Tuesday 27 September 2016

Painting My Own Sculpt - the Interplanetary Merchant

The merchant's quarter was a hectic kaleidoscope of colours, smells and sounds. Traders hawked their wares from brightly coloured stalls - fruit, vegetables, exotic furs and refurbished tech. Nomads haggled with alien stall-holders, starship crew on leave jostled against menial robots.
 

 
 

A few months ago I posted pictures of my very first ever 100% sculpted figure - a 28mm version of the old 25mm Citadel Spacefarers Interplanetary Merchant.
 

Comparison of the Spacefarers mini and my sculpt.

Curtis over at Ramshackle, very kindly offered to cast me a couple of copies of the green, and I've managed to find time to paint up the first of these resin casts:

Scale comparison against the bulky Adeptus Arbite.

I decided to paint my sculpt in homage to the lovely painted version of the Spacefarers model by Delaney King over at Kings Minis. It was such a lovely scheme, and I'd used the picture quite a lot as reference when I was sculpting the figure.

C22 Spacefarers Interplanetary Merchant painted by Delaney King.

Hopefully the outfit combines elements of practicality / functionality (plain brown robe), with some more flamboyant touches (pink puffed sleeves).
 



 
If I was to be critical of the my own sculpt, I'd say that there are some areas on the model where the sculpting is a bit crude, but then you could say that about most of the figures produced by Citadel in the late 1980s. I'm more than happy to have him populate my boards and games, and I've certainly seen and painted worse!




25 comments:

  1. Very characterful sculpt! Especially, I think you've done quite good on the slashed sleeves and the back of the torso and head. I'd look at old Talisman minis (Aly Morrison?) for reference on the robe. Some of them have a nice "juxtaposed" pattern in the folds, making sharp creaves for edge highlights.

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    1. Thanks for the feedback. It's all trial and error isn't it? The robe wasn't as crisp as I've have liked, and that was partially because I didn't make the bulking underneath smooth enough. But I'll know for next time ;)

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  2. Yeah only one way forward :) I've been told that hands and faces are the hardest once you get the proportions right so you're already in a good way :) We had a talk about triangles also 'round the painting table at the gaming club, how Goodwin for one was/is particularly good at making dynamic 2-dimensional minis.

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    1. Jes Goodwin is simply the best at his craft, particularly when you consider the constraints of the mould-making process ;)

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  3. he looks brilliant, the fact it's a first full sculpt is added bonus. Congrats for this major achievement really !

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    1. Thanks :) It's a big bucket-list tick for me!

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  4. Very cool!

    Hat's off to you Axiom, as Assless previously mentioned, first sculpt & it's a gun sculpt!

    He looks ace with a lick of paint on him too.....makes it all the more satisfying when they get gunned down on the pretend battlefield :)

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    1. Thanks very much! Life in the 41st millennium is clearly dangerous if he's going to regularly get gunned down in the street!

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  5. Congratulations, this a feat few collectors will ever achieve.
    Platinum trophy unlocked.

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  6. How fun to have painted an example of your own sculpting, a feat few will ever realize.

    With a few resin copies, are you going to add objects to that right hand? Seems like it could be easily replaced with a pistol hand/mug hand/knife hand/info tablet hand etc.

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    1. I've already been considering a head swaps. The hand replacement is an excellent idea, I'll give it some thought!

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    2. Left hand could also be altered to hold something (suitcase?)

      As for head swaps, if you are willing to consider plastic, there seems to be an interesting new set of sprues coming from GW this month...

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  7. I really do love this miniature! Certainly a most excellent start! I hope you get more sculpts (and casts) done soon! ^^

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    1. I really would like to do more, time is the critical factor though - I can paint 4-5 figures in the same time it takes to sculpt one!

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  8. Wow, I love what you did here. I think you got the perfect balance using those colours, and the touch on the beard is great. Lovely work!!

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    1. Thanks Suber! I wanted the beard to add a bit of interest too. I did steal the colour scheme from Delaney King though.

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  9. Well done! You must feel proud. Like being a daddy.

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  10. Looks great! :D Looks like Colony 87 - Part III. :D

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    1. Colony 87 part III is in planning, although I see couldn't inflict my sculpts onto paying customers yet!

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  11. Aw, c'mon! You can inflict him! He'd be in good company. That's a darn nice effort there. I'd pay for a copy.

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    1. Thanks for the feedback! Maybe in a year I'll redo him and get folks to pay for one ;)

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  12. Brilliant! This is something all miniature painters should aspire to. Painting one's own sculpt. Well done man, well done.

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    1. Thanks very much! It is a long-held dream :)

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