“I knock things down. That's what I do . . .THAT’S WHO I AM!”

The Rhino - Painting (V): Wrapping-up

The Rhino is now effectively done! Done, yes. . . but his vacating of the bench is still days--if not weeks!--away. I fear there will be many a tweak and touch-up to be done before Aleksei can officially be retired to the cabinet--or transferred to the display table!

But for now, I can at least shift my focus exclusively to Dredd! I will hopefully be able to start with the oils this weekend.

Back to the bench!

UPDATE 09.02.2014. . . THE RHINO IS DONE!!! Images to follow by next week. . .

The Rhino - Painting (IV): Groundwork

I am delighted to say that the groundwork is now effectively done! Rest assured that there will be countless of tweaks and touch-ups right-up to the eve of the Show in six weeks, but for the purposes of the workflow, the groundwork can now be deemed completed.

And with that, so can the figure! Yes, the "headpiece" of the Rhino suit is still but undercoated, but how is that any different from any other type of headgear? 

The figure should be done and off the bench by this time next week. . . 

Back to the bench!

The Rhino - Painting: Intermezzo & Groundwork

Year end and the New Year festivities (hunh?!) are now behind me, so that means the countdown to February has begun and it's time to get back to work!

I decided to get the ball rolling in earnest, and permanently mount Aleksei to his display base. This is admittedly premature on my part, but given the amount of integration--both visual and physical-- demanded by the setting, it is worth the additional effort negotiating around an in-situ figure.

Once the epoxy has cured, I will begin to add the remainder of the rubble around--and over!--     the feet. Hopefully, I will have enough time today to stain the added groundwork, and begin to weather the lower extremities of the Rhino. If I can get that far, then the project can be deemed effectively concluded.

Almost there!

FOLLOW-UP. . . The rubble field is finished! I may enhance it here and there as necessary once the addenda has been stained and painted, but this will be, by and large, wrap-up tweaking.

The figure is now under the lamp to set the white glue. I expect to be able to commence staining and "washing" before dinner-time.

FOLLOW-UP (2). . . Phase I of painting has been completed! This amounted to an overall stain/ wash of dark earth tones + black as a basecoat to the drybrushing and "weathering" that will follow. So far so great. . . and yes, attaching the figure to the display base indeed was the right call!

The Rhino - Painting (III): Rhino suit (5)

And so I wrap up the painting of the Rhino suit from the neck down: the left leg is now [effectively] done! The head cowl and horns will be tackled once the figure is permanently mounted on its display base.

Unfortunately, save for whatever I might get done today in the remaining pre-dinner hours, that also means that the painting for 2013 is effectively done! The remainder of my year is not some- thing I would wish on very many people, so . . .

That being said, a happy, healthy and prosperous 2014 to the readership and yours! In the next six weeks, I will be completing the Rhino and starting--and hopefully finishing!--Judge Dredd, so check back often as the posting count should be rockin'. . .

"Should auld acquaintance be forgot. . . ",

Augie

The Rhino - Painting (III): Rhino suit (4)

After 2 1/2 sessions, the right leg is now [effectively] done! The legs have proven to be the most challenging part of the project to date, if only because they have to be painted in anticipation of the addition of rather dramatic weathering: they are more an extension of the groundwork, than a component of the figure!

This will very probably be the last bit of painting done before the weekend. Barring any unforeseen developments in the days to come, I am hoping that the figure itself will be all-but-done by the end of the 29th. . . 

Movin' right along. . .

The Rhino - Groundwork -- Wrap-up

Phase I of the groundwork is now essentially done!  I think I have one more session of general debris/rubble ahead of me to integrate the various components of the rubble field, add burst mains, etc., but this could could be done at the outset of Phase II, hence the completion of Phase I.

If I can jump into Phase II before the weekend, and apply the basecoats by Saturday, the groundwork might be ready to accept the figure by Sunday.

Getting closer. . .

The Rhino - Painting (III): Rhino suit (3)

The left arm is now [effectively] done!

Half-way there. . . Perhaps even a bit more than. . . I have begun applying the spot-washes and "filters"to the torso, and start tightening-up some of the detail lines and textural relief in and around the folds of the completed sections.

So far, so very good. I am very pleased with what is now before me; and though still overwhelm- ingly grey, the landscape of the morphology is beginning to emerge quite nicely!

More to follow. . . 

The Rhino - Painting (III): Rhino suit (2)

The right arm is now [effectively] done! 

Two down . . .  

I am hoping that I have the time and inclination to tackle the left arm tomorrow before I am faced with putting up the brushes for the rest of the week, if not the year. . . 

Stay tuned!

The Rhino - Painting (III): Rhino suit (1)

With the face effectively done--there is still the matter of integration once the surrounding Rhino suit is completed--it is time to take a deep breath and jump into the deep end. . . 

While laying out my palette--blues and warm orange-biased tertiaries to custom-mix my grey hues--I decided to break-up the Rhino suit into six manageable portions: head, torso, arms (x2), and legs (x2).

First up, the torso; and it is now effectively done. There will be A LOT of post-drying washes, dry-brushing, and touch-ups to maximize the depth and visual presence of the skin texturing, but the foundation coat of oils is now in the books.

One down. . . five to go. . . 

The Rhino - Painting (II): Face

Phase 1 of the face is now done. I don't really anticipate the need for a Phase 2; rather, it will be a matter of tweaking the contrasts--using concentrated washes of the shadows and the most reflective tints for the super-highlights--until I am satisfied with the overall tonal gradient. 

Hopefully tomorrow. . . 

UPDATE 15.12.2013. . . Face is done!

The Rhino - Groundwork -- Images

A couple of images of the groundwork through [the majority of] Phase I:





Though there are a few more points of detail to be added, I will probably start applying paint over the weekend. . . I hope. . .

More to follow. . .

The Rhino - Groundwork

The Rhino's groundwork is a "project within a project". While all of the foundation work was done/ completed before priming, the very character of the subject demands that most of the defining elements (read: rubble) be done once the groundwork is permanently attached to the display base, with the most important aspects added after the completed figure is permanently attached to the latter.

So today I began to build-out the groundwork. This consisted of individually cracking/crushing a number of Verlinden (#1447) red bricks, and applying the larger structural elements to an under- layer of MS. Once this was cured, I carefully applied a coat of thinned white glue to the overall debris to 1) seal the bricks I applied in the previous step; and 2) apply a layer of chipped and ground bricks for texture and blending.

So far, so great! I think I will have one, maybe two, more general debris sessions ahead of me (using chipped/ground bricks and cat litter) before I can begin painting the "core" ground work. Then comes the fun part. . .(gulp!)

The Rhino - Painting (I): U/Cing

THE RHINO IS NOW UNDERCOATED. . . and curing in the oven.

The Silver Age Rhino is not the most colourful of characters--chromatically--and herein lies the challenge: how to make a uniform medium grey vibrant and visually interesting! Layering my acrylic undercoat, I was able to "sketch" the lighting plan, as well as introduce colours to break-up the monotony of what amounted to little more than a tonal variant of the primer.

How well did I succeed, and how well will I translate this into the final oils?  Stay tuned. . .

"I'm Rhino. I knock things down. That's what I do. . .that's who I am!"

Save for a few loose ends in the texturing phase; the final once-over; and--of course--the groundwork, the Rhino is, at long last, DONE!!!

I will hopefully have him primed and on the paint-bench within the fortnight. . .

UPDATE 06.12.2013. . . Did I say fortnight? The figure should be primed and on the painting bench sometime over the weekend. In the meantime, the groundwork is primed, and the black edging and foundation shadows applied.

FOLLOW-UP. . . THE RHINO IS PRIMED!!! Time to go shake-up some acrylics. . . And the groundwork has been permanently attached to the display base!