can't wait to see the all scene finished.
Can you give me some details about it? Whi is the producer of the trunk, the flowers (reminds me a Reality in Scale set)? They look great.
Cheers,
Nicolae

[kiwibelg]

Hi Todd and Nicolae,

Thank you both  for your kind words!
Nicolae...The background fine shrub/trees  are from the Belgium company Joefix (great selection of dio products).

The grass/flowers and leafy bushes placed in front of the tree trunk are all from the German company Mini Natur.

As for the tree trunk...it is actually a licorice root. When my oldest boy was much younger  we used to give this root/wood to help him when he was having problems teething. Very sweet (but healthy) and tasty!
Licorice examples

I have used it also in other dioramas, it works well as a fallen log or you can cut it with a sharp knife to imitate chopped firewood.
It also has a layer of "bark" around it so it looks very realistic...I think it costs less than  0,30€ per piece!!




Oh, almost forgot...the moss on the tree trunk  is from Lifecolor!

I think that's all

[TRM]

More great work Shay!! The logs are superb....and sweet!