The Prowler

[Ads24]

Hi everyone,

I've been following the ISM youtube channel for a while, but this is actually my first post on the forum. I was really inspired to join by this SiG build as painting a figure is something I've wanted to do for a while, but this will be my first attempt, so my apologies if it turns out rubbish!

The figure I've gone for is from the French company Figone, and is the 54mm resin model named The Prowler (or Le Rodeur in French, apparently).



The only description to accompany the model is this rather cryptic passage:

“Dagnabbit! I've got myself lost again...
Brrrrr. The night's falling, it's cold, and there's a rainy mist! Great.
But how do they manage to always find their way?
Is it the moss on the trees... The moss, it's on what side? Is it to the North? Or is the North the other side of the trunk? I've got my nose up against the bark, I still don't see anything!
And here we go for yet another night going around in circles in the cold .”

Not really too sure what all of that means, but I thought the figure looked like my image of Strider/Aragorn from Lord of the Rings. I've not actually seen the films, so I'm not sure how close he is, but when I picture him from the description in the books, he comes pretty close. Although I don't think Strider would get lost too often!

My model took ages to come because apparently the distributor lives in the middle of nowhere and has to cycle to the post office!


(photo credit http://www.figone.fr/en/cgv/)

Unfortunately when it did come, it was packaged only in a flimsy plastic bag and was pretty damaged, which was a shame, especially given the quality of the packaging used for the Dark World Creation models I've seen on ISM.



Still – the detail is lovely and I'm looking forward to starting.





It comes with two head options, which is a nice touch. I think I'm going for the one with the hood down to make life easier for myself when it comes to painting the face.



Anyway, I look forward to keeping you updated.

Adam

[DC87]

Hi Adam, welcome to both the forum and this SiG.

That figure looks really nice, the heads look great - especially the one with the hood on I feel.

Best of luck with this entry, if you have any questions about techniques and products etc don't delay in asking

[wappynutter]

Good luck Adam..... And to ISM mate..
Look forward to seeing this build up... DC is right though, the hooded head is cool.. Hard to work with but still cool..

[T3hGuppy]

Welcome aboard dude.

Thats a cracking looking figure

[Rob]

Gorgeous looking figure - you'll have fun with that. Looking forward to updates.

[Ads24]

Thanks for all the comments, guys.

So here's my update:

I strung the bow using EZ line and wound the ends of the line around the top and bottom to give a home made look, like the figure had strung it up while prowling the forest.



I then assembled the figure (minus his sword arm). I've never actually used resin before, and I found it a bit tricky super glueing him together, but got there in the end. I chose the hooded option, because, I agree, it looks cooler. I will make more of a challenge to paint, but then I thought that's the whole point, to try something new and test yourself.







I primed him up with Vallejo polyurethane grey primer, which turned out to be exactly the same colour as the resin, making it a bit hard to see where I'd done, so I was a bit liberal, just to be safe!



I then shaded the deeper areas of the cloak black. Unfortunately my airbrush chose this moment to start jamming up, meaning it was a bit messier than I hoped for.



I then painted the cloak with Vallejo Model Colour Luftwaffe camouflage green. The actually colour is a bit darker than the photos as I had to use flash, but overall it is possible to see a bit of shading.





I'll keep you posted on how I get on.

Adam

[HamilkarBarkas]

I like it a lot so far, keep us updated man, this looks like an impressive project

[longlance67]

welcome to ISM

really nice model


cant wait to see how it turns out,



Shane

[Ads24]

As I mentioned, the inspiration for my figure is Strider/Aragorn form Lord of the Rings. As part of my 'research' I found this clip where Aragorn takes on five Ring Wraiths, he's bad-ass, I hope I do him justice with my model!

[youtube]Sk47qO8rW4Y[/youtube]

[Ads24]

Hi everyone,

Bit of an update on where I'm at painting my miniature.

I filled in some areas with Vallejo Model Color Lime Green, a bit of a scary sounding paint to use, I know, but I think it actually provides a nice contrast to the darker green, and isn't too garish!



I then highlighted the top of the knee and elbow where the light would be hitting. The effect I got was really subtle, I'm not even sure if you can make it out in the photo.



The tunic and boots were painted with Tamiya XF-72 Brown – really not an ideal paint to use, but it's all I had on the shelf. I then darked the colour up with some black to hit the recesses and lower parts, and unlike with the green, I was much less conservative and got a better contrast.





Something I have found as well while doing this project is how good the Vallejo paints are. I used to use just Tamiya, because that was all you could get at my local hobby store. I then tried Mr Color aqueous and loved them and thought, right, I'm only using these from know on. Well, then I tried Vallejo and love them too. I bought a couple of their Model Colour range for this project and they really are amazing. Thinned down, they spray really well and they are a joy to paint straight from the bottle with a brush. I was worried they might be too think for this, but not at all. Anyway, would be good to get other people's thoughts on paint.



Cheers, Adam

[Bridon]

Looking good....nice to read that Vallejo Model Colour sprays as well as brushes...I think someone asked this very question elsewhere on the forum recently so you will have answered his question!

Will look forward to seeing more as you progress.

Brian

[Ads24]

Yeah, I was really impressed. I just thinned it 50:50, I don't have Vallejo's thinner, so I used X-20A and it worked fine.

Adam

[Lee]

Welcome to ISM Ads

Loving the figure so far mate, glad you went for the hooded version

[Ads24]

Hi everyone, thanks for following this build, I'm really pleased to be logging it on ISM. I'm also really enjoying painting the figure, it makes a great change and is nice to be able to just focus on the painting and be creative. Anyway... a quick update for you.

I painted the scabbard and satchel using Tamiya paints, not ideal, but it's all I had. I used two tones made by adding different amounts of black to XF-53 neutral grey. I then edge highlighted along the hard lines using the pure grey colour by using the side of my brush to get a tight line. I'm really pleased with this effect, and will definitely be going back over the model to do this on areas like the brown tunic.





I then painted the belt using XF-85 rubber black, but this was too uniform ended up looking flat and unrealistic and I added from white to make a highlight colour and applied it where there would be wear or the light would hit.



That's all for now, but more updates soon.

Thanks for looking, Adam

[Rob]

That's nice work Adam - lovely colour choices too. I am pleased you chose the hooded head as this fits in extremely well with pose and mood of the figure.
Keep 'em coming

[Ads24]

Hi guys, another update on The Prowler and I'm starting to feel he's beginning to come together a little bit.

Since my last update, I painted the bow.





And then hit the grip with a darker brown.



I then turned my attention to the sword. I'd bought Mr Hobby's Mr Metal Color buffable paint in Aluminium for Eduard's Re-boxing of the 1/48 Academy P-47, but had yet to use it, so I thought this would be a great chance to try it, even though the colour is a little light and shiny, I couldn't resist. The effect is undeniably cool, but unfortunately when polishing it up, I snapped the sword. 'Doh!



After fixing it with super glue it really was too bright, so I toned it down with a light black wash made using ground up chalk pastel and X-20A. You are supposed to be a able to do this with water and a little detergent to break the surface tension, and while this would be gentler on the the paint work, I've found using thinners means it flows so much better. I'd be interested to know what other people use? I chose to do this in this instance, though, because it gives a slightly uneven and broken up finish, which I thought would fit my figure's well used sword.



I then painted the face and hands with Vallejo Model Color Dark Flesh (I really do love these paints!). I then painted the facial hair with XF-85 Rubber Black and then drybrushed on some grey.





I then highlighted the forehead, cheek bones and the bridge of the nose with a 1:1 mix of Dark Flesh and Basic Flesh Tone, also by Vallejo. The final highlight was done on smaller areas where the light would hit such as the highest part of the cheek. I would liked to have had a go with a whole flesh tone set, such as the Life Colour one reviewed on ISM recently, but for economic reasons (I'm skint!) I just got the two tones and I think it worked OK and provided reasonable definition. (weather this shows up on my photos is another matter all together!)



Finally I painted the eyes – first with black, then white in the corners. I added blue for the iris and then a tiny dot of black for the pupil, and to break the blue up as it looked a bit weird. I'm not completely happy with it, they look rather beady, but it's a start and I might come back to it after I've had a think and gained some inspiration from the other build threads.



Anyway, thanks for looking!

Adam

[DC87]

Looking really fantastic, great colour choices and you've made those eyes pop Well done

[HamilkarBarkas]

Your approach is very interesting, you pretty much paint a figure the other way round as i do I like i ta lot so far, the colour you used look very natural.

[JayCub]

it is great browsing your work log Adam, im rubbish at figures but im always willing to learn something new, i like your choices and explanations along the way.

[Ads24]

Thanks for the comments, guys

Haha! I'm not surprised I may have got it another way round to other people, I'm very much making it up as I go along! I have really enjoyed doing a figure for this SIG build, though, it's been a really nice change of pace.

[Ads24]

OK, so The Prowler is definitely coming along, not too much left to do now. I've painted the bed role, so his back is pretty much finished.







I've also got his sword arm attached. The sword still isn't quite straight from where it was damaged in transit, and no one wants a bent sword, but I don't think it looks too bad.





Thanks for checking in on the build, more pictures of the finished figure (maybe!) coming soon.

Cheers,

Adam

[Paul]

Great job Adam, he is really coming along now

[Lee]

Looking great

[Ads24]

A note about brushes...



This project has been a steep learning curve in many ways, but one of the skills I feel I've returned to is using brushes for almost all of the paint work. I only fairly recently bought an airbrush, having belligerently persisted with the 'hairy sticks' for far too long. One thing this did give me, though, was a chance to work out which brushes worked best, and I found that the entry level Winsor & Newton ranges actually work really well.

I'm sure high end sable brushes are amazing, but for about the £3 mark (the same as a poor quality humbrol or revel brand brush) you could get a Winsor & Newton Cotman or Sceptre Gold brush. I use the Cotman which is synthetic in size 00 for detail and then the Sceptre Gold in a size 1 and 2 for larger areas as it's a sable/synthetic blend and is a bit better at minimising brush strokes. They also last well, as you can see by my very beat-up brushes in the picture!

Anyway, boring post about brushes out the way! I would be interested to know what other people have found, though. Coming soon more picture of The Prowler, who is almost there.

Cheers,

Adam

[Paul]

Hey Adam, yeah I've use those brushes myself and as you say they are much better quality than humbrol brushes etc. My preferred brush if choice is winsor Newton series 7 especially the 000 and 00 these are very high quality brushes that retail for around the £10 mark that last a long long time if you take care of them and I'm yet to find anything better, I use these for precise detail work and tamiya pro and hg brushes for everything else. The tamiya pro brushes are not cheap at £18 each in the uk but again they are very good. I'm a bit of a kit tart so am quite happy to pay silly money for tools lol

[Ads24]

Hey Paul, Yeah, I have to say I have wanted to try the series 7, and I had somehow got it into my head they were more expensive than that, so I might give them a go. I find I tend to find something that works and then stick with it, and then when I finally upgrade, I'm like, wow, this is sooooo much better.

As I said, I only recently invested in an airbrush and really couldn't believe I had put it off for so long. I think having the right tools not only means you can produce better models, but that the whole process is so much more enjoyable when you're working with things you like and feel comfortable with.

[Paul]

Hey Paul, Yeah, I have to say I have wanted to try the series 7, and I had somehow got it into my head they were more expensive than that, so I might give them a go. I find I tend to find something that works and then stick with it, and then when I finally upgrade, I'm like, wow, this is sooooo much better.

As I said, I only recently invested in an airbrush and really couldn't believe I had put it off for so long. I think having the right tools not only means you can produce better models, but that the whole process is so much more enjoyable when you're working with things you like and feel comfortable with.

I couldn't agree more mate, having the right tool for the job certainly helps

[Rob]

The figure is looking great.

I really like the Cotman brushes, especially with the Vallejo Liquid Gold metallics, which demand synthetics. I agree with Paul about the series 7 sables - I have never used a better brush. As for size, around 90-95% of all my painting is done with a size 1. This holds a goodly body of paint and keeps an amazingly, astonishingly fine tip. I have a 00 too but only use this in hard to get to places as the width of the brush is a lot smaller than the size 1. My current size 1 is three years old and still going strong but I hope Santa brings me a new one this year. A warning...once tried there's no turning back! Oh, and a small tub of The Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver is a sound investment and goes a long way.

[Ads24]

I might see if Santa can't sort me out with a series 7 as well, then!

I couldn't agree more, having the right tools makes such a difference. The other great thing about this hobby is how you are developing your skills all the time (usually by making mistakes, in my case!) and why I thing this SiG build has been so good for getting people to try and learn new things.

I was reminded of the story about the factory owner who's most important and expensive piece of machinery broke down. He called out the engineer who looked at it, hit it with a hammer, and fixed it. "That will be £1000" the engineer said, "£1000!" said the factory owner, "but you were only here five minutes and just hit it with a hammer." "Yes", said the engineer, "I charged you £1 to hit it with the hammer, the other £999 was for knowing where to hit it and how hard."

[longlance67]

very impressive Ads


really looks great


Shane.

[Ads24]

Hi Everyone,

So a final wash and The Prowler is finally finished. You can see the final reveal photos here:

http://intscalemodeller.com/viewtopic.php?f=120&t=3442

Thanks for following the build, I've loved trying something different, and am fairly pleased with the final result.







Cheers,

Adam

[spruecutter]

Nice work

[rodders]

Very nice job. Love the paintwork on the face.
I love the LOTR films and being out of work watched all the extra's with the DVD. What suprised me was the scene posted earlier where Aragorn fights the wraiths was the very first scene that Viggo Mortensen did as the original actor left the film. He'd never picked up a sword before but the sword master said he was a natural. He did a very good job.
Sorry for being an anorak.