Tommy's War 1/10th scale bust.

[john hutton]

Good afternoon all,
Here is my next project: Captain 2nd Bn, South Wales Borderers Tsingtau 1914. I like painting Tommy's War figures, it's a shame Darren ceased trading I believe. I have chosen to paint him wearing the Brodie helmut this time as I have another in the stash which I can paint later wearing
The Wolseley. Typical TW quality resin,
nice folds, good undercuts. Head and helmet set at a jaunty angle and face looking very superior. Clean up done rod inserted , wash and primer next week .

 

[Jim R]

Looking forward to this John. Always nice to see the results from a skilled figure painter, especially when my own skills in that area are woeful. I didn't realise that TW did large scale busts.

 

[john hutton]

Hi Jim,
Kind comments mate but a bit off the mark I'm afraid. Darren released 5 to my knowledge, this one , East African mounted rifles corporal, Indian trooper, Gloucester Reg private and Private Liverpool Scotish brigade. I painted the first 2 when they came out, now got to complete the set. As for your skills I am sure I remember you doing a cracking job on if I remember , a Cavalier figure outside an Inn. From Elan miniatures???

 

[Tim Marlow]

I did this one a few years ago on the old Milmod site when we had a busts GB. I thought it was a nice figure as well, with excellent casting quality. I did the Wolsey helmet on mine. It paints up well and you’ll enjoy it John.

Unfortunately I thought the later busts they brought out were a bit cartoonish so never got them when they were freely available. Most of the range is still available until the end of the year I think, but not the busts. The website will then close and the range will be lost unless there is a buyer. Great shame I think. I still have a couple in the grey army to do one day.

 

[john hutton]

Hello Tim,
It;s funny you mention Cartoonish, when i first decided to reach for it, my first instinct was exactly that but although it is difficult to match a painted face to plain bare resin the actual figure does not seem to match the boxart. As i said i have Two of these so will do the Wolesley on the other figure at some later date. I read an article on line a while back, where the writer suggested that part of the reason for TW demise might be the limited variations that sticking to one conflict and one nationality obviously entails . Not that i agree with that. Sad though;

 

[Tim Marlow]

Might have misled you a little there. I think this one is fine John, it was the Liverpool Scot private that was the worst offender I think. Can’t recal the Gloucester one at all……
There could be some merit in the limited variation idea. I suppose when you come down to it they are all variations on the same khaki and green colours in similar uniforms. It’s a bit irksome to think that if he’d made the same Nazi poster boys as everyone else though he would potentially still be in business, albeit with a much less interesting figure range.

 

[john hutton]

Totally agree Tim, i think the different camo schemes on German troops and vehicles is a big draw in the modelling fraternity, I fell into it myself originally and still enjoy a German figure of vehicle, but now a look further afield for different types of figures. In fact i was prepping a Cowboy with an eye patch before choosing the above?????You an figure that one out.

 

[Jim R]

You have a good memory John. I did indeed paint the cavalier outside an inn.

 

[john hutton]

Jim,
Surprised myself with that one, for some reason it stuck in my mind. I recall also it was a very good job.

 

[Steve Ski]

Let er rip, John, this is a good looking sculpt. I neglected to ask, are you an oiler or an acrylic addict? Standing by to stand by

 

[john hutton]

Hi all,
All parts given a scrub with brush and a good quality lighter fuel, then warm bath in soapy water and left to air dry. Once dry a couple of light coats of AK Grey primer. I like to try to give the primer a good 24 hours to bite into all the crevices. Also found an old plinth of an appropriate size, so sanded that back and primed. Should get going on Sunday.
Hello Steve,
Acrylic base Oils on top for me. Never could master blending Acrylics. I remember the first time I went to a figure show 2012 I think. Euro Millitare it was. Seeing some of work the Masters can do with Acrylics sort of took the wind out of my sails, so I gave Oils a try and found them very enjoyable to use, so...

 

[PaulinKendal]

I'll be watching this closely. I'm intending to use oils over acrylic blocking in on my current project - so I'll be hoping to learn a trick or two.

 

[john hutton]

Paul,
First thing to learn, there may be corrections to earlier posts where i am concerned mate ( frequently in my case ). I should have added, although i use oils for most things, i have found Acrylics are better for eye's. So Eyeball and Iris in Acrylic. My apologies.

 

[john hutton]

Hi all,
Made a start on the Welsh Borderer, eye's as usual. Been a while since I painted eye's, either I am rusty or shakey hands and dodgy eyesight have finally caught up with me, as I struggled getting them correct, this is as close as I could come today. Also I had given the Brodie a coat of Mr surfacer for texture so that had a coat of Acrylic,when dry first layer of oils ready for some stippling. Looks a bit light in the picture but I can sort that with next layers.

 

[john hutton]

Afternoon all,
As I am about to start the face, thought I would post my usual Oil colour pallet for flesh tones (not my own) I might add, I really cannot remember where I saw it. If I can track it down I'll give the person a call out. Here are some paint swatches and names, these happen to be W&N but I am sure other brands would use similar names.

 

[Steve Ski]

Excellent start, John. You go about this as I would myself, basically the same process. The eyes are a bit risky for oils for me too, so I also use acrylics for them.

Acrylics are great for base coats, but like you said, I could never get the hang of that constant layering, reminds me too much of the old enamel days in the 80's-90's.

Ruck On!

 

[Tim Marlow]

Excellent start, John. You go about this as I would myself, basically the same process. The eyes are a bit risky for oils for me too, so I also use acrylics for them.

Acrylics are great for base coats, but like you said, I could never get the hang of that constant layering, reminds me too much of the old enamel days in the 80's-90's.

Ruck On!

Why were you layering enamels? One of their better properties was the ability to reactivate the dried paint layer with a brush damp (not wet, just damp) with thinner and feather the edges of two adjacent colours together. It was a technique perfected by Bill Horan.

 

[john hutton]

Afternoon chaps,
Think I am about done with the head. His right cheek looks a bit Red, but I did this on purpose due to the head and the Wolesley being tilted this way, so more shadow on that side. When I have painted the helmet I'll check and tone it back if need be.

 

[john hutton]

Me again,
Here is with the helmet in place.

 

[Lee Drennen]

Looks good John.