Monday, October 8, 2012

Back in the Saddle



Picked up a new camera.  Haha, at Costco - one of my least favorite places to spend an hour or so.  I stifled the impulse to abandon my wife with the cart amidst the warehouse-roaming hordes in favor of watching the 49ers game in the TV section. The camera is a Sony Cybershot DSC-WX150.  Very strange that the insurance company allowed nearly triple the coverage (and not much at that) for replacing the old obsolete Sony than they did for the Nikon.  There's no Macro function which concerned me somewhat, but all the shots here were taken with it, so I think we can surmise that it's at least competent with the closeups.  The blame for any bad shots can be attributed to my indifferent photography skills.

Here's a couple WIP shots of the custom 40mm semi-rounds, designs from the talented hand of amateur scupltor John Bertolini.  John has kindly given me permission to cast my own.  I like these for the French on account of the full coats without turnbacks. I did a few things such as filing off the moustaches and adding the bayonet scabbard, but essentially they're faithful to the original design.  The figures are good match in scale and "semi-roundness" for the Prince August Karoliners and the NCO carries a Prince August pole arm.




Here's a nice feature of the camera, creating photos using a Picture Effect mode.  The Renaissance flats in this post were shots taken in Watercolor mode.  The effect is kind of cool, like artist's illustrations from a book.  It  might make for an interesting excercise experimenting with painting them that way from the get-go.


14 comments:

  1. Lovely painting, I especially like the Spanish. The watercolour effect is interesting, must try that...

    Cheers, Simon

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  2. You seem to have made a good choice with the new camera - these are lovely, clear shots that really show off your A1 painting skills. The figures are brilliant!

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  3. Thanks, gentlemen ! Although I can't take complete credit for how the Renaissance figures came out as "photoshopped", my style is more detailed but less artistic. But yes, I think the camera has proven satisfactory.

    Regards,
    Steve

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  4. like the French - excellent stuff

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  5. Thanks, Ralphus. It's good to hear from you.

    Regards,
    Steve

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  6. Hi Steve,

    Love the French - really evocative and crying out for some Charge action!

    All the best,

    DC

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  7. Stunning colors - simply lovely work. Best, Dean

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  8. Thanks, David and Dean. I need to cast more of the 40mm infantry for the French. In the meantime, working away on the Renaissance Spanish flats.

    Regards,
    Steve

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  9. Wow Steve. Fantastic painting. The flats are very cool, and you make my figures look way better than they are. The 16th century stuff is intriguing. (I've done a 40mm demi-ronde pikeman in morion circa 1620 that I'm quite happy with) The animation of the flats is really something.
    Cheers, John

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  10. John's figures are delightful. and the water colour effect, interesting.It does put one in mind of a certain style of old illustrations.

    -Ross

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  11. John, Thanks ! I'm pleased that you like the paint jobs but you're not giving yourself proper credit for the sculpts, regarding which I can only second Ross's comment. They have that certain look, right in the sweet spot for toy soldier styling.

    As for the flats, the Germans have always known how to do it right. Some are more appealing designs or better animated than others but they nearly always get the proportions correct.

    Regards,
    Steve

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  12. Will you post a paint tutorial for flats?
    thanks

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  13. Sorry, I'm not so keen on tutorials. Of course, they have their place but I won't presume to give step-by-step instructions. There are many ways to paint a flat and mine is by no means the best.

    People see contest caliber flats and feel intimidated about working up to that standard. Don't worry about it. The best piece of advice that I can impart is paint to please yourself. There are some natural artists out there, but for most of us, technique is a matter of practice.

    Regards,
    Steve

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  14. Thanks very much. Good advice.

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