Europe, 13th century – 15th century
John II, called John the Good (French: Jean le Bon), was King of France from 1350 until his death in 1364. During his reign, he faced several challenges, including the Hundred Years' War with England. This is yet another popular miniature in 54mm originally manufactured by Elite Miniatures (they closed down their business some years ago). Today it's still avaiable in the FeR Miniatures offerings, but the original miniature is casted in white metal. Standard mixed acrylic-oils painting process, which is a bit facilitated here since the "fleur de lis" are casted in relief. Red hairs is a bit difficult to render, and the photo does not help much...
sdfgds fgasfgad Another very popular Pegaso Model figurine in 75mm scale. Many painters opted for a red coloured vest, this time I opted for a blue one. I used a mixec acrylic-oil paint, also for the vest. In general oil simplify the painting process of shades and highlights. Yes, eventually they are a bit glossy, but I used the super effective matt varnish by AK using airbrush and this makes everything very matt (including metals...) For the first time I decided to include some water in the scene. It's not easy to work with the resin, in general, but overall I am rather happy of the final outcome.
This is another old piece by Pegaso Models, but I always loved the posture of this Tuscan Knight (54mm scale) I had a lot of fun building the base and getting the figure dirty, although I think I went a bit overboard in doing that...
Another quick update, as I completed the sword, again with a mixed technique acrylic and oils. I also slightly retouched the face as I noticed some imperfections, although I am sure there are many others... Anyway, now the main body of the bust is complete and only the shield is missing. The shield is quite large, so creating the proper shades using the brush is a challenge and in my case the coat of arms is the one of Charlemagne so the shield will be split into two parts. We'll see... In the mean time, enjoy the photos in the gallery. This time I also added a blue background just to make it less distracting, althooug in the previous photos…
Easter time quick update, and it's a nice time as I think I learnt a bit more how to use oil colours over acrylic, so I wish to celebrate! I used the oils for the first time with the Trumpeter back in December 2018, but that time I used the "Oil Brush" and I was not pleased with the outcome. Recently I purchased some Abteilung 502 (https://abteilung502.com) colour sets (Flesh, Leather and Wood and Base Color Alteration) and yesterday/today I put them at test. My "Guardian" has a leather bag, probably to keep some coins, so I took the opportunity to try my brand new "Leather and Wood" oils. I started with an acrylic base coat and I just sketched…
Ok, here is a small update about my Guardian. In the gallery below you can see the process. I painted the arms, the wristband and the sleeves, then I painted the belts and created lights and shadows of the vest. For the vest I decided to use a lighter colour to give the feeling of a worn out fabric, so I picked the original could and I desaturated them by adding some black first, then some white (ok, basically adding grey...) and after this I applied the lights and shadows. Along the way I also slightly retouched the face and the arms. I am discovering that, in general, to make the flesh and other surfaces as most realistic as possible,…
This is the final part of this WIP and this time it was easy, I simply painted the halberd and glued the parts together. To paint the shaft I used the Brown Set from Andrea Colours using glazes of different shades. The job was easy thanks to the wood grain of the cast. I also added some dark brown/black glazes in the wood parts closer to the metal part in order to simulate the dirty areas. For the metal parts I used, again, the Vallejo Metal Colours which I strongly suggest to anyone. As previously, I started with the Steel, then I used Silver and a a Silver-Steel mis for the various shadows. I also created some rust-effect using an…
This is really a big bust! The scale is a standard 1:10 but the overall posture and the the pole arm take a lot of space in my showcase. The bust is manufactured by Altores Studio and represents a infantry footman in the medieval age (ref. [1]). I really love this bust especially for the shouting facial expression which is pretty much unique. I tried to reproduce a tired soldier after a tough battle, hence the long beard and the dirt over all the surfaces. I hope I have been able to do a decent job, but overall I am happy with the final result. [ngg src="galleries" ids="19" display="pro_mosaic"] References[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infantry_in_the_Middle_Ages
Another small bust (scale 1:12) from FER Miniatures which is very nice and represents a "Man at arms" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-at-arms) during the battle of Crecy in 1346. I wanted to represent a tired soldier after a battle, but I am not completely happy with the outcome about the face, I think I used too many layers of colour so the face ended up being a bit shiny... However, this is also my first attempt at painting a complex heraldry like the one painted over the shield and in this case I am much more happy with the final result! [ngg src="galleries" ids="17" display="pro_blog_gallery" border_color="#dd9933"]
"The Defeat" is a representation of a scene where a Polish Knight takes possession of the flag of an unhorsed Teutonic knight in the context of the "Battle of Tannenberg" (1410) also known as "Battle of Grunwald" (https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battaglia_di_Grunwald). This is my first "mini diorama" where I had to fit two figures. I painted the metal parts by polishing the white metal of the miniatures and painting them with oil colours. The flag is scratch build out of a think sheet of white metal. [ngg src="galleries" ids="14" display="pro_blog_gallery" border_color="#dd9933"]
This is an old 90mm figurine from Andrea Miniatures that portraits "Edward the Black Prince" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_the_Black_Prince) The surcoat has a nice heraldry (fleur de lis) bass-relief, so they are easier to paint. As there is a wide surface area which is metallic, I decided to leverage on the real metal and painted the lights/shadows using the oil colours. The white band around the waist is a bit controversial, as I have not been able to find any illustration about it in the historical sources, but removing it would have been a nightmare, so I kept it. [ngg src="galleries" ids="13" display="pro_blog_gallery" border_color="#dd9933"]
This is my first 90mm scale figurine and it's been definitely challenging! The biggest challenges have been the blue color over wide areas and the heraldry which is all hand made. The outcome is not optimal, but it's my first time painting this stuff! Also the flag is hand made, built out of a think sheet of while metal. [ngg src="galleries" ids="22" display="masonry"]
This is a nice 75mm figurine from Masterclass. The base is scratch-built, including the bag which I modelled using a standard putty. [ngg src="galleries" ids="7" display="pro_mosaic"]
