from JamesM Kurtgeld - 'Cecil'

Hi Folks,

Apologies, I missed the deadline on Thursday for this due to a busy social schedule... Hoping this can be picked up and posted!

I've been working on, and have now finished, my part of the team entry. Apologies for there being no basing done, one of my co-conspirators will be working on this. 

Painting this model was a big shift for me. I normally don't:

1) Paint animals (dead chickens aside!)...
2) Paint 28mm...
3) Paint things that are not connected to modern warfare...

So to end up with a 28mm Lion on the desk took a bit of extra effort and a lot of 'faffing' while I found colours, tried techniques, etc.

Anyway, I present for your consideration 'Cecil' the Lion!

Cecil was named after my primary source of reference images! Although I have to admit that the longer I worked on him, the less he looked to me like a Lion and the more he looked like a big playful Labrador...

One really interesting dilemma I had in painting this figure was the question of what does a Lion look like? Specifically, should I paint the model to look as much like an actual Lion as I can, or should I paint it to look like what people think a Lion looks like.

One of the reference pics I used for Cecil.

What people think of when you ask what a Lion looks like!

In the end, I went for accuracy! Although I did decide to darken the mane slightly to differentiate between the face and mane. This was done based on input from my lady wife (she knows what a Lion is supposed to look like, apparently. Based on watching the Lion King many times, I suspect. Not so much use when I'm asking her how my Shermans are looking).

Hopefully the whole ensemble will be shared once the model reaches Tamsin!

From DaveD
A fine rendition James , I will pick it up from you and we WILL get it sorted into its diorama. 25 points it is!