The Once and Future King Part 3

After wrapping up the knight and Saxon figures, I returned to my 4th piece for the Crystal Brush Competition, Arthur.  I painted this figure back in December but was stuck on the base.  The figure represents a young Arthur right after he has pulled the sword out of the stone, so I wanted the base to fit that scene.  I checked out some reference material and I also looked up pictures from the Disney movie (why not?).  The main element of the scene would be the stone and anvil, but I wanted a little more to fill up the space.  So I decided to include a banner as well.

These aren't especially tough things to sculpt/create, but my sculpting skills are near zero so it was challenging for me.  To make the anvil I began with some blocks of balsa wood for the basic shape and then used milliput to fill it out and add the rounded shapes.  Same with the stone, a larger block of wood for the volume and then a thin covering of milliput for the rounded edges and some texture.  I took a few attempts on the banner.  The first try was milliput, but I had trouble getting it smooth enough without falling apart.  I also tried cutting it out of plasticard and then using heat for some waves.  But that didn't quite work for me either.  In the end I used some thin brass sheet that would retain its shape when bent.

To paint the banner I went with a red and white color scheme.  In part because it matches colors from the figure, but also because of a story regarding Merlin and a red and white dragon.  So I worked the dragons into the banner along with a sword.  I intentionally kept the details to a minimum so the banner would not draw the eye too much and the figure would remain the focus of the scene.

I initially had the rear of the banner as just a plain white and red... but that seemed a little too boring.  So I added an image of the sword in the stone/anvil and the main quote about the sword.

The Once and Future King Part 2

Happy New Year!

I'm almost finished with Arthur, well aside from his base.  I took care of the highlighting on his hair and then the cloth around his lower legs.  I'd previously done the metal work on the sword, but it needed something more.  So I took some of the Andrea inks and tried to create a gradient, darkening it towards the hilt.  With that finished I turned to the shield.  I first did the red background with some simple shading, then the gold border.  Then the tough job of painting on the design.  First I worked out how I wanted it to look on paper.  I wanted to do a dragon and modeled it on the rampant lion, a common heraldry image.  Once I was happy with how that looked I moved on to the figure.  Using a medium yellow I sketched in the long curve for the neck, body, and tail.  Then I drew in the finer details: head, arms, legs, wing, and spike.  I switched back to the background red to draw in the fine lines along the belly, arms, legs, and wings (and to clean up the basic shape/outline).  Finally I went in and did some shading to the design so it fit with the rest of the shield.

I was on the fence about doing a design on his chest, but decided to give it a shot.  The strap makes is tough and the size needed to be about half what I did on the shield.  But, with a few minor simplifications, I did my best to repeat the design on his chest.

The Once and Future King Part 1

Earlier this year I participated in the 5th Dimension's online contest and, as one of the prizes, received the figure Arthur from Figone.  It's 1/35 scale but, since it represents a child, he's only about 40mm tall.  I might bring this along to the Crystal Brush competition and enter it into the Fantasy Single category.  Normally 1/35 scale figures wouldn't be eligible, but figures sized 40mm or less should work.  Last year's 2nd place winner was 1/35 scale dwarf from Heroes and Villains, so if that was let in this one should be too.

I wanted to add a bit more detail to the figure, so I used a few of the pieces from Etch-Masters.  The shield on his back and belt around his shoulder both etched brass.  That should give me another good place to add some freehand work.  I also switched out the sword blade.  The original one looked proportional to the figure.  But I wanted something bigger, so it really looked like a child holding an adult's sword.

As a child the face was a bit of a challenge.  I wanted to keep a lot of the details soft so he would have a youthful look.  Too many dark lines and the figure will look old.  The same goes for female figure, you want to downplay a lot of the details.  I still need to make some adjustments.  I'm not happy with one side of the mouth, but it's getting there.  The clothing is pretty far along.  I wanted a little more visual interest, so I put a checkerboard pattern on the pants.  I'm considering adding an emblem to his chest, but with the belt in the way I'm not sure.  Once I do the shield I'll make a decision about his chest.