I just finished this Young Miniatures 1/10th scale Templar Knight in Jerusalem resin bust, also sometimes known as the ‘Sean Connery bust’.
The casting is just fantastic! There wasn’t a single flaw, and it is engineered into 6 pieces that make painting it very convienent.
I painted it using Vallejo and Andrea acrylics, except for the chainmail which is Alclad. Everything except the top highlight, bottom shadow, eyes and beard where done with an airbrush. This is the first time I tried that and I really liked the way it worked out. I’ve always struggled with oils for some reason… everything seems to turn out cartoonish. I really liked the ability to blend and shade with the airbrush. I think it helps me overcome my lack of talent with a brush! [:P]
I did screw up and had to do the shield twice. If you are going to build this, don’t use the box art as a guide for attaching the shield. On my copy, the shield is intended to be mounted opposite from the box art. Being that I didn’t double check that prior to painting, I ended up painting the shield highlights and shadows on the wrong areas so that when mounted the shadows were on the sunny side… OOPS. [:S]
I would have had to do some carving on his back to make the shield fit right, so I just repainted it. A pain in the backside, but really an easy price to pay for making such a stupid mistake.
I am always open to any suggestions for improving my work, so don’t hesitate to give input.
Wow, that’s beautiful work! And with an airbrush? I’ve never used it for anything on figures other than base coating. Even with the details and top highlights laid in with brush it still seems like a lot of masking. Can’t argue with your results though!
The eyes were done by hand. I actually thought about using the airbrush, but it was just too big a pain. Opposite from some figure painters, I did the eyes as the next to last item, only followed by the final pin wash.
Simply splendid! Very nice job. When I first opened this thread, the first thing I saw was the figure and none of the text. My first thought was that this was supposed to be Sean Connery as a Crusader. Remarkable! Your work on this figure is first rate, well done.
With the way the piece broke down, it really wasn’t a big chore doing the masking. I knew right off I was going to make a template and mask/spray the cross on the shield, so that’s why I thought I would try airbrushing the whole thing.
The turban, face, cowl, sheild, and scarf are all separate pieces, so the only real masking (other than the cross) was one the body. I started with the armor and worked my way out, building up the mask as I went. I probably only spent a total of 20 minutes laying down masks for the entire project.
