Having had my planned figure schedule for the Challenge somewhat interrupted, by a very worthwhile cause, I have soldiered on as best as I could, and managed to get these assembled and painted in 10 days... Which is about as quick as I can manage - I don't feel my bum, has had a spare moment off the painting chair! So now I can't feel my bum! ;-)
More information here if you have not come across this great undertaking already... Mustering the troops
They are specially commissioned, by Sir Peter Jackson, 54mm scale metal figures from the Perrys, with a proposed painting guide to follow by Aly Morrison. The instructions specifically stated to not paint the eyes, just to allow the shade wash to fill the eye socket...
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| Slightly different camera position altered the apparent lighting... |
So I have followed the guide as best as I was able with a mix of GW, Foundry and Vallejo paints that I had on hand. I finally managed to source the elusive GW Ushabti bone today, in time to use it to dry brush the weathering on the boots...
We were also specifically told not to remove the mounting peg, and obviously not to individually base them as they are destined to be mounted on a huge 10m long diorama board, representing the battle of Chunuk Bair. The diorama board is to be made by the crew at Weta, and will be on display at the Wellington Museum until 2018.
Unfortunately I am unable to say this blog post is the debut of the figures as I submitted the picture to the Mustering the Troops blog manager; Roly Hermans, for approval, who immediately posted them to the main blog...
Right, so while I wait arrival of the next dispatch of figures, I'll see if I can get back to some of my own figures that I had left half done...
From Curt:
Great Scott!! (Yeah, I know, I'm on a bit of a roll this week.) These are fantastic figures and you've done a marvelous job on them (I'm especially impressed with the faces). It must be such a honour to have your work be part of a museum-quality exhibit such as this. With the diorama being created by the folks from Weta I think we can rest assured that the final product will be nothing less than amazing.
So, Scott, give us some more details on the project. How many other painters are involved. Are all of you from New Zealand? How many models will be part of the display? I assume each is a unique sculpt? When do they plan to unveil the display?
Again, great work Scott. I look forward to seeing more of these from you in the coming weeks/months.
Many thanks Curt!
ReplyDeleteThe project is quite an undertaking indeed. The initial proposal was to recruit 100 painters from New Zealand to paint the required 4000 figures for the Diorama... yes 4000! So that’s 40 figures per painter... The deadline for the work is Anzac Day here in NZ (25th April)... so that’s not very far off, and doesn’t give us much time... Thankfully 130 Kiwi painters have answered the call, though some are currently overseas so may not actively get involved due to logistics of getting figures distributed... talking of which the figures have been arriving in batches from the Perrys in the UK, and the figures I painted here were part of the first batch I believe, sadly the second batch got held up in customs and wont get to the painters before Monday... which has meant, for me, a week lost painting time on this project, though the bonus being it allowed me to return to my own figures, and get the Comedic bonus theme round finished just in time! :-)
With the 2nd batch just being released, the 3rd batch will arrive hot on its heels so I'm going to be a very busy boy shortly!
Incidentally, there was a lot of interest and comment from other folks wanting to get involved, in particular the Aussies who were of course part of the ANZACs... but PJ wanted to depict the specific battle of Chunuk Bair which was largely a New Zealand action and thus the decision to keep the painters Kiwis, and with it being displayed here in NZ...
By all accounts the diorama is being made true to scale with terrain layout made using accurate maps and topography information and indeed the actual trenchlines as they would have been... the idea behind the diorama is to capture a specific moment in time in the battle, and whilst many of the figures are typical of wargaming soldiers in their poses, many are very specific ones offs ... have a look here for what I mean...http://anzacdiorama.blogspot.co.nz/2015/02/preview-of-latest-figures-from-perrys.html …some great stuff coming from the Perrys!
So its really going to be an amazing site to behold once finished and I am quite proud to be involved, even though I am not a Kiwi! But from what I have been told there were some Brits involved in the action , which I was not aware of, so that makes me feel a little closer to the events of the time!
Thanks for your interest.
Regards
Scott
I've been watching this with interest. A shame it was limited to NZ painters but kudos to you for getting involved mate. If everyone's work is up to your standard the end product will be something to see indeed.
ReplyDeleteHuge respect to you Scott for volunteering your time and skills for this project. Absolutely stunning work on these figures :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so jealous of you for being able to take part in this. When I saw the call out, I really really wanted to join... or at least be able to see the diorama. Hopefully someone will produce a book with detailed photos of this diorama as there is no chance of me making it over to NZ :(
ReplyDeleteYou've done a wonderful job on these
Nice work Scott on a very worthy cause! It's been nice following the project in various blogs. It will be interesting to see the whole diorama when it's done.
ReplyDeleteVery nicely painted figures. And the whole project is awe-inspiring. I wish I was involved. And I am now eager to see the results.
ReplyDeleteExcellent work, going to be epic when it's finished
ReplyDeleteIan
Fantastic, and a wonderful project at the level, I think, of all New Zealand. Great painting work!
ReplyDeleteGrand job Scott.
ReplyDeleteThey look very good! Thanks for the link too! A Kiwi SF troop told me I'd love NZ. Great beaches, big forests, mild winters, and tasty beer!
ReplyDeleteThese are rather fine - great to see entries from this fine undertaking in the challenge. Looking forward to more!
ReplyDeletegreat miniatures and a truly awesome project! Now if only mr Jackson would make a movie about this great epic tale..
ReplyDeleteGreat painting! Really like the dust on their shoes.
ReplyDeleteAh I will soon have a bunch of these to do too, great work!
ReplyDeleteToo bad they couldn't send any over the ditch. Awesome project to be involved in though Scott. The end result is going to be amazing! These Turks look excellent.
ReplyDeletecheers