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Jungle Hut, an old tutorial on painting box art.

bob letterman

Master at Arms
Staff member
After VLS split with VP, we began buying and creating aftermarket companies. We began with Warriors and Custom Dioramics and restarted Techstar. Over the following couple of years, we started Letterman Publications, VLS Brushes, Legends and Lore, 1/35th Construction Battalion, Trakz, Wingz, The Streets of Laredo, Fanta-Z, Lincoln County Line, and a couple of others.

We normally released 10 to 12 new releases a month from these companies and when i sold VLS, we had about 2000 products on the market. Mostly the figures were painted by Bill Chillstrum and Chris Mrosko, but I painted almost every other product for it's box art. I di paint some of the figures as well from time to time, but not that many.

That was the main reason I am still working on Logistics. During those years from 1999 to 2007, it was all I could do to keep up with painting box art. Dave Harper, who worked for VLS and was also one of my very best friends was obsessed with the Pacific Theater of WW II. He even located the only LVT for the TV series, The Pacific. He worked as consultant on that movie and was also heavily involved with the models of the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico.

Each time VLS would release any product related to the Pacific Theater, Dave would park himself at my bench and take dozens of in progress photos while I painted the box art. I just had an operating system go south on my computer and during the fix, I found a bunch of photos Dave took of Custom Dioramic's Jungle Hut as I was painting it. I told Moon Puppy and he thought I should post those photos, so here goes.

The master was created by Ben Jacobsen, a Canadian and a regular pattern maker for VLS. He is one of the very best in my opinion.

Since it was to be box art, I painted it as though it had recently been built, nice, new and pristine. The resin color we used at VLS made a great base color for straw and other surfaces, so I didn't bother to paint the areas that were to become straw. Here is the resin kit after building it.

resin01_zps1d63c5b1.jpg


Here I painted all the parts that were to be wood using Vallejo's light flesh.

Flesh01_zps95739649.jpg


Here is the roof section.

Fleshroof_zps46e0891b.jpg


Then over the resin colored straw, I used artist's oils raw umber mixed with rectified turpentine to the consistency of milk.

RURoof02_zpsbc980d1d.jpg


As soon as it is covered, use an old T-shirt wrapped over your finger and begin to blot, not wipe, the raw umber mixture from the model until it begins to look like straw. It will look better when dry, but even wet, you should be able to tell when you have blotted enough. See upper right corner

RURoof02_zpsbc980d1d.jpg


Continue until the area is complete.

RURoof03_zps4640ed41.jpg


Then the other side.

RURoof04_zpsd6027120.jpg


RURoof05_zpsd9ecf6fe.jpg


Then continue on the other areas where straw/grass will be simulated.

Rawumber01_zps3928e236.jpg


RawUmber02_zpse182de7b.jpg


This side is finished.

RawUmber03_zps54b29150.jpg


RawUmber04_zps17fdf373.jpg


Now all the grass/straw areas are complete.

RawUmber05_zps8714ad26.jpg


Now I prepared a mixture of artist's oils Burnt Sienna, a touch of raw umber and again with artist's rectified turpentine on a pallet .

BurntSienna01_zps14f763d3.jpg


Then, using a wide, Russian sable brush, I begin painting the sienna mixture on the parts that will simulate wood.

BurntSienna02_zpsf86f9bdc.jpg


BurntSienna03_zps235ed962.jpg


BurntSienna04_zpsab7d25de.jpg


Once painted, use a clean but damp with the turpentine brush to smooth in the wood grain.

BurntSienna05_zpsb9be4957.jpg


BurntSienna06_zpsf76087f1.jpg


Then I use a very tiny filbert, (No. 2) to make tiny swirls in the wood areas to simulate knots.

BurntSienna07_zpsee5e2e61.jpg


BurntSienna08_zps166926da.jpg


BurntSienna09_zpsd984d8d1.jpg


Then on to the remaining wood areas.

BurntSienna10_zps25daa1a5.jpg


BurntSienna11_zpsb109c975.jpg


[
BurntSienna12_zpsaacb8512.jpg


As it is painted, I use the clean brush to simulate the wood grain and then the knots.

BurntSienna13_zps2ba03378.jpg


I have always worked on my lap. Weird, but that's most comfortable for me.

BurntSienna14_zps7c2016f4.jpg


Almost finished on the work bench.

BurntSienna15_zps8ac6f1e6.jpg


And finally, finished!

BurntSienna17_zps330e0232.jpg


This took all of about a half hour. By using the water based flesh color, you can immediately apply the oils with the aggressive rectified turpentine without possibility of removing the base coat. If you want to make the hut look older as if it had been around for awhile, then on the wood, switch to raw umber and a touch of Paynes Grey. It will give it a grayish, weathered appearance.

Bedebedebede, that's all folks!
 
Awesome, thanks Bob. Now for a question. When you say swirl to make a knot do you mean move the brush in a tight circle or twist it in place?
James
 
Thank you Bob and Dave!

Regards,

Thanks Saul, and i think I can speak for Dave as well. He would have liked this for no other reason than it was about the Pacific!

Bob

I told you so! :mpup

Love this, inspiring and instructional. (y)

Thanks Son, glad you liked it!

Dad

Awesome, thanks Bob. Now for a question. When you say swirl to make a knot do you mean move the brush in a tight circle or twist it in place?
James

Thank you James,

It's easy, just put the brush at the point where you want the knot, perpendicular to the surface and twist. It will make a circle or oval that resembles a knot in the wood grain.

Bob
 
Great SBS, Daddy Bob- thanks! Ben and I are friends- what a great fella- and a real talent!

Thanks Chuck,

Yeah, Ben and I go way back as well. He probably did hundreds of commissions for me over the years. Have you heard from him lately?

Bob
 
Dear Bob.

...amazing,as always...love this work with oils...simple but extremely effective! :dude

Thanks for sharing with us!

:drinks


luiz
 
Wow! It always amazes me how such simple techniques produce such amazing results. And how they look like they'd be extremely difficult to pull off until you actually see it done.

Thanks Bob!
 
Dear Bob.

...amazing,as always...love this work with oils...simple but extremely effective! :dude

Thanks for sharing with us!

:drinks


luiz

Thanks Luiz,

People ask me how I build those giant dioramas all the time. I spend more time thinking up ways to do thigs simpler but retain or improve the quality. Nothing has to be complicated to look good. For my purposes, the simpler, the better!

Bob


Thanks John!

Wow! It always amazes me how such simple techniques produce such amazing results. And how they look like they'd be extremely difficult to pull off until you actually see it done.

Thanks Bob!

Thanks Adam,

Have you ever watched a real artist painting a canvas? It looks so simple watching them and when it is finished I am always amazed at the complexity of the painting. In my opinion, modeling, like all things in art, is an illusion.

Bob
 
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