The Duelling Field

French Staff Duel

Please choose your winner

Poll ended at 24 Aug 2019, 12:06

Brigadier General Jean-Toussaint Arrighi de Casanova, Duc de Padova
5
19%
Hold still. I see Wellington!
21
81%
 
Total votes : 26

Posted by Dad's Army on 17 Aug 2019, 12:06

This is duel nr.195 folks!

The rules this time were:

- set Italeri 6016 Imperial French General Staff
- 3 pictures

You have a week to choose your winner.
Once again gentlemen take your places and may the best painter win.
Please leave comments after the duel has finished


"Brigadier General Jean-Toussaint Arrighi de
Casanova, Duc de Padova"


Image

Image

Image

vs

"Hold still. I see Wellington!"


Image

Image

Image
User avatar
Dad's Army  Netherlands

Moderator Moderator
 
Posts: 5289
Member since:
18 Nov 2007, 22:53


Posted by Dad's Army on 25 Aug 2019, 21:32

And this was a cool duel, and personal I tough it would be more close than this result.
Lost by Jan (Mabo) and won by Aaron (Bluefalchion)
A great duel, with a surprising result.
Thanks both for dueling, and thanks for the voters to make it more fun!
User avatar
Dad's Army  Netherlands

Moderator Moderator
 
Posts: 5289
Member since:
18 Nov 2007, 22:53

Posted by MABO on 25 Aug 2019, 22:34

Congratulations Aaron, a clear finish. :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:
You have beaten me with a wonderful entry with sharp details, very good represented in the photos. I could not reach this level in my pics.
It was really fun an a joy to paint the Dragoon-General. The research for the histrorical background was also interesting.
So enjoy your days of fame there will be a rematch in autumn... :winky: :occasion: :mrgreen:
User avatar
MABO  Europe
Supporting Member (Gold) Supporting Member (Gold)
 
Posts: 9127
Member since:
12 May 2008, 18:01

Posted by Bluefalchion on 25 Aug 2019, 23:20

Jan, I thought your entry was excellent as well. The terrain especially was wonderful. But your Dragoon-General and horse were very well done also.

I think the photograph may have been the difference. For this one, I used direct sunlight with a thin plastic film over a frame to diffuse the light. I liked the finished result.

As for the figure, I will tell you I came very close to applying a black ink wash to the green of the coat. I just did not think it was quite dark green enough. And trying to do the details on the turnbacks in gold didn't really work. If I were to paint him again, I would do the reverse and paint the turnbacks gold over white as a base, then add the details in red over that.
User avatar
Bluefalchion  United States of America
 
Posts: 3575
Member since:
23 Dec 2010, 07:57

Posted by Susofrick on 26 Aug 2019, 09:31

Very nice duel!
User avatar
Susofrick  Sweden
Supporting Member (Gold) Supporting Member (Gold)
 
Posts: 7678
Member since:
19 Feb 2008, 12:10

Posted by Rich W on 26 Aug 2019, 10:42

This was the hardest one to vote for. Normally I find there is one that is clearly better than the other, but this time I thought they were both very very good. I'm surprised there's such a big margin of win, because they were both so good! Congratulations to you both!
Rich W  United Kingdom
 
Posts: 1236
Member since:
05 Feb 2018, 23:40

Help keep the forum online!
or become a supporting member

Posted by Mr. Andrea on 26 Aug 2019, 16:05

This page is spoiling us with fantastic duels lately. This is another great one. My friend Jan was penalized by the blurry picture, I am sure. I found the two entries very similar: two greatly painted horses, same for the dragoon's uniform. I preferred the deerskin trousers of Jan, but I eventually voted for Aaron because a better (or more visible) shadowing on the uniform. Cheers to both!
User avatar
Mr. Andrea  Europe
 
Posts: 916
Member since:
18 Mar 2015, 12:43

Posted by Konrad on 26 Aug 2019, 16:25

Congratulation for Aaron.
Two very good posts.
I do not see a very big difference in the quality of the painting.
User avatar
Konrad  Germany
Supporting Member (Gold) Supporting Member (Gold)
Bronze Brush winner
 
Posts: 2629
Member since:
19 Oct 2007, 12:59

Posted by Graeme on 26 Aug 2019, 17:43

Two first rate entries with exceptional painting here.
I think Aaron's nice sharp picture showed the fine details to their best effect. I liked the idea of resting the telescope on the saddle too, it makes sense of a rather odd pose.
User avatar
Graeme  Australia
 
Posts: 1565
Member since:
27 Nov 2015, 02:39

Posted by Michael Robert on 26 Aug 2019, 20:53

Great duel between the generals of dragoons. Me too, I didn’t see any difference in quality of painting. The decisive factor for my vote was better pictures - light and distance, and as already mentioned the idea of the telescope rest on the saddle.
As such the voting outcome is cruel. Hey Jan, you did super well!!
It was Good fun
Michael
User avatar
Michael Robert  France

Supporting Member (Bronze) Supporting Member (Bronze)
 
Posts: 825
Member since:
14 Oct 2009, 19:22

Posted by Strolch on 27 Aug 2019, 20:15

Very nice duel. Both figures are painted from my point of view on an very high level :-D

Congratulation to both :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
User avatar
Strolch  Germany
 
Posts: 44
Member since:
02 Mar 2011, 21:43

Posted by Bill Slavin on 29 Aug 2019, 01:01

Like the rest, I found this a tough choice. I voted for Aaron but could easily have voted for Mabo. Don’t even remember what turned the tide for me!
I agree, the vote does not equate to the standard of painting. Both were excellent!
User avatar
Bill Slavin  Canada

Supporting Member (Bronze) Supporting Member (Bronze)
 
Posts: 1289
Member since:
24 Oct 2016, 14:55

Posted by Bluefalchion on 12 Sep 2019, 00:23

Okay I waited a nice long time for the comments to filter in, so now I am going to give you my write up so you don't have to suffer through it two years from now. This challenge arose from MABO after my comments on the Imperial General Staff Duel. There was also a very short turnaround on this duel. I lost to Bill Slavin in that one, and tied against Kekso in the French Hussar Duel so far this year. So I knew I needed to produce a better presentation.

This Dragoon General has a very cool uniform, and he has been done before with excellent results here at Bennos Figure Forum.

Image

I think this one was done by Victorious Secret back in about 2011. I found it in google search and saved the image to my phone, but now I can't find the image here on Bennos. Anyway, this is a brilliant job. I felt my entry must be at least as good as this one, or else what is the point? I wish Victorious Secret was still around, if so, I would definitely ask him how he got the boots to look like that. I just think they are really fantastic.

So I started to hunt the web for images. I liked the white jacket front better than the red. Here are a few examples:

Image

Image

Image

For the horse I chose to do a chestnut color. They said use Hull Red as a base. Well I didn't have Hull Red so I used a mixture of black and calvary brown and it didn't look too bad. Then I did several layers of gradually blended calvary brown and Iraqi Sand. Four white socks and a star on his head, a bit more attention on to the reins, and the horse looked okay.

Mod: fixed image
User avatar
Bluefalchion  United States of America
 
Posts: 3575
Member since:
23 Dec 2010, 07:57

Posted by Bluefalchion on 12 Sep 2019, 20:09

Here is another try to get that link with that Dragoon from Victorious Secret:

Image

When it came to painting the figure himself, as I said I preferred the while facing. But when I painted it white, the creases and crevasses were not visible enough. So I went back over it was a sky grey wash about 1/10 paint to water ratio. Then I followed up with watered-down white to build back up to the borders. After that was done, I really liked how it looked.

On to the hat. There are a number of them nicely preserved. Here was one picture I looked at:

Image

It's a pretty cool hat. I wanted to get the recesses a little darker than it turned out, but it is a few layers of bronze mixed with german camo brown and gradually building up to gold. The leopard print was fun to paint.

The trousers should have been deerskin, to hold up to the rigours of campaign, but we can't all be perfect. MABO nailed that aspect. My entry has more of a dress look.

As I was painting this figure, I kept thinking "what if he is balancing his spyglass on his horse?" I could not find any evidence that anyone ever did that, but I thought it would at least be funny. I almost did not go with the idea, but then when I was creating the base the figures fit together in that way with no need for any cutting or adjustment. It's almost like it was meant to be. So I figured if I am going to do a "joke" pose, it had better be well-painted.

Finally it was the full-terrain base. MABO is a shrewd negotiator and a master of terrain, so he convinced me that full terrain should be provided for this duel. Played right into his hands. I tried to follow the tutorial from matgc, but the dirt I was using dried out more than I would have liked. And the flocking looks just okay. Pitiful compared to MABO's majestic base.
User avatar
Bluefalchion  United States of America
 
Posts: 3575
Member since:
23 Dec 2010, 07:57

Posted by Bluefalchion on 12 Sep 2019, 21:34

Wait, there's more. I know these posts are really obnoxious but I find it fun to explain my process. I hope folks will just ignore them if they are not interested in them.

The last two items I want to discuss are the face and the photograph. For the face I simply did a thin coat of Vallejo Flat Flesh to cover the face, neck, and ears. Then I took a 50-50 mix of gunship green and English uniform and mixed one part of that with about 15 parts water to create the five o'clock shadow around the chin and lips. Then Vallejo flesh was 50:50 with water inside the ears and on the lips and on the cheeks. For the shadow under the eyes it is Vallejo burnt umber mixed with water. After the duel was already running, I realized I should have hollowed out the end of the spy glass a bit, painted a giant eye, and then covered that with some clear glue to simulate the look of the eye being magnified. Stay tuned, I may try that again some day.

Here is a shot where you can see the face a bit better:

Image

Finally, the photograph. I was in a race to get this one turned in on time, but the sun was very bright. I tried to take a picture inside with a lamp, but I did not like the way there were different colors of light.

Image

I tried direct sunlight as shown above, but the shadows were too strong. My wife has a candle holder that is the size and shape of a small pumpkin but it is only a frame. So I placed the entry inside and experimented with different materials to make a small tent to diffuse the sunlight. Wax paper was a bit too dark, but finally I found some bin-liners that were just translucent and I liked the effect. Here is a final photo, taken at an earlier stage.

Image

I am just an okay painter, there are many who contribute here at Bennos who are much better. But I hope my example of hard work and experimenting with different techniques might inspire some others with the knowledge they can create quality works. Also, to my opponents in duels, it is a notice to you that I am going to work hard to turn in a competitive entry.
User avatar
Bluefalchion  United States of America
 
Posts: 3575
Member since:
23 Dec 2010, 07:57

Posted by Beano Boy on 14 Sep 2019, 02:21

Drum roll please,
Napoleons cousin got my vote, and i had an enjoyable time spent reading about him.
Titles are important be it upon books or here upon ones own painting skills.
A great duel and very well presented by both artists involved in it.
Congratulation to both the winner and runner up. BB
Beano Boy  England
Supporting Member (Gold) Supporting Member (Gold)
 
Posts: 8083
Member since:
03 Sep 2013, 14:45

Help keep the forum online!
or become a supporting member

Posted by Peter on 17 Sep 2019, 11:32

It was hard to make a choice! Great duel and fantastic brushwork from both! :thumbup:
User avatar
Peter  Belgium

Moderator Moderator
 
Posts: 22501
Member since:
25 Mar 2008, 18:51


Return to The Duelling Field