Saturday, June 24, 2017

The Elites are Back, and their Tack is Black

 After thinking it through, I decided to paint the tack on the elite squadron of the 7th Hussars black.  I had used dark grey, which tended to show the unevenness of the lines.  The black, in my opinion, does hide that "problem."  In addition, the black really focuses your attention on the cavalry trooper, rather than divide your attention between the trooper and the horse.  It was a good experiment (though time consuming).  What do you think ? (You can see the dark grey tack in a prior post below to compare).
Elites with Black Tack (instead of Dark Grey)



At a jaunty angle

In column of march, from left to right
 

In column of march, from right to left
From the rear

All that is left to do now is to gloss them up (and then base them).  I have purchased some Winsor & Newton Artist's Gloss Varnish for the gloss job.

  Are there any tips or tricks to getting a good gloss finish?

9 comments:

  1. I think your reasoning sound based on the results. They look splendid!

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  2. WM's top tips are:

    1. Decant that thing into a jar or it'll end up in your lap. This happened to me twice!
    3. Mount the figures on something with bluetack or PVA glue before you start.
    2. Be fairly sparing on the brush so that the gloss doesn't pool in the dips or glaze over the voids.
    3. I start from the base and work upwards. The gloss will pool on the bases, and make them nice and shiny!
    4. When its dry (which will take at least a day and a full week to really set) if they don't look shiny enough, just add another coat.

    Best of luck! WM

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  3. The black tack does look better.

    When varnishing I use a larger brush which I only ever use for varnishing.

    I work the varnish into every nock and cranny. Make sure you dont overload the varnish on the brush.

    I normally use 2 coats of varnish.

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    Replies
    1. After varnishing, what do you use to clean your brush?

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  4. Wonderful colors and fantastic job!

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  5. Very smart - I think I prefer the black. I also keep a separate brush for varnish to avoid contamination.

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