johnnybach
Major General
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2010
- Messages
- 13,663
This is a nice little 30mm Flat project, using some flat figures from the Karl Rieger studio.(http://www.zinnfiguren-rieger.de/)
When they arrive from his online shop, as castings - they look like this:
As you can see - I bought the whole group - which includes a two elephant towed, large calibre, field artillery piece - with a crew of seven, (when you count the cast-in Royal Artillery crewman riding on the limber). Also included are two horse mounted figures - the Officer holding a drawn sabre aloft - and Sergeant pointing. These are optional - as all parts and figures can be bought separately. I got the lot - as I thought it was a wonderful subject and sculpted poses. A small painting guide is included too.
I like to have a look around the web for any possible additional information though - so imagine my surprise when I turned up this, from "The Graphic" - and dated July 1892.
Note the poses of the two Jumbos - and even the fallen crewman who has lost his helmet - which are very close to the sculpted pieces - which I think owe a lot to this picture. This disclosed that a passing train had spooked the elephants - and scattered the battery over a wide area. The sculptor, however, had added in the crew and mounted figures - in order to create a scene that could be interpreted as one of a gun possibly going in to action - which is how I intend to portray them. I also know, that prior to around 1885 - the British Royal Artillery crew would have been wearing navy blue trousers with thick red stripe up the leg - whilst after that date they would have more likely been wearing light khaki pants. So - by 1892 - they would be all in khaki. I therefore moved my date back to 1885 for my group - and will paint them that way.
I painted up one elephant first - to try to get the hang of it. Here's Jumbo2 at an early stage of development:
Both sides - of course:
Whilst this pic shows the other one - with the first thin wash of grey colour applied:
.
Here's another pic showing the two elephants - and a couple of the crew underway. Note how I "build up" thin coats of paint on the figures, beginning with thin washes - and building up shading, as I go along.
I'm currently at this stage of development - with the two elephants now completed and a protective coat of varnish applied to both of them - but all of the other figures still under development.
Closer view of gun and crew - which clearly shows different coats of paint - and still unpainted areas:
And the Front end - showing how I have nearly completed shading of the officer figure.
I'll continue posting developments - at intervals. jb
When they arrive from his online shop, as castings - they look like this:
As you can see - I bought the whole group - which includes a two elephant towed, large calibre, field artillery piece - with a crew of seven, (when you count the cast-in Royal Artillery crewman riding on the limber). Also included are two horse mounted figures - the Officer holding a drawn sabre aloft - and Sergeant pointing. These are optional - as all parts and figures can be bought separately. I got the lot - as I thought it was a wonderful subject and sculpted poses. A small painting guide is included too.
I like to have a look around the web for any possible additional information though - so imagine my surprise when I turned up this, from "The Graphic" - and dated July 1892.
Note the poses of the two Jumbos - and even the fallen crewman who has lost his helmet - which are very close to the sculpted pieces - which I think owe a lot to this picture. This disclosed that a passing train had spooked the elephants - and scattered the battery over a wide area. The sculptor, however, had added in the crew and mounted figures - in order to create a scene that could be interpreted as one of a gun possibly going in to action - which is how I intend to portray them. I also know, that prior to around 1885 - the British Royal Artillery crew would have been wearing navy blue trousers with thick red stripe up the leg - whilst after that date they would have more likely been wearing light khaki pants. So - by 1892 - they would be all in khaki. I therefore moved my date back to 1885 for my group - and will paint them that way.
I painted up one elephant first - to try to get the hang of it. Here's Jumbo2 at an early stage of development:
Both sides - of course:
Whilst this pic shows the other one - with the first thin wash of grey colour applied:
.Here's another pic showing the two elephants - and a couple of the crew underway. Note how I "build up" thin coats of paint on the figures, beginning with thin washes - and building up shading, as I go along.
I'm currently at this stage of development - with the two elephants now completed and a protective coat of varnish applied to both of them - but all of the other figures still under development.
Closer view of gun and crew - which clearly shows different coats of paint - and still unpainted areas:
And the Front end - showing how I have nearly completed shading of the officer figure.
I'll continue posting developments - at intervals. jb
