Work in Progress

Ancient Egyptian Project

Posted by wilberforcefrog on 25 Feb 2021, 15:31

Hello there! I hope that I'm doing this right. I wanted to share what I'm working on right now, Which is these guys!

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To be honest I haven't decided just what I'm going to use them for, I'm just hoping to paint them up and then hopefully find something to do with them. Any suggestions?

I got a start on one archer

Image

Image

I know one thing I need to do is take better pictures, ha.

Thank you for looking!
Last edited by Peter on 26 Feb 2021, 09:31, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Fixed picture(s).
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wilberforcefrog  United States of America
 
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Posted by Bluefalchion on 25 Feb 2021, 18:45

In my experience, "doing something" with a figure is over-rated.

Just painting a figure in a way that you like is worth it in and of itself.

If you want good feedback from the forum members, make sure to shine a bright light onto the figure and make sure your camera is in focus. It takes a little bit of practice but I am very much in favor of the fact that you have shared this with us.

I must also mention that you have chosen an outstanding set of figures to paint. The Zvezda big boxes are some of the best figures ever made in plastic in this scale. What a pity that company are no longer making new big boxes.
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Bluefalchion  United States of America
 
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Posted by Minuteman on 26 Feb 2021, 08:55

Yes, an excellent set. The challenge with these is partly getting the flesh-tones of dark-skinned and sun-tanned Egyptian soldiery 'right'.

One figure painted, another 40 or so to go.....! A good start though by the looks of things.

Larger photos next time please :-D :yeah:
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Minuteman  United Kingdom
 
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Posted by Peter on 26 Feb 2021, 09:35

Good start! :thumbup:

@wilberforcefrog: fixed your pictures so we can see now that the bowstring is broken. ;-) In the future please copy adress of picture and only the "img" button to place pictures here. And use the preview button to see what you will be posting.
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Peter  Belgium

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Posted by wilberforcefrog on 27 Feb 2021, 19:12

Thank you for the kind comments all of you! And also thank you for resizing them, I'll be sure to set the next ones up right.

BlueFalchion, I'm glad that I got a good box! I'm definitely having some fun painting them up and learning as I go. They're slippery little things in my hands and I just learned about the idea of putting figures on a little stick type thing to aid in painting. So hopefully that will help me.

Minuteman, yeah that's what i'm working on. I remember having a bit of trouble with skin tones back in my early hobby days so I'm trying to learn more now!
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wilberforcefrog  United States of America
 
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Posted by Bluefalchion on 27 Feb 2021, 21:58

My best skin results have involved starting with a dark layer and using many many coats of thinned down flesh tone to build up the areas of muscle or where light would hit.
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Bluefalchion  United States of America
 
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Posted by CliosPaintingBench on 01 Mar 2021, 00:37

Great first start, love the Zvezda set. One thing I would suggest is better lighting - maybe taking photos when the Sun is out (but not direct sunlight), that's how I do it. Please don't be discouraged, I would love to see more.
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CliosPaintingBench  Australia
 
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Posted by wilberforcefrog on 02 Mar 2021, 23:12

Thank you both! Sunlight would be good, and I hope the sun returns one day (We are still fully in the grips of winter here sadly)

Here is where I am in regards to testing out skin tones.

Image

I hope that I set up the image correctly!
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wilberforcefrog  United States of America
 
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Posted by Peter on 03 Mar 2021, 09:36

Yes you did, thank you! :thumbup:

May I ask what paint you use?
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Peter  Belgium

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Posted by wilberforcefrog on 03 Mar 2021, 17:26

Peter wrote:Yes you did, thank you! :thumbup:

May I ask what paint you use?


I mainly use what I have access to which is a mix of acrylic art paints. Liquitex and some Blick. I know they aren't hobby paints so I'm not sure if they're the best for what I am trying to learn how to do, but they're what I have.
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wilberforcefrog  United States of America
 
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Posted by Bluefalchion on 03 Mar 2021, 17:59

Most new painters (myself included) tend to use paint that is too thick.

Thick paint obscures the fine details of the figure and results in a glossy finish, two things that most advanced painters avoid like the plague.

The nice thing about acrylics is that it only takes water to thin them down. I have been advised that the consistency of milk is the ideal goal.

1% milk, whole milk, or somewhere in between? Depends on the paint, the item to be painted, the color underneath, etc.

Practice makes perfect. You have started on a journey. Will you arrive at Master Painter City? I have not, but I am still enjoying the trip.
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Bluefalchion  United States of America
 
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Posted by Minuteman on 03 Mar 2021, 20:29

There has been some discussion in this Forum on skin-tones for Zulus, viewtopic.php?f=2&t=22705&p=248962&hilit=zulu+skin#p248962

I'd say this is worth reading through as it may provide some pointers.

An approach which I use for horses is to use layers of thinned-down acrylic over a base colour; and the base colour is considerably lighter than I want the final colour to be: so a chestnut horse may start with a base coat of a sand brown.. The same principle can apply of course to human skin.

Good quality high-pigment artists Acrylics are as good as commercially-sold model acrylics, and per 100ml a great deal cheaper, I tend to use artists acrylics for horses, and indeed to base coat most of my figures.

Skin (be it human or horse) does have a sheen , especially in heat, and I use a wash of artist's drawing ink over the layers of paint on my horses. This accentuates the folds in the body (it runs into the creases, adding to shadows) and provides a subtle shine. I find this works quite well.

Happy experimenting!

PS: I imagine that in the days of ancient Egypt you would be very aware of skin tone as a marker of race and origin. Numidians would be darker than Egyptians from the Nile Delta etc etc. Worth thinking about when you are painting these figures. They may have less 'uniform' than many, but getting the skin right is important. To ancient Egyptians, this may even have been a marker of different military units? Indeed, the artist for Zvezda who executed the box illustration seems to have reflected this: the archer is darker-skinned than his comrades-in-arms.
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Minuteman  United Kingdom
 
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Posted by Bluefalchion on 03 Mar 2021, 21:08

Minuteman--

Will you provide a picture or a link to the artists ink product you use to create a wash?
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Bluefalchion  United States of America
 
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Posted by Minuteman on 03 Mar 2021, 23:49

The inks are made by a company called Winsor and Newton:
https://www.winsornewton.com/uk/graphic ... wing-inks/

They are fully mixable: the brown tones work well, with a touch of black to darken them if required.
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Minuteman  United Kingdom
 
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Posted by Bluefalchion on 04 Mar 2021, 05:29

Thanks. Very cool. I will check them out.
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Bluefalchion  United States of America
 
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Posted by Rich W on 04 Mar 2021, 23:23

These look a good start, thanks for sharing!
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Posted by wilberforcefrog on 10 Mar 2021, 20:24

Thank you all! I really appreciate the advice and the links! I'm going to keep doing my best to apply what I'm learning. It's sure as heck a process though, ha.

I've been practicing a bit with thinner paints and working on skin tones, and taking pictures once more. So here's some of that!

Image

I also tried a wash with I think mixed results.
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wilberforcefrog  United States of America
 
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Posted by Bluefalchion on 10 Mar 2021, 21:50

Looks like an improvement from where I am sitting. Now, have I told you yet about the duels...
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Bluefalchion  United States of America
 
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Posted by wilberforcefrog on 15 Mar 2021, 21:11

Bluefalchion wrote:Looks like an improvement from where I am sitting. Now, have I told you yet about the duels...


Thank you! I've seen the duels, but I'm going to admit that they quite baffle me, ha. So tell away, I say!

I've been hard at work on these guys so I should have a new update soon
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wilberforcefrog  United States of America
 
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Posted by Bluefalchion on 15 Mar 2021, 21:25

Oh they are just for fun. You challenge another forum member to paint a figure (usually the same one), then the mods put up the pictures without saying who painted what. Everyone votes for their favorite for a week or so. After the duel is over, the mods announce the contestants and folks write in to say why they liked each best. It is a lot of fun, and a great way to improve as a painter.
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Bluefalchion  United States of America
 
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