Hello again friends,

Time for a small vignette now. The "Wilkommen !" diorama was set aside (but not for a long time).

It will be quite simple, the subject is my light field artillery gun 18/40 (remember the high gloss display ? Yes, the dust magnet !).

The vignette measures13X18.
I started building a simple balsa structure, covered with cork.



Cheers ! G.

Looks like a good start, Guy. Not that I can do better, but the only (hopefully constructive) critique I can offer is that perhaps the space between some of the bricks is too big.

Could you perhaps give us a photo of a figure next to the wall so we have some context of height and size?

Another thread to follow!

Rudi

GREEAT!

We had'nt have to wait for too long to see this little vignette!
With the wonderful artillerie piece you've done, I'm anxious to see the final setting.

Cheers.
A.

Rudi, thank you for your remark. Once the space between the bricks is filled, it will look much better. But also the pictures seem to enlarge this too. Stay tuned, I'll show the progress in a couple of days.

Alexandre, thank you, the gun looks fine, I'm quite happy with it to be honest.

The next update is about the sculpting of a "concrete" lion, made of Milliput Standard. As an animal lover, I think this is so cool. The lion will guard the gate once finished (middle section, highest pole).

This is the head in progress :



Cheers ! G.

Great job Guy! Nice work, how did you get the milliput so smooth?

Martyn, it was done by smoothly brushing a water filled soft haired brush over the surfaces.

Another forum user asked me to show a pic of it next to a 1 euro cent coin, and I have to say it's quite small :



Cheers ! G.

Wow Guy, the Lion looks realy great!
I am always wondering how you guys are able to work so clean and smooth with Milliput.

Claude

Claude : it's not that difficult, only a little patience and interest in anatomy are needed to do the job. First I use a tooth pick (sanded smooth) to model the Milliput. I try to make it look symmetric. With a wet (water) soft brush I make small corrections and polish the thing at the same time.
This head took me a complete noon, so as I said, I had to take a deep breath sometimes and drink another cup of coffee !
Cheers mate ! Guy.

Yes Guy, of course that's my workmethod to, but in the end i am always finishing with bad looking stuff, probably i'm working not clean enough, to much dust around and so. I don't know, i'm just now rearranging a figure and closing gaps and body parts with Magic Sculpt, well , i am not satisfied.
Now that i have finally discovered magnifier glasses, it is even more horrible. :-)

Perhaps i need to retry Milliput, it will perhaps work better for me, you never know.

Claude

Great!! that's the return of Guy's animals!! This lion is pretty good,
can't wait to see the dogs

Hi Guy, nice job.
Personnaly I hate milliput...because I don't know how to use it...
One remark : it is a female Lion ? because it looks like a female.
I giess that if you want to make a male, you might strech the head to the down. For me the ion head are higher (I might be not clear in what I'm saying ) The more you will strech the less it will look like a cat.
Few pictures to illustrate my words, taken from a famous french sculpt : le lion de Belfort

Julien, thanks for your help, nice photos.
The lion looked like a female because I still had to add the manes, his chin beard and the muscled front -paws. I'm working on these things now and I have photos of the progress :








Tomorrow I try to finish this stage and move on to the back, tail...

WOW!! That's great work! Your lion is a piece of art! Simple fantastic !!

Here's another one to add to my list of builds to watch and enjoy.

Looking forward to more!

Kirk

wow nice! kinda art deco! to u!!!!

Thank you guys, but there's still a long way to go.

I have sculpted the claws and made corrections here and there.





Cheers ! G.

ART in it's true form!

absolutely gorgeous !

Pit : I do the best I can mate !

I made some progress on the lion's manes, muscles, expression, tail...

Nothing's finished, still a way to go, but I have some pics :









Cheers ! Another update probably tomorrow.

Hello Guy,

The B&W pics really show the work on details.
Fine job and great stance on this beast.



Alexandre.

Outstanding Sculpting skills Guy
I hope to see more of your work
Big Congrats
seb

Nice update. One thing I would look at is his back right leg from behind. The muscles look a bit disjoint.
The mane looks great, the position is really nice.

You've seen this very well Scott, thank you for letting me know, I've made a small correction and I think I'm almost there now.



One update to go.

G.

Today there was no time left to continue working on my diorama, but I'd like to show you guys this sneak preview of the diorama settting without the figures :



It measures 13 cm X 18 cm. The gate is positioned diagonally.

Now it's time to find some suitable German soldiers, if I won't find any, I will have to try to sculpt them.

G.

Really nice job Guy, it seems that your lion took testocérone !
Great work.
I wait for the human thing now !
Best,
Julien

Hello Guy, what kind of setting would you like ?
I mean, for the german soldiers? action, rest? ...

You've done a great job on the Lion, I have to tell you that I prefere you to sculpt your own soldiers...

Cheers.
A.

Julien, I know the lion has the muscles I wish to have myself

Alexandre, the figures will be at rest, no action this time. I'm sure about one figure, a commander with goggles, looking for the enemy.

Tx friends !

The painting has started, now I have to make it look like concrete.
First stage :



Cheers ! G.

This Lion is just fantastic Guy -will you make a form to mould another one to stand on the other pillar?

Very nice progress. I suspect there will not be a second (since paint has already been applied), it would be nice and a nice piece to cast for other projects.

Nice update - thanks

Hey Guy. Some very nice sculpting ... very believable ornament. The painting looks great as well. Nice one.

JBA : no my friend, I'm not patient enough to make a mold to be honest, when I start a project like this lion, I feel like arriving in a twister's eye, I ame for the finish !
I want to make another lion, starting from zero. I must be crazy...

Scott : I had the intention to make a mold, but I just kept going : priming...painting by airbrush...brushes...like a mad man !

Last update for now :

The next step to the finish was done by using an old tooth brush. I pulsed the paint to the lion by rubbing a finger over the brush. Several tones of grey were mixed :



This was the look of it then :



This was my reference photo for the tones :



The finish :



Now it has to dry/harden. When the lion will be glued on the gate wall, I will add mosses and the famous bird poo.

Cheers ! G.