American Southwest, Circa 1876, Sioux Warriors vs US 7th Cavalry

[Steve Ski]

I mean Iron Eyes Cody was Sicilian and born Espera Oscar de Corti

Sorry Bob, I ain't into it that much to know who's who. I'm just a captivated audience when I'm in the area. Can you imagine how many times I seen Andry Griffinth's entire series, the Virginian, Bonanza, and Litte house on the bloody prairie? Don't ask, I've lost count, HA! I keep my mouth shut and move quickly.

 

[moon puppy]

You might be too young to remember the polution PR campaign. We kids of the 70s remember it well.

The "Indian" was Iron Eyes Cody, Sicilian.

It was an effective campaign I think in the end.

 

[Steve Ski]

You might be too young to remember the polution PR campaign. We kids of the 70s remember it well.

The "Indian" was Iron Eyes Cody, Sicilian.

It was an effective campaign I think in the end.

Aww gee wiz. Is it my Oil of Ole that's got ya fooled?, common Bob! Yes, I do remember these commercials clearly. They ran em on the LA stations all the time. Now that you mention it, he does look Italian.

 

[Steve Ski]

Reconfiguration, Chief’s Feathers

After considering my options, I decided upon reconfiguring the feather rack to the head piece in order to get a much better appearance. This bonnet rack was lacking sufficient sweep towards the rear but spiking upward at an unnatural angle. It really didn’t look so hot. So, I had to cut out a small section and install in pieces, minus a very small section, after filing to fit. This was much easier than scratching out tiny feathers that would have been way off scale to the rest of this 6-man set.

Test fits worked just fine so this bonnet was attached to the Chief’s head ready for paint. After I finished this correction, I cleaned up the rest of chief’s gear. As far as I can tell, all gear has been cleaned up and ready for priming, so just a few riders need pegging to blocks and I can get the oils warmed up. Yehaaaaaaaaaa!

My plan is to work the figures first, then the Big Dogs, so I can take my sweet dittly time and make them as real as possible. Yep, that’s a tall order, done seen what some artists are doing to ponies these days, so I’m throwin ma hat in the ring, fellers, goin for it, HA! Well, heck, we’ll find out soon enough.

More to follow soon and thanks for watchin. Cheers, Ski.

 

[moon puppy]

Excellent!!

 

[Steve Ski]

Excellent!!

I'm gonna redo those blobs at the end of the feathers, they look rather pathetic.

 

[paddy]

Looks good to me Ski. not sure you could have thought of a more tricky subject with all these feathers and animals tails etc.

 

[Steve Ski]

Looks good to me Ski. not sure you could have thought of a more tricky subject with all these feathers and animals tails etc.

Lol, and look who's talkin bout tricky, sheesh, Paddy! What makes it tricky is the metal itself. After messing with these parts, I'm thinking the other 2 or 3 kits with feathers will be much easier. I've got a 120mm charging warrior chief that has the full head train, but it's resin, so this is helping crunch the learning curve. Pics coming soon.

Thanks, Paddy.

 

[Steve Ski]

Getting the Brushes Wet

I was finally able to get the last clean-up out of the way and begin to study the flesh tones I’ll be working with. The tonal variations are like anything else, vast, so I’m not going to sweat the small stuff, just get these guys within an acceptably realistic range of reality. In other words, I don’t want to exaggerate the tones too much and I don’t want our Trooper looking too pale. Afterall, he’s used to being in the sun himself.

kaz6120, https://www.planetfigure.com/members/kaz6120.6130/ was kind enough to refer this book to me which has a ton of information on color mixes and flesh tone variations. Not being a pro at color theory at all, this really brought things together enough for me to understand that I’ve been wingin it by sheer luck all along, HA! Ah, who cares, my eye for color seems to have been worked decent enough so far. In all seriousness, if you don’t have a decent book on color theory and application, this one might do you some good as it has for me. So, I did a mix of the bronze and red tones for Native American Indians. I want a slight variety without getting to far afield. We’ll see how that goes as we progress.

You can see the palette has been mixed and the figures are ready. I started with the chief just to see how bad I was doing and whether or not I would need a second run at it. So far, so good. For not picking up a brush in a long time I’m liking it. Seasonally my first run is usually a disaster and oven cleaner takes center stage, but not today. I’ll get into that further on down, but first I wanted to show yall the head dress. It looks like Madusa’s hair dryer went on the fritz, but then I remembered, she’s always having a bad hair day. Do you think those tassels are too long and too thick? I’m always ready to adjust if it can be done, so now would be the time to fix them. I’ll see what yall are saying and go from there.

Milan Dufek has a few techniques I’m adding into the mix as well as my favorite oil painter, Daria Calle. Milan uses a pre-shaded work space in the base color whereas Daria uses a grey neutral as her starting point. I know it may sound crazy, but I’m working them both into this process to see how I can adapt both techniques. I like how Milan uses a separate blending brush, which I am just now learning how to use, and Daria is all about blending those colors, something I’ve always done from the beginning. As you can see from these initial pics both techs have been incorporated and the results appear to be acceptable, especially for my first run at it. Let me know what yall think, I’m all ears.

Lastly, I was not in any hurry to move onto the next head until I had some definition around the chief’s face, hence the band and feather color placement. These are just initial colors for starters. Ya know, with Madusa’s hair flying all over that back side of that war bonnet, it does make for some careful brush work, lol.

Website refs:

https://www.youtube.com/@milandufekminiatures/search

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyGgRLbgcXjON9ZS5DaqMOQ

More to follow very soon, and feel free to comment. Thanks for watchin. Cheers, Ski.

 

[Heavens Eagle]

WOW! The skin tones and shading on the face are excellent! The war bonnet are still in process and I expect that will be over the top as well. As to the tassels, the paint colors and shading will have a lot to do with how much they stand out. You could scrape them down a little if any reference photos you might have show them a lot thinner. Lead or white metal can scrape down fairly well with a decent edged blade, you just have to blend the scrapes so they don't have noticeable flats and edges.

 

[paddy]

I would love to comment Ski .....but i am currently speechless. ......... fantastic job

 

[moon puppy]

What Paddy said.