Friday 1 December 2017

Bodstonian Dragoons (Pt 1)

Using the Zvezda Dragoons of Peter I set.

First up the dismounted bods 

The set Comes with 3 bods Holding the nags and a possible 6 nags for him to hold. Small Problem is ..if he´s Holding the reins..then all of the nags already have reins so they needed removing
An  "ahhh!" bit.
At the Moment we´ve  got 5 cats.
The ancient british short hair who found our house and we took in, the "runt" of a litter from a 3 legged cat´s first litter and the 3 legged cat and the  two kittens from her second litter 
The 3 legged cat was originally given space at ours due to her giving birth a day before the original owners moved . With all the stress and chaos of the move it was better they had somewhere quiet. After the kittens (3 of them, two went to friends) were old enough she was given back to the owners but it proved too difficult for them and we took her back..only to find she was again pregnant. 
From left to right.."Pepper", the "runt" of the 1st litter, "Bobby",  the 3 legged cat "Emie" and "Foxy".
"Ghost",  the British short hair lives in her granny flat (the Conservatory) as the kittens pester her - she´s too old for being annoyed. 
Their names are provisional as they are already promised to friends..shame as I really like "Bobby" and I´ll be sad to see him go. 


20 comments:

  1. Those horse sculpts are really impressive Paul and yes the cats are cute too.

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    1. Zvezda make some of the best nag sculpts going. If I had the time I´d paint up all thier cavalry sets..no matter what period. Unfortunately they are concentrating only on WWII german mini sets and the Price of some out of production big sets are going through the Roof.

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  2. Nice work on the bods! I wish my cats would snuggle quietly together. Mostly mine try to eat each other . . .

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    1. Thanks . The 3 legged one doesn´t get on with the British short hair, mainly due to her having kittens..so that´s the main reason for her having a "granny flat"

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    2. Forgot to add. The Female (Pepper) from he first litter took to the kittens staright away , cleaning and playing with them and has become like a second mother to them. It helps that the real mother is very good and accepting.

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    3. I want to write a few more lines on this subject, your horses are marvelous. Don't be surprised if I (poorly) try to copy your paint job.

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    4. Thanks again Phil. Basic method. Black base, then a heavy (not quite so dry) dry brush with chocolate Brown mixed with black...almost as dark Brown as possible. Then a drybrush with chocolate Brown, a dry brush with half chocolate brown mixed with sand Brown..last a very light drybrush with 70-30% sand/chocolate. That´s if I´ve remembered all the stages correctly.
      I´ve painted two more with a similar finish and I´m trying a couple of bays now.

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    5. I didn't imagine that your technique was the drybrush, it works perfectly! What sort of brush do you use ?

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    6. I´ve tried other methods, Dips etc but I´m no good at them. The brush used is an older Rico one, cheap and chearfull from the Hobby shop. I say old because it´s one that has lost the Point so gets downgraded from finer work to dry brushing..when it´s no good for that it goes to base painting, then for work on adding colour landscapes, then drybrushing landscapes (the bases) and finally the fire. I buy cheap brushes because I am "heavy" with them and wear them out quickly so expensive ones (especially named ones) using virgin squirrel or unicorn hair or whatever would be a waste of Money.
      For really fine (and I only do this if I have time or really like a sculpt) I use old make up brushes but only for the final one or two drybrush´s.
      I mostly buy only Rico 1´s and 4´s..as Long as the brush holds a fine Point...I wet them in my mouth then check the Point with a small pocket magnifier check because some are really bad at Holding a Point...even expensive "named" ones

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  3. Lovely figures Paul...and cats!

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  4. Oh, the horses ! Among the best 1/72 painted models I have ever seen, and better than most 25mm too.

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    1. Thanks Phil. The nags took ages to paint!! but are lovely sculpts so it made it a bit easier.

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  5. Kitties are SOOOO cute!

    Dragoons look splendid too!

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  6. Very realistic Horses! .. and Beautifull kittens!!

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  7. Grat job and the cats are very cute :-)

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  8. Beautiful job on those figures! Zvezda produce great figures and you've done them justice. Pity the 18th century ones seem to be getting harder to find.

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