Completed Crusader

At long last I've finished my Romeo 90mm Crusader so here are some of the pictures.

 

This was the first large scale lead figure I have ever attempted and the clothing and equipment was painted with acrylics and I must admit I would put it down for months or even up to year between painting Sessions. The process of working with quick drying  acrylics on such a large area was very interested and it took a bit of patience to  deal with the white tabard. What was important was  to get the look of engrained  dirt from someone who has been campaigning for some time.

His face and  beard was painted with oils over an Acrylic base.  I used a series of oil washes, followed by a local oil glazes to achieve a weather beaten look. 

Thank you for taking a look and I hope you like it.

Crusader Update

Good Day, here are a few update shots on the Romeo 90mm Crusader figure I have been working on over the last few years on and off.

There are some images of his shield and sword.

Here are some wide shots with some extra pre shading on the tunic.

Thanks for looking.

The Leather Belt

Sunday evening saw a bit of work on the crusader's belt. Now I am much happier with the results and feel it represents worn leather to a better standard now.  

 I started some very diluted black which was gently brushed on to the centre of the belt to add a touch of depth. Once the black had dried I very carefully stippled the top and bottom edges of the belt with beige.

 The paint was diluted around 4:1 with water.  To finish it all off a wash of  cavalry brown was added bringing the separate elements together and give the whole belt a leather sheen.  

Hope you like the progress. 

The next job is to do a bit of work on the red crosses  and get them looking less painted. 

Mucky Hems

So where was I, Oh yeah, engrained dirt. The process of working dirt into the tabbard continued      with very diluted mixes of chocolate brown and khaki, about a eight to one mix which was figuremethodically painted around the hem of the crusaders tabbard each coat slowly built up the dirt with slightly different tones. Interspersed in the brown and khaki coats were the occasional coat of ivory which was feathered up into the off-white of the fabric. It is a slow but pleasant process and it seems to be producing results.

Currently I am not totally happy with the leather belt. It needs a little more work to get a the worn look just right...

Okay maybe I will just ruin it and have to start again.  Watch this space !

The Yellow Scarf

Last night more  progress was  made on the yellow scarf  around the crusader's waist. Firstly I went over all the upper surfaces of the scarf with a light sand highlight. Once this dried a went over the entire scarf with an opaque covering of lemon yellow.  Once this was complete a mix of some off-white was added to the yellow and the added a further light coat over the high-light areas once again. 
After a couple more coats progressively lighting the yellow until I was happy with the highlight. 
It was not to be too light but defined enough to show the texture and the folds off to their best. 

For the recesses and folds in the fabric a tiny spot of chocolate brown was mixed in with the yellow. This too was watered down in to an opaque consistency and gently added into the low- lights. The final stage was to paint over a final top coat to bring together the different shades and tones into one element encompassing light and dark. 

Finally the next part to deal with will be to start working on the bottom of the crusader's surcoat. Ideally we want to achieve an ingrained dirt look resulted  from months or possibly years of campaigning ...

Boots and Gloves

Recently some of the readers suggested that I should focus efforts on finishing up this crusader. So over the next few free evenings I am attempting to add the finishing touches to him. And attempt to get a nice uniform tonality on to the fabrics.

So far I am very pleased with the boots and gloves, both of which I imagine were made from un-dyed hide.

Currently I am working on the yellow waist scarf. This represents a piece of looted fabric from an enemy warrior. I hope to achieve an extra level of refinement on this item to contrast with the earthy tones against off white.   

Templar Kit

In an effort to keep the momentum of posts up here are a couple of shots of the weaponry with will adorn the crusader figure.

They were a real joy to paint. To finish it off it could do with a little bit of weathering to give it a a slightly more worn look.  

I suspect it might be easier to do that once the various pieces are mounted on to. As usual they has been painted with acrylics with oil washes. 

  

By Popular Demand

Please allow me to introduce another project, this has been languishing on my work bench for far too long.  Over the last few years I have been working this figure on and off. Nevertheless, I am determent to put the finishing touches to this figure before the winter sets in.  In an effort to inspire on to yet greater exploits with the paint brush I have taken some progress pictures.

The figure is from the Romeo 90mm range and is cast completely lead. He has been painted  with acrylics with exception of the face which was done with oils. With the complexion I have been attempting to represent a northern European face which has been weather beaten a sunburned in the harsh climes of the Holy Land.  The face should convey a mixture of discomfort and zealotry in keeping with a Knight Templar and his environment.  In terms of inspiration for the characterisation of the figure I used Brendan Gleason’s performance of Raynald of Châtillon in the film Kingdom of Heaven. 

The clothing and equipment has all been done in acrylics with a very light oil wash on some of the leather items in an attempt to give them a sight sheen.  The most challenging part getting  the white right.  Naturally when you paint something white you never use white.  Starting with a black primer I slowly built upwash after wash of off-white and ivory for the iconic Tunic.  

               Opting for bright yellow to paint the scarf tied around the figure’s waist, serves a couple of purposes, firstly to break up the monotone mix of whites, browns and reds. It is also representative of a looted item from an enemy. The bright colour is to indicate the comparative cultural superiority of the Muslim society of the time. This concept is also to ties in with the head garb the crusader is wearing, which imitates the local keffiyeh.