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Post by Steve Zuleski on Dec 29, 2020 16:15:02 GMT -5
Thanks Joe, that is makes it all worth it. More coming up right,.............now!
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Dec 29, 2020 16:15:18 GMT -5
Upper Torso Done for NowAfter finishing the camo pattern on the upper torso I went ahead and took care of the web gear and finished the smock collar. Well, why stop there, right? So, I went ahead and took care of the helmet too, why not. I added a string for the canteen cap using thin copper wire and also took care of any issues that were visible. I'll set this figure aside for now and continue on with the next figure in the same fashion. Once all the figures reach this point I'll go back and take care of the hands, trousers, and boots. Any questions or comments feel free to hollar and thanks for watchin. Cheers, Ski.
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itsonlyakit
Full Member
Member since: November 2011
dog gone
Posts: 114
Nov 27, 2011 21:30:36 GMT -5
Nov 27, 2011 21:30:36 GMT -5
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Post by itsonlyakit on Dec 30, 2020 2:27:17 GMT -5
A word about the the Denison smock camo pattern. From some research long ago I found that the first smocks were a different camo pattern than later ones. The reason was the process. A bolt of tan canvas was unrolled and brooms dipped in green and or then reddish brown paint were swept over the tan material. Think of giant stiff paint brushes. That is why the crude wisps. As war progressed, a more speedy production method was needed and roller printing suited this. The smocks had other minor improvements along the way and these can be used to date these garments. Cheers.
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Dec 30, 2020 13:54:53 GMT -5
A word about the the Denison smock camo pattern. From some research long ago I found that the first smocks were a different camo pattern than later ones. The reason was the process. A bolt of tan canvas was unrolled and brooms dipped in green and or then reddish brown paint were swept over the tan material. Think of giant stiff paint brushes. That is why the crude wisps. As war progressed, a more speedy production method was needed and roller printing suited this. The smocks had other minor improvements along the way and these can be used to date these garments. Cheers. So you would date these as?? Yep, there's a lot of variations out there, faded, new and crisp, etc. I had a lot to chose from, but tried to stay within the timeline of the Arnhem battle, as per the sculptor. Thanks for stopping in
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Jan 26, 2021 14:26:10 GMT -5
Corp Reynolds Gets the BrushBack at it again. I completed the front and back of the smock on Corp Reynolds. Since I was already up front the ammo pouches, belt, and shoulder straps were completed as well. Once the arms and gear are finished I will paint the hands on all the figures before "Dull Coating" them, then paint all the brass and metal parts. Shading and highlighting this particular camo pattern can appear daunting and intimidating, but actually, once you get into it it's just a matter of changing out colors. I just followed the natural light fall projection in each area, switched the colors already on my palette and carried on. It is time consuming, I'll tell ya that much, but it's been a fun experience. More to follow soon. Cheers, Ski.
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Post by mustang1989 on Jan 26, 2021 17:30:39 GMT -5
Man.....you're really doin the works to this one Steve. Lookin' good man.
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Jan 26, 2021 21:27:20 GMT -5
Thanks Bro. It's amazing how long this is taking, so I recon I better stick to it!
Cheers, Ski.
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Feb 10, 2021 13:44:24 GMT -5
Corp Reynolds Done for NowPlugging along I was able to complete the upper torso of Corp Reynolds. I still need to address the scarf, but for now this figure is going to be set aside while I start figure #3. The Corporal patch and Para patch were both hand painted, I couldn't get a quality print from my printer. They were not difficult, but the Para patch had to be done more than once, lol. This Denison smock camo pattern is time consuming and very detailed. Though I did not actually get this pattern nailed to a "T" I'm calling it good. There comes a time when you just have to move on and get er done. I do like the tones on this figure in particular, so I'll carry that forward for the last two. Once again, when all the figures are completed I will "Dull Coat" all of them at once and go back and paint the brass buckles and snaps. So far I'm having a blast and I'm looking forward to getting to the base. I'm gonna say this again, when you have finely sculpted figures it makes the painting process a heck of a lot more fun! Great work Stevo!! Thanks for watching and more to follow. Cheers, Ski. P.S. I better not forget the 5 o'clock shadow, shall I?
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Post by Leon on Feb 11, 2021 17:56:59 GMT -5
WOW...Your doing an awesome job on the figures Steve!
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Feb 11, 2021 21:07:18 GMT -5
Leon, you are too kind, Ma Brotha, thanks!
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Oct 26, 2021 12:30:57 GMT -5
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Oct 29, 2021 14:17:03 GMT -5
Smock Light Tones CompleteI just finished the lighter smock tones on the arms and chest. I will now go back across the entire smock to ensure the brush strokes are correctly placed according to color, etc. Like I said before, this particular pattern has evaded me, but it’s way too late to go back and change it, so we carry on, artistic license I say. As you can see, the shadows and highlights should carry through all three-color tones and painting them one color tone at a time completely before moving on to the next was not really that difficult. After doing this for a while you get use to it, seems to have worked out ok so far. The last step for this figure will be the web gear and helmet. As mentioned earlier, all the brass and metal work will be done on all the figures as a last step before the dull coat. Thanks for watchin. Cheers, Ski.
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Dec 1, 2021 5:07:22 GMT -5
Web Gear, Helmet, and RifleI finally got the brush wet this past week. The web gear and helmet have been completed for this stage of the process. I went ahead and painted the rifle with an initial tone just to get that portion initiated. The hands will need to be done as well, but I will do all the figures’ hands at once to keep the flesh tones in check. And finally, the last figure will be tackled this week. I’m thinking at least a week and a half to get this camo pattern done on this figure. I removed the right arm due to the tight quarters in the chest area. It’s just too tight to get an accurate paint job with it attached. More to follow soon on #3. Once I finish the smock on #3 the real fun begins, the trousers and details, and I’m looking forward to that! This last pic is rather blurry, but yall get the idea, it’s on the bench 😉 Thanks for watchin, Ski.
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Jan 2, 2022 13:37:26 GMT -5
Trouser WorksIn keeping with the drive and motivation in challenging times, we press on. Work the easy challenges first, then finish up the loose ends, hence the last figure’s smock will take a back seat,…for now, lol. He’s not going anywhere; he’ll be back soon. Back at it, Corp Reynolds is getting a leg workout. After making an initial attempt at this color tone and realizing it was way too dark, I initiated an Oven Cleaner bath. This was certainly not the first, nor the last bath I’ve done, but it had to be done in a bit more delicate manner since the upper torso was already complete. There was no room for error, none at all! Staying with Mig’s original trouser color tone I did a light shading and feathering with darker tan oil tones into the appropriate areas. Windsor Newton did me a favor by producing Golden Ochre, what a hoot. This is pretty close to a usable match if ever there was a color in a tube. Minor adjustments with Titanium white, a bit of Burnt Umber, and tones in betwixt, it all fell together nicely. Now, some may say there should be a slight olive tone within this mix, which I actually did include, but nailing down this exact color tone was a bit of a challenge. Re-enactment pics are good, some original article pics are even better, but we are really close, and neither us were there, so it’s a go. I do like the results, so I’m sticking with this process throughout. I treated this like any white or grey color tone, light application of shadows and let the highlights bring out the intended final color tones. The legging had a much greater olive tone in some of the reference pics and in others it was more of a tannish tone. I personally liked the olive tone for contrast. I’m still not completely sure about the straps, leather or canvas, but I’m thinking leather for even more contrast and definition in this area. The boots will get a better work over when all the figures get a bit of weathering. More to follow real soon and thanks for your patience. Cheers, Ski.
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Jan 4, 2022 21:17:08 GMT -5
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Jan 9, 2022 19:34:26 GMT -5
Thanks for checkin in Tobi!
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Jan 9, 2022 19:34:36 GMT -5
Feathering in the ShadowsBeen a few days of plowing snow, but we are back at it! Feathering in the shadows with this color tone is just like working whites and grays, that’s how it works for me. Playing with the tones to ensure a variation may only take just a slight mix in either direction, tonal wise. It’s not so difficult to make the uniforms “not so uniform” if you just play with it for a bit. Grant it, we ain’t there yet, but we will be, mue pronto. This is just the preliminaries. During my feathering process there is just a slight amount of dark oils (just a small stripe) that is distributed into the tops of the creases, then a wet brush with thinner allows me to spread that thin line through out that crease. Darker portions remain under the fold while the lighter, feathered portions, are dispersed downward towards the lighter affected areas. Clear as mud, I know, but it works. Play with it, it works. Next up, highlights and how I feather those into the mix. It’s gotta be wet to make it happen, otherwise it’s more difficult. The beauty of oils for me, they dry slowly 😉 A good dose of “Frampton Comes Alive, Do you feel like I do?” will bring it all round just right, lol. Guitar work is incredible, IMHO. Sometimes a ya just gotta relax with some good ‘ol tunes and have fun with the oils.! More to follow soon. Cheers, Ski.
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Post by Tobi on Jan 10, 2022 3:10:36 GMT -5
Love what you're doing and I appreciate that you're still posting here, despite the place being seemingly totally abandoned Even I was forced to turn my focus more to missing-lynx recently. So sad.
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Jan 11, 2022 21:02:20 GMT -5
Hang tough Tobi. Everyone with any common sense is leaving Spacebook, may see em back soon. Sure wish Rob would start back.
This was always one of my first go to sites, but I'm still here, like you. Thanks for the compliments, Amigo! Regardless, keep "sniffin paint and gluin them fingers together!"
Cheers, Ski.
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Jan 12, 2022 20:45:45 GMT -5
Rolling alongSecond trouser set is complete, for the most part. With minor alterations in the tones, we’re off and running. There’s still a few areas that need attention, but the glare from the lights on the oils can be deceptive, so we’ll let er rest a bit. As before, the hands, rifle, (or Bren Gun), boots and anklets were worked and will be finalized after this initial coat dries. In an attempt to keep this train rolling I’ve been getting at least five hours a day working these figures, so it’s not a fast process. Why rush the fun, IMHO, right? And of course, we have the pre-shading of the trousers for the next figure. Gotta keep this party on the move. Same process as before, nothing has changed. Tomorrow I will work this set of trousers, but I did pre-work the hands and added a darker tone for the shovel handle, as suggested by the knowledgeable historians in council. This Bren Gun is in the preliminary stages, but I do need to go back and study the proper way to make this look real. It looks like it belongs to a 1/6th scale play figure right now, YIKES! More to follow and thanks for watchin. Cheers, Ski.
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Post by Tobi on Jan 13, 2022 4:37:09 GMT -5
THX Ski. I'm looking forward to post something of my own again soon, but I don't want to start the thread unless I'm near the finish line. Too many unfinished projects on my list.
A liitle dark brown wash on the Bren here and there might give the proper burnished metal look
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Jan 13, 2022 15:19:39 GMT -5
Good idea Tobi, I'll try that. Been a long time since I've worked much gun metal.
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george
Full Member
Member since: February 2014
Posts: 266
Feb 4, 2014 15:26:25 GMT -5
Feb 4, 2014 15:26:25 GMT -5
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Post by george on Jan 15, 2022 9:54:32 GMT -5
Hi Steve. It's a real masterpiece, your skills in painting are outstanding. Great work!
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Jan 15, 2022 20:42:58 GMT -5
Thank you, George, and thanks for posting!
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Jan 15, 2022 20:43:17 GMT -5
Breaking Protocol, woops!Going against my own house rules I’m posting what will be, to come. You can never predict how a project will finally make presentation, unless you know something that I don’t, lol. This set is incredible. After all this pain staking work, it’s beginning to flower as expected, which is pretty sweet, IMHO! There’s a bit of fiddling with the fit in the base, to be expected, but nothing that can’t be handled. Seriously, this is an incredible set, and now I’m seeing what I’ve envisioned months ago, woof! We are quite a few weeks off from final, but the punch list is actually smaller than I had expected. I recon I can’t brag enough about the sculptor, but yall already know him. He’s earned his stripes, rightly so. Ruck On, Stevo! I will continue working the third set of trousers tomorrow, run a complete finish on him as best as I can. Then off to that most difficult camo patten for the last figure. Sheeesh! I pray I still have the gumption to knock the ball outta da park, lol. This is a though pattern. It’s been the most challenging set I’ve faced, to date. Let me say this with certainty, I’ve never seen such a good set portrayed with the intensity envisioned as I do here, and it’s just now beginning to show. I’m impressed, and it ain’t my brush work, it’s the sculptor’s work! Capturing the life actions of men in a real-life battle is a tough thing, especially in scale, but what a pleasure when we do, for historical sake, if nothing else. Ruck On, Steve! Hope yall have enjoyed the pre-show, back to work I go! And did I say, thanks for watchin! Cheers, Ski.
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Jan 25, 2022 11:14:19 GMT -5
Major Update; Figure #2 and The Last SmockI’ve been so busy trying to stay consistent at the bench I forgot to post progress photos, so here we go. The trousers, boots, and anklets for figure #2 have been completed. I also finished off the rifle and hands. Figure #2 is now set aside to dry completely and await the punch list, and that 5’o clock shadow, like the other two. Ah, the last smock, yehaaaaaaaaa! This last smock was not nearly as difficult as I had expected. After working out a basic system of painting each color tone separately, the whole process sped up quite nicely. I worked the red tones first, then moved on to the green tones, saving the light tone for last. This has been a challenging camo pattern to keep consistent and what I’ve learned is that you have to remember each color tone has to carry the shadows and highlights from one tone to the next. Sometimes you can get a little bug eyed during the process. It’s not like painting a regular uniform that has only one color tone. As you work your way around the figure you have to project the shadows and highlights within each small section. I found myself constantly pulling back to make sure the shadows and highlights were falling correctly and accurately. This camo pattern may not be exactly accurate, but it has definitely been a learning process for me. Looking back there are a few things I would have done differently, but I’m happy with the results, so Ruck On we will. Once I was satisfied with the initial pass for each tone, I immediately began to work the web gear. The smock still has plenty of detail to tend to, but the bulk of the work has been done. I still need to add the brush strokes and adjust some of the details, toning some down, highlighting others. Once the details are worked, I will go back to the arm and paint the hands, rifle, attach the arm to the figure, then clean up any details missed before working the trousers. So far, so good. More to follow real soon. Thanks for watchin. Cheers, Ski.
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Jan 26, 2022 19:56:50 GMT -5
The BaseTo break things up a bit and keep the motivation going between figures I jumped ahead and worked the base. Once again, I was so involved in the process, I forgot to take progress pics. There isn’t anything special about how I worked the resin base. Using a few pieces of styrene tubing I added the sewer pipe and water line seen in the original photo. Steve said it was certainly a consideration to add those, but the casting process would have been a bugger, so they were installed before I got too far along. I used the Dremel tool to prep the locations for each pipe, installed them, then covered the areas with glue and cat litter for a more natural appearance. I gave the entire base a primer coat of Krylon Gray and dried it completely with a hair dryer. Using slightly diluted Elmer’s wood glue I carefully placed crushed cat litter in areas that needed a dustier loose dirt affect. At first, I couldn’t find my jar of cat litter and was in a bit of a panic. We don’t have cats anymore, haven’t for years, and I wasn’t in the mood to make a trip just for cat litter. Then that jar caught my eye as I scavenged the material shelf. Shewwww, wiping the sweat from me brow, I carried on, HA! After an initial coat of flat black, I used Vallejo’s Flat Earth and AK’s Tan and Light Sand to achieve the desired dirt tones. Then the process of weathering was pretty straight forward using oils washes for definition and dry brush with acrylics for some of the highlights. Mig’s Europe Dust P028 was used in all the appropriate areas. Once everything was dried overnight, I added the roots as seen in the original photo. Now, I know someone is going to say, “Those roots near the pipes are a bit too large and there’s too many.” Oh contraire, observe the stump in the foreground of that original photo, there’s plenty of roots to be had everywhere. If you’ve ever dug up a sewer or water line, especially an older line near any old growth trees, you will normally find roots looking to tap into that water source somewhere along that line. I did temper my approach, not wanting to make the roots the main focus but a compliment to the scene. Now it’s back to work on those trousers of the last figure and see if I can finish this scene. Thanks for watching. Cheers, Ski.
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Post by Leon on Jan 30, 2022 8:21:47 GMT -5
Base looks really good Ski!
I know all about roots and sewer lines.
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Feb 1, 2022 16:05:33 GMT -5
Yes, I never dreamed of being a plumber, HA! Thanks Leon!
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Post by Steve Zuleski on Feb 2, 2022 21:12:03 GMT -5
Figure #3 on Final Approach; Gear Down, Flaps Down, Cleared to Land!So, as we crank a bit of Outlaws, “Green Grass and High Tides”, and maybe a little bit a Tom Petty, “Here comes My girl”, or maybe some Joe Cocker, “Feeling Alright”, we Ruck On! And when wass the last time any of you have listened to Jeff Beck “Live” with Jan Hammer, “Earth in Search of a Sun”? Sometimes it pays to relax when you’re “sniffin paint and gluin them fingers together.” Just a bit of nostalgia for my paint sniffin Amigos! So, let’s get this pig on the roll, right quick! Been more than long enough, but there has been some decent progress. I must admit, there is a bit more work to be done on the hands, not there yet, but we are now ready to paint the trousers, mue pronto. So, just a pre-shading is set in preparation for closing out this last figure. With the arm and head in place, it’s coming together nicely. Still, there’s plenty on the punch list to deal with later, but it’s coming together as expected when one deals with incredibly well sculpted figures. Kudos to Stevo, once again! The sweet part about finishing this last figure is the punch list, then the placement within the base. I might add, we do have an incredibly beautiful chunk of Black Walnut left over from the fireplace mantel, so I will do my best to expose the sap ribbon, or as some say, “that beautiful blond strip before the meat of the trunk”. Either way, I’ll get a nice lookin piece after I mill this 4” thick chunky block of beautiful black walnut. Thanks for watchin. Cheers, Ski.
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