Work in Progress

Musketeers WIP

Posted by steve_pickstock on 28 Mar 2021, 00:53

Michael Robert wrote:Wonderful result, Steve,
and really good to see the steps.

Thank you, it's not done yet - so much more to do round this project - new steps (that fit), and a backer board to the church to strengthen the whole thing and enable me to take it to the wargames club safely - when that begins again.

Michael Robert wrote:The building has a strong Italian character to me, not French and not Spanish neither such as the picture you show. So what are the King's musketeers doing there? ... very curious about the story

[/quote]
Strangely enough I had this conversation earlier this evening. My friend has been following my build pictures on Facebook and we talked about it when he rang today.

What I was looking for when I was trying to find a picture to work from, was a prototype which I could build, which wouldn't dominate the whole table, have a nice enough facade that said "church" so that people would know instantly what it was, and which - and this was probably what guided me most - would fit in with the style of the 1974 Musketeers films.

The Red Box and Ultima Ratio figures are deeply rooted in the style of these films (and they are films that I personally love), even down to there being figures which are identifiable as actors from the films. This has been central to my thinking about the way I paint, and model the figures and scenery.

Initially I looked at pictures of churches in Paris.
Saint Roche
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St Peter, Montmartre
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St Etienne
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The style features that struck me immediately were the three doors - one large central door and two smaller, the niches, the use of false columns and the 'squareness' of the facades, which are all very different to English churches. These are key features.

St Paul, Montmartre was a strong possibility, it was old enough, and simple enough, but then someone in one of my Facebook groups posted this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp5-ERRbUNQ
Not only did it have those important features but it had human figures standing in front of it which would allow me to scale the images and get measurements off.

As you pointed out it looks Italian, (it IS about as Italian as you can get,) but to me it was Just what I was looking for. There were features on the facade that I knew I was never going to be able to reproduce, but it was a very good place to start. I also knew that I had to build it with what I had to hand (to make sure that it got completed) so I would have to compromise on some of the niches with what would have been smaller than life size statues. Hence the one statue of St Martin that looks a bit like Charlton Heston as the Cardinal Richelieu, but my friend agrees with me that it looks okay for my musketeers. (He also suggested I build some film cameras to complete the street scenery, sometimes I have to NOT listen to him.)

Hope this was useful, Steve.
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steve_pickstock  England
 
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Posted by C M Dodson on 28 Mar 2021, 08:07

My apologies as I seemed to have some how missed this epic project.

Lots to learn here and the work is fantastic.

I am fascinated by the building techniques.

Best wishes,

Chris
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Posted by steve_pickstock on 30 Mar 2021, 20:24

Just a couple of pics today.

The Church with the statue of St Martin (the soldier's saint) installed and looking grand.
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And with His Eminence Cardinal Richelieu himself, admiring the sculptor's work.
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steve_pickstock  England
 
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Posted by dykio on 30 Mar 2021, 20:31

wauw..... just wauw :drool: :yeah: :yeah: :yeah:
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dykio  Netherlands
 
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Posted by Santi Pérez on 31 Mar 2021, 18:23

This church is going better and better, steve_pickstock. :love: :notworthy: :love:

Santi.
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Santi Pérez  Spain
 
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Posted by steve_pickstock on 09 Apr 2021, 14:13

Good day to you all, on this sad day for our Queen. RIP HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.

Some updates on my progress this week.
With the church almost done, apart from the steps, I went back to the auberge that I had begun. Like the church, initially it was started in hard card with bamboo skewer and coffee stirrer detailing.
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It was heavy and clunky and after the experience of building the church it had to be replaced.

The new one so far.
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The same basic design (this one is currently held together with masking tape) - but using the white polystyrene.
Rather than slapping filler all over the surface and building up the weight (remember these are 'flats' and too much weight at the top will make them liable to fall over). The surface of the polystyrene was rolled over with a crumpled ball of silver foil which does a realy nice job. The courses of stone got the same treatment.
Windows were done by sticking the mesh to thin white card and frames were added with Tamiya 2mm masking tape. The window areas were painted with thinned Vallejo Steel Blue, then gloss varnish was flooded over the area. Finally the frames and the mullions of the windows were highlighted with a silver pen - this latter technique goes a long way to preserving your sanity. The cards with the painted windows were then taped to the back of the polystyrene, until the time when they will be fixed in place.
Coffe stirrers, cocktail sticks, and bamboo skewers are still useful for details of the timber framing (and also as ledges to rest the upper layers on). More importantly they strengthen the front in areas like the side of the main gate. However some details will be added in poly - simply because it is so much easier to do.
I could go completely overboard on the half-timbering, but I'm holding back on that so that I can use the inn as a back ground for other things.
More to do on this but I'm liking it so far.

You cannot have a baroque street scene without a fountain (or two).
So here are some pictures of a fountain made out of the white poly bent around a bottle glues onto some discs. Add an old Atlantic figure (singulalrly apt - an ancient French figurine), streams of water from clear plastic and Mod Podge and wallop! One fountain.
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I also took some time to experiment a little. Another fountain this time, more of a horse trough, against a trial wall.
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Last of all I took some time to build an experimental piece.
With the Red Box Middle Earth figures, I figured it was time to think about scenery, so this is a try-out on an old Gondorian building lost in the wilds and taken over by the wilds.
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There's still a bit to do to this to make it more ruinous, I need to add rubble and strangling vegetation.
However, I am quite pleased with the effect of the "stone work", but also how easy it is to get this kind of detail into the surfaces without too much effort. There will be more pictures of this but I will start another thread around that.

Hope you found this useful and have a good week-end.
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steve_pickstock  England
 
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Posted by Peter on 09 Apr 2021, 15:11

Thanks Steve, this is very interesting to follow! I like it when things come good together. :thumbup:
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Peter  Belgium

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Posted by Egbert on 09 Apr 2021, 19:57

Hey Steve,
your work is very impressive and refreshing ...
I like your style of creating your buildings.
It's very interesting to follow your Progresses.
Thank you for showing!
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Egbert  Germany
 
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Posted by MABO on 10 Apr 2021, 08:19

I am also deep into this process. It is really interesting how you made things. I love fountain and the picture with the musketeers in front. Looks like a movie.
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Posted by Konrad on 10 Apr 2021, 09:26

I admire your devotion to our hobby.
Great job.
My respect.
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Konrad  Germany
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Posted by Ochoin on 10 Apr 2021, 10:45

Steve, this is a project I'd like to do - albeit without your skill & talent.

Who doesn't dream of the Three Musketeers?

donald
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Ochoin  Scotland
 
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Posted by steve_pickstock on 18 Apr 2021, 16:38

A sort of frustrating day today - good progress on most of the work I set out to do but then I lost the Greenstuff putty that I had taken upstairs to use for a conversion.

On with the work.
The church of St Martin is complete! (Fanfare, children waving, cheering crowds.)
This week I attached the steps, filled the gaps where the wall rested on the steps and the sides etc. Added backer boards to protect the polystyrene from damage, put final coats of paint on everything.
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Also made good progress this week with the auberge.
Started glueing the various layers together, because it had reached that stage, but also because things were starting to get fragile.
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The wood work around the doors and windows still to paint, and the wood of the courtyard gate to drybrush the sign back further so it looks even more faded.
Also to add the roofing.

Have a good week all, stay safe.
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steve_pickstock  England
 
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Posted by MABO on 18 Apr 2021, 21:05

Very cool setup! I am waiting for the auberge. Looks also promissing!
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Posted by Minuteman on 18 Apr 2021, 21:51

Some excellent architectural modelling and attention to detail !! The church really looks the part.
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Posted by Bluefalchion on 19 Apr 2021, 05:40

It's wonderful to see this project advance and unfold. Keep us in the loop, if you would, please.
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Posted by Peter on 19 Apr 2021, 14:58

It is a pleasure to follow this project! Wonderfull progress on the buildings and I like that white musketier! :thumbup:
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Posted by steve_pickstock on 19 Apr 2021, 18:47

Peter wrote:It is a pleasure to follow this project! Wonderfull progress on the buildings

Thank you and thank you to everyone else who has commented. At the moment - working in isolation, without even our local club, with little chance to show off work you're enjoying and proud of, the support of members of the Forum - and on other social media, is so important. It validates the effort that goes into things. Thank you all.

Peter wrote: ... and I like that white musketier! :thumbup:

He is based on Jean-Pierre Cassel, as he appeared in the 1973 Musketeers films as Louis XIII. The poor chap wore several white suits. I probably should have given him a white scarf (or sash) but I couldn't do it, just too much white.

Here is the king and his queen, Anna, played by Geraldine Chaplin. Her figure is also based on an outfit worn in the 1973 films.
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steve_pickstock  England
 
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Posted by Santi Pérez on 19 Apr 2021, 20:06

MABO wrote:Very cool setup! I am waiting for the auberge. Looks also promissing!

I totally agree with MABO. The finished church and the upcoming auberge are a fantastic setting for any Musketeers scene. Excellent work, Steve. :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:

steve_pickstock wrote:...Here is the king and his queen, Anna, played by Geraldine Chaplin. Her figure is also based on an outfit worn in the 1973 films. Image

This was a great adventure movie with a star cast: Michael York, Oliver Reed, Raquel Welch, Christopher Lee, Charlton Heston, Richard Chamberlain, Faye Dunaway and more, apart from the two mentioned Jean-Pierre Cassel and Geraldine Chaplin. :thumbup:

Santi.
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Posted by Chariobaude on 19 Apr 2021, 20:36

i just discovered this thread and i'm speachless... WOW, absolutely amazing, chapeau, as we say in France !!!
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Chariobaude  France
 
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Posted by steve_pickstock on 20 Apr 2021, 16:20

Chariobaude wrote:i just discovered this thread and i'm speachless... WOW, absolutely amazing, chapeau, as we say in France !!!

Merci monsieur, I hope I am doing the spirit of M. Dumas, the respect it is due.

A couple of pictures from today's efforts.
I overdid it a bit yesterday - actually went to a model shop! Everybody else went to hairdressers - I went to a model shop! One has to keep one's priorities straight. However it left me a bit banjaxed, as the expression goes. So a rest day today.

Weathered the gates of the auberge and toned down the sign a little.
Then I started on an idea I have been mulling over for a few days. I wanted a plain wall. It would serve to act as part of the overall scenery and also as something to photograph models against.
After an hour or so I had this:-
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Two layers of the white polystyrene, doors and windows marked on both sheets. Plasterer's scrim and Tamiya micro-masking tape for the windows, and some of the 1mm blue styrodur for the mouldings and door.
Mouldings are a wonderful thing with this stuff. For a minimal effort you end up with something quite presentable.
Take a rule and metal shapes - in this case an awl (for piercing leather) and some square section brass tube. Run the awl along the rule, pressing dowm to form a groove in the styrodur. Then move the ruler a milimetre or so, and do the same with the tube. This forms a ridge between the groove and the depression caused by the tube. Trim the strip off the sheet, and there is your architectural moulding. Use the square section tube and press some squares in the styrodur. Make a mark in the centre, trim those squares out of the material and you have the corner mouldings.

As I was on a bit of a roll I also added some stonework from the blue styrodur (I do know what the name for this feature is but can't for the life of me think what it is), as well as some mouldings on the second building.
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I will detail these in a day or two's time when they're good a dry.

Coming along nicely.
Have a pleasant evening - stay safe all.
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steve_pickstock  England
 
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