JackG Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Been on this one a few months now, but the plan is to create the comicbook heroine Red Sonja from this Solarwind Productions fantasy figure: I used apoxie sculpt and green stuff mixed 50/50 to fashion some gloves, stylize her boots and and provide a base for her armoured loin cloth. I also added about an 1/8" to her waste by cutting her in half. Initially this was done to make it easier to clean up her vest top, but decided stretch her torso a bit since she was sawed in half already. ... some closeups of the scratch detailing: A torn ankle weight provided a source for the tiny metal discs: Primed and ready for paint... ----------------------------------------------------- I already had good deal of her skin tones done, but due to paint build up and a few specs of dust imbedded in the paint, I ended up stripping her down back to resin. So decided to take the opportunity to try something different next go around by taking a page from the old masters technique - Verdaccio. http://sockii.squidoo.com/what-is-verdaccio-and-how-to-use-it-in-your-paintings 1.) For the sort of pre-shading step, I kept things simple and just used an existing shade of green, Vallejo Olive Grey 70888. After an overall coat, mixed in some white and sprayed mainly from over head angles. Some further white and another round of spraying. Did hand paint some lighter tones on the face, but not too much as it would be covered later with proper flesh tones. 2.) I had been using Brown Sand 70876 as the base skin colour, which is what is seen here. Close inspection though showed specs of dust had been trapped in the paint, so after sanding them off, had to go to step 3. 3.) Mixing new paint, so used a combination of Red Leather 70818 and Green Ochre 70914. Second round of spraying, base colour is lightened with Basic Skintone 70815. This was followed with an even lighter application by mixing in white. regards, Jack 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Fabulous stuff, figures are not normally my thing but I can't help but admire the skill that goes into them to achieve realism, especially the painting of the skin tones. You've done a smashing job there - more please! Wez Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Lovely work, both sculpting and painting. Looking forward to see her develop! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Cox Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Hi Jack, Your efforts look terrific, I hope you're enjoying the build. Cheers, Daniel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billydick Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Brilliant work Jack ! BillyD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackG Posted February 11, 2014 Author Share Posted February 11, 2014 Wez, Jorgen, Daniel, and Billy - thanks guys. I usually finish between three to five builds during the course of a year, so can't say I'm taking a break from the usual military subjects. It is fun though, and enlightening from the sculpting aspect. regards, Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackG Posted February 11, 2014 Author Share Posted February 11, 2014 Little work on the face details. Note some green hue can still be seen in the shadow areas, which was what i was aiming for. regards, Jack 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 This is really nice, I love all the extra clothing details. Do all ankle weights have those fabulous polished metal discs in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 The detail in those eyes really is quite something special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Super job - looking forward to seeing some more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giemme Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Super job - looking forward to seeing some more +1. Keep'em coming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Those eyes are fantastic! Having painted a few by now I know how difficult they are, and probably even more so in this (for me at least) relatively small scale. Very impressive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackG Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 (edited) Gentlemen, thanks again. Will Vale, not sure if all ankle weights contain similar contents, but one thing is for sure - I'm set for life with those little bits. I'm not even sure how they were made, as one side is flat, while the obverse has a beveled edge. There's also about five different sizes. Jorgen - true about the eyes, even at 1/12 scale I still use a cocktail stick to dab in the blacks of the pupils, as well as the white highlight. Since last posting, I've also touched up with a sharp green pencil crayon. regards, Jack edit here, to add a link for an eye tutorial which is pretty useful: http://www.planetfigure.com/articles/eye_tutorial-mark_benette/eye-tutorial.html Edited February 17, 2014 by JackG 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotorheadtx Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 The eyes are astonishing...... dang, I wish I had your skills!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackG Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 rotorheadtx - thanks! ------------------------------------------------- Red is no longer armless, both appendages are painted, but waiting to further sort out the weaponry before attaching her left arm. Something has gone askew with her stance, and a dry fitting of her holding the staff ends up being on a slant. A quick fix would be to cut the wrist in question and rotate to a better position ... but will see. Didn't have any gold metallic paint for her arm bracelets, so tried to achieve some sort of reflective look by using flat paints. Not sure of the success, it is difficult to achieve realism since the model is viewable from all kinds of angles. I do have some metallic powders to try, but will wait and see if the current solution grows on me. I did have to cut off a section of her hair over her upper left chest. There was no other way to make it look right while adding the metal discs. More green stuff to the rescue, should be an easy fix. So just an arm, three weapons to attach, and it should be done. regards, Jack 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Already said the eyes were stunning and the whole figure is up to that same high standard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bengalensis Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Oh she's looking real nice! Great progress. The brown leather tones are wonderful, and the gold arm bracelet looks great in the photo angle at least. I did a similar gold thigh bracelet using BM gold foil once and got away with it, but that's partly hidden under a skirt. But what you have done looks very convincing as I watch the photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 That's really interesting seeing a mix of non-metallic metals and traditional metals on the same figure. I think it works! I really like the skin tones (must try that green shadow trick) and the sultry pout. She reminds me a little bit of Nariko from Heavenly Sword. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Wonderful so far,and a great lesson in figure painting,(for me at least),and she's much nicer looking than Bridgette Nielsen Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Superb, love the boots you created from apoxie sculpt and the extra details added, and as for the eyes, wow! When I did Sara and her dragon, I ended up cheating with her eyes and using the Archer decals, but they still were not quite right. Skintone work is also excellent. Very impressed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackG Posted February 24, 2014 Author Share Posted February 24, 2014 Col., Jorgen, Will, Sean, and Kallisti, - thanks for those compliments. After my last posting, things were looking to have this done this past weekend. Not so, little details here and have slowed things down. 1.) - new dagger made to be more compact. The original scratchbuilt sheath was retained, but it's length was shortened and made narrower. Lead bindings were added to make it appear that it is strapped to her thigh armour. 2.) - sculpted hair over the armoured discs, painted and complete. 3.) - green stuff applied to refine the sharp points on the staff weapon. 4.) - left arm attachment, still ended up with a slight gap. Brushed on three layers of liquid surfacer, some sanding, followed by a coat of paint and more sanding. regards, Jack 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeehah1 Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 (edited) Lovely paintwork and modelling but I don't think Sonja wore green thong-knickers. Or, if she did, they didn't have a visible hip-line, as it were. Other than that, this is truly awesome and I am envious of your painting skills Liam Edited February 25, 2014 by yeehah1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackG Posted February 25, 2014 Author Share Posted February 25, 2014 Liam, thanks for posting and your thoughts. She is wearing a green thong because her clear coloured one is in the wash? All joking aside, you do bring up a valid point. Over the years, comic artists rarely depict any sort of garb underneath her armoured loincloth, but when they do, it appears as a strategically placed patch of leather. I decided to leave as is from the original sculpt, though did shave off a couple of the trinkets that were slung from it. The green colour was chosen as an opportunity to tie in with her eye colour and the groundwork, which also has some green. In the end though, I don't think it will detract from the classical heroine that we are familiar with. regards, Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Nice base! When I built my Sara in chainmail figure I was always more impressed with the base than I was with the figure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackG Posted February 26, 2014 Author Share Posted February 26, 2014 Kallisti - thanks! As it turns out, Sara is also in my stash. I know what you mean about the base, with that creature molded on top, it really makes for a great vignette. regards, Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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