Equipment advice- Royal Scots Fusiliers Officer 1890. (1 Viewer)

[Hazebrouck]

Finished the little man at last and thought I would show him on this thread.

I found the tartan trews more difficult to paint than a kilt and made a few mistakes. I struggled with painting the lines straight, particularly as his legs flared out at the bottom.

Does anyone pencil the lines in before painting? Any tips?

Overall he is a pretty impressive figure and being 75mm towers over my 54mm figures. A nice kit as well.

Scott

 

[beating retreat]

Not in general, Johnny, mainly worn by sergeants in the Royal Air Force Regiment. When I was in, many, many years ago,(Pontius was a pilate at the time) the sash was not worn by any Sergeant, Regiment or not. As I recall it first appeared sometime in the mid 60s.
In the army, except for the cavalry, the NCOs sash is worn as a badge of office and is worn in virtually all orders of dress. Exceptions are mess dress and combat camouflage. Trooper

Hi Johnny

In the RAF it is worn by qualified drill instructors only and only by Sgts and above

John

 

[johnnybach]

Finished the little man at last and thought I would show him on this thread.

I found the tartan trews more difficult to paint than a kilt and made a few mistakes. I struggled with painting the lines straight, particularly as his legs flared out at the bottom.

Does anyone pencil the lines in before painting? Any tips?

Overall he is a pretty impressive figure and being 75mm towers over my 54mm figures. A nice kit as well.

Scott

My tip would be - give some Waterproof artists pens a try - wherever you can. I am currently experimenting with a Faber Castell PITT artist pen in dark blue. I also use a Mitsubishi unipin fine line in black. These are waterproof inks, of course - and need careful application - but I find are easier to handle than paint on a fine tip brush generally. Dark colours seem to work best. I tried a yellow over a red base - but it just doesn't cover the red. Black, Dark Blue and Dark Green seem to work best, so far - but I'm still experimenting. Here's a figure of Bonnie Prince Charlie that I'm working on for a Xmas present to a Scots pal of mine. I'm not entirely satisfied with the lining at present, too thick - but the double blue lines of the Stuart Tartan were done with the Dark Blue Faber & Castell pen - which worked fine over Humbrol Gloss Red - much to my surprise. Just don't touch it for about 24 hours before appling the next colour. The yellow and white were done with my smallest brush (5/0) - but seem still too wide, at present. It's a work in progress.

Pretty pleased with the eyes though - that's the black pen I mentioned. Varnish over the top after a while - and no runs or bleeding. Just the job for the black lines of the Black Watch Tartan too. I also practice any new Tartan on a marge tub lid too - before going for it on the figure.

Hope that helps.................... P.S. Like the Scotttie Rupert- sword looks great as well - though little - he ain't! ..............johnnybach

Thanks to John for the RAF sash advice - I'll remember that for when I evetually tackle an RAF Band (one day!)............jb

 

[Hazebrouck]

Thanks Johnny.

I have been using an artists pen for the black lines on the tartan and you are right in that they are easier to use than a fine brush. I ran into problems with this figure I think mainly because the trews flared out at the bottom and I bent my lines to match the flare and the other problems just magnified from there.

Painting tartan is like tight rope walking!

I like that figure of Bonnie Prince Charlie (is it a Dorset casting?) and its nice to know that I'm not the only painter having some issues with tartan. I have an old Cherilea figure of BPC sitting on the desk in front of me and I might just have a go at painting him.

Scott

 

[Martin Tabony]

One tip on painting trews, think of how the original were tailored. The lines of the sett (tartan is a weave of cloth the sett is the coloured pattern) were kept straight and uniform on th front, sides and back. Any lines that didn't match were kept to the inner joins between the legs where they weren't as visible. Just do the same thing with the figure.

Martin

 

[johnnybach]

Hi Scott - I like your analogy with tightrope walking - for painting tartans!

No - not from Dorset this time - my mounted Bonnie Prince is from Tommy Atkins (Jacobite Rebelion range). Nice figure - I have some pipers to do for myself from this range later too.:smile2:

That's a good tip from Martin - I will remember that one too - thanks again chum.....got to remember though, that cloth falls into folds - so any disruption to the straight lines could always be a fold in the cloth. Just grit your teeth when you run into a snag - and keep going!!!^&grin

All the best...johnnybach

 

[Martin Tabony]

Hi Scott - I like your analogy with tightrope walking - for painting tartans!

No - not from Dorset this time - my mounted Bonnie Prince is from Tommy Atkins (Jacobite Rebelion range). Nice figure - I have some pipers to do for myself from this range later too.:smile2:

That's a good tip from Martin - I will remember that one too - thanks again chum.....got to remember though, that cloth falls into folds - so any disruption to the straight lines could always be a fold in the cloth. Just grit your teeth when you run into a snag - and keep going!!!^&grin

All the best...johnnybach

The advantage to making your own figures is that you can plan out where the lines will go, not to mention the fact that I always engrave the lines to make them easier to follow!

Martin

 

[johnnybach]

Strange as it may seem, I much prefer to have a plain smooth surface to paint tartan onto. I find that engraved lines will make the brush jump about a bit and put extra paint (or ink) where I don't want it. For me - smooth is good. Just a personal preference.

 

[Martin Tabony]

The down side to an engraved line is that if you go off it's more obvious, on the other hand if you use a slightly thinner paint (or ink) then capillary action can carry the paint along the line. Still it's only the basic guide lines that can be engraved,. Can you imagine what it wood look like if you scored every line for the Cameron of Erracht!^&grin

Martin

 

[johnnybach]

Yes - at 54mm scale - firstly almost impossible - then - a ploughed field????{eek3}

Give me a smooth surface - every time. Then Obees marvelous "how to Paint Tartans" website................johnnybach^&grin

 

[Obee]

Then Obees marvelous "how to Paint Tartans" website................johnnybach^&grin

Thanks for your kind words....

here is the proof with trews... @ 54mm

John

 

[Martin Tabony]

I need to get back to some cerimonial stuff!

Martin

 

[johnnybach]

I believe the third in from the right - 92nd laddie from 1833 - is one of yours Martin.

No engraved lines on the front of his kilt - I am happy to say. I was very much learning how to do it when I painted him. And yes - was using Obees method for all of them - just as I do now - and very thankful I (and many others), am for that help too.

I also think you get better with practice ( at least I HOPE so) - so keep at it Scott. With that name - you just HAVE to!!!^&grin


IMG]http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/aa328/johnnybach43/Scots.jpg[/IMG]

 

[johnnybach]

I don't know what happened there with that picture fro photobucket - but here it is?????????????

 

[Hazebrouck]

One tip on painting trews, think of how the original were tailored. The lines of the sett (tartan is a weave of cloth the sett is the coloured pattern) were kept straight and uniform on th front, sides and back. Any lines that didn't match were kept to the inner joins between the legs where they weren't as visible. Just do the same thing with the figure.

Some helpful discussion here gents!

I've been thinking about this point Martin and it makes sense. I gather on real trews any misalignment of the tartan meets at the inner seams, so it makes sense to start at the straightest point of the leg on the front or outer side and work inwards. Where I ran into trouble with this figure is not the folds but where the trews bell outwards at the bottom and I didn't maintain the distance correctly between squares/lines.

Oh well having a look at Obee's 54mm Fusilier I have the colours pretty right for the Government tartan, so just more practice required.

Johnny,

The Gordon's piper with the sun helmet? What manufacturer is that? I recall seeing some 54mm Black Watch figures on e-bay a while back with slouch hats, which were worn in the Boer War but cannot find figures or castings anywhere for these- a case of I should have purchased them at the time!

Scott

 

[johnnybach]

Hi Scott - when in doubt - go to Dorset. A real cheapo that one - look in the Bands section. Not a Connoisieur figure - but a FUN one....jb