International Flat Figure Society - British Flat Figure Society
Flat Figures Painters Forum => Review Section => Topic started by: Nicholas Ball on October 16, 2013, 06:58:49 AM
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As stated yesterday, I will be reviewing and painting this new figure from Locust.
The first thing that makes this an interesting and nice piece is the amount of action and atmosphere within the piece itself, and the very clever design of using the white cliffs of Dover to 'hold' the piece up.
There has been a debate on the right wing tip being a bit too narrow, and although this is true, it is only a fraction out of proportion when compared to the left wing tip, so once painted, I hope this may well be disguised. It probably needed to be a tad longer, but even so I'm not bothered, it's still a nice piece to have and only a real aircraft enthusiast is going to notice.
I have also removed the engraved roundels, as I prefer to paint these on a smooth surface.
The engraving itself, is very very good, the cliffs are exceptionally detailed, as is the Hurricane, with numerous panel and frame lines. . The propellors have a roundel to depict movement, and as you can see from the undercoat on the aircraft, it does fade with colour on it, so I hope once I have painted on the movement lines etc. it will work out quite well.
I am undercoating with Humbrol, as this will dull the oil paint when I get to this stage. One small note here, when thinning Humbrol to get an ultra smooth finish, use Winsor and Newton Sansador paint medium. This is a solvent like Turps, but does not evaporate as quickly, so it does not dry the paint out . It also contains a binder so the paint flows without brushmarks whilst covering with one coat. It can be used with ALL paint type's, whether it be oil or water based. By adding a very small drop of liquin, a very good glaze can be produced. ( this will be explained later as I progress )
And so to the Figure :-
[attach=1]
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Nick, it seems you have removed the roundels on the upper wings surfaces, true? There also appears to be an extra canopy frame running fore-and-aft on the top. The gun bay panels are missing on the upper wing surface. This area had a lot of wear-and-tear and is riper for paint chipping, stains, etc. (if you do that sort of thing).
Cheers,
Glen
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Yes Glen, I have removed the roundel's and the panels on the wings will be drawn in, if they were raised on the engraving I think this would look wrong. I will also add in the bolts holding on the panels etc.
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You'll have to add the clips that hold the gun panels or there drop off ;D
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Part 2
Trying to get this done for the Gravesham show weekend after this! so cracking on a bit.
I have started on the cliffs, spreading a very thin layer of white, mixed with Sansador to make it flow. I then added in Raw Sienna to give it a yellowish tone in varied areas, as the Sansador feathers it all in togeather.I then mixed up a grey from Black and Mixing White and ran it along all the creaves's, brushing the depth of colour out to vary the lenth of field. I then reapplied Flake white to the edges, again feathering them in.
I have also removed the extra top frame on the canopy and started to work on making the cockpit look 3D
The grass is sap green, mixed with Raw Sienna to give it an early summer feel. This is just the base coat.
[attach=1]
The next stage is to put the first oil coat base on the aircraft, a mixture of Raw Sienna and Raw umber. To get the propeller to look like it is spinning and transparent on the felt background, I have given it a coat on matt black Humbrol. How I do the next stage is currently a mystery, but with a bit of dabbling hopefully it will be OK
[attach=2]
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So far so good... If you've added the Matt Black to the prop, might there be a similar treatment for the canopy before you add reflections, glints, etc.?
Was there any indication from maker as to how this piece was planned/designed, drawn out, and engraved? Was the drawing (if any) freehand or traced over a photo?
Press on!
Cheers,
Glen
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Glen, figure was a rush as locust was doing another figure but never got the design in time for the engraver, it is both copied from a photo and free hand and the intention is movement and action, it might have worked? ;D
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I see. Thanks. Is 'locust' a company? I'm not familiar with the name.
Glen
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Part 3 A disaster and lesson to be learnt.
Well Gent's and Ladies, a vital lesson to be learnt ! research is good, preferably before you start!
I decided to paint the Hurricane as an early Sea Hurricane, very pretty with a bit of yellow etc. and after printing off a good colour photo I sat down to carry on painting.
Disaster 1 :-[ These were over the Sea, hence the name, and I had painted my aircraft Brown and green !!! NNNOOOOOOO
A bit more reseach and grey and green would be better, so out with the greeny grey and a grey humbrol paint. This bit didn't go too bad, but as I didn't want to lose the excellent detail, I had to apply a very thin coat. The green went over green very well, but grey over brown is not good! >:(
[attach=1]
once this had dried, I put on the first oil paint coat Disaster no 2 :-[
For some reason, the black has got dust in it, and as soon as I started putting the grey paint onto the aircraft, it reacted with the Humbrol and turned into a rather sticky glue!!! as can be seen from the photo, it is not good!! ( its even worst up close!!! >:(
At this point I started to :'( and gave up!
I think I will need to strip it and start again as detail will be lost. The cliffs weren't looking too bad !!
A good lesson to all 'if at first you don't succeed, give up '!!! NNNOOOOOOO 'if at first you don't succeed , try and try again', it will be better next time around.
I think that's summed up flat figure painting quite well. ;)
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On a slim positive note, with some paint on it one can tell even more what a first class casting this is. The things that jump to the eye with it unpainted really fade away. Really is a clever job of design.
Good luck on the repaint - I am a frequent user of Easy Off as a paint stripper - for my first attempts.
Mark 8)
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Nick, I'm sorry to hear about your difficulties. As discouraging as it may be, stripping is probably the best way to go.
Was there any indication of size/scale/timeframe from the maker? I have the impression that because of the cliffs in the background, this is a Hurricane Mk I circa summer 1940.
Press on!
Glen
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The aircraft depicts a Hurricane mk1 from fighter command a few days before the 8th August 1940 on routine op over Dover with it guns still covered, no scale but the size is 90mm x 60mm ;)
Nick I'm sure you'll get there and it will look a treat ;D
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The guns would be covered if you remove the engraving ;) but as they are so beautifully engraved I'm leaving mine as having just been fired ( got to check they work)
Tomorrow night I will try to redeem it--- watch this space!!!!
;D ;D ;D ;D
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Thanks, Brian. Type and time-wise, I figured as such. I did think it was larger tho'.
Nick, if you're going to haul it back to the paint shop, you'll have to pull the wings off and put it on one of those aircraft transporters. Start scratchbuilding... ;D
Cheers,
Glen
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I think its great!
Martin
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Thank's Martin, for the encouragement, not that I'm a defeatist, however as you can see from the photo, this is Reginald our local Refuse truck !
Children,---Shall we wave to Reggie, that's it, now lets all say togeather:-
BYE BYE HURRICANE ___ BYE BYE
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;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Ok what's the problem, is it the paints your using, the figure itself to difficult for you or just your under pressure to get it done, just take your time it's not a race if it was I've already won ;D
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Boll**ks ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
No I haven't really thrown it away, ::) I shall re-access it then decide whether I want to strip it or just slightly sand the worst areas down, which would be far easier.
The paint I think is the problem, I have it on a stand, on my desk in the study in front of the window with the blind down, after Holland when I got home my dear wife had done a spring clean and opened the shade. Cos the weather had been sunny, I think it has cooked some of the resins in the paints, as they seem to be very sticky and do not brush well, even with Sansador.
It will be OK, I just need to 'veg. out man', and let the juices flow. ;D ;D ;D
Anyway, the only race I'm good at is running away from the bar so someone else buy's the beer!!! :o :o :o ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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I think you should strip it. Start fresh! No point in putting good paint over bad (an MG - or any other auto restoration - axiom). It will also give you the opportunity to fix the panel line on the inboard upper wing. As it is, it's too flat and doesn't follow the camber of the upper wing. Visually, it - among other things - throws off the shape and perspective.
Cheers,
Glen