Waterloo 1815 - Ney's Charge (again)

[PatrickJ71]

It's been over a year since I've posted anything myself. It's not that I haven't painted anything, but it's not that much either.
Last fall I had fun with the Waterloo 1815 set of Ney's charge but it took me until Easter this year to put the reins on.
I know the Master himself posted them a few years ago and last year we also had Syh's extraordinary version of Ney from the same set...so I hope it doesn't get annoying that I'm bringing it up now too.
As most probably know, the set is based on a fragment of the panorama in Waterloo.



And below the pictures of what I made of it. They look best from a distance of 30 cm . I hope you enjoy it.














thanks for watching
Patrick

[Santi Pérez]

Patrick, they are nicely painted figures (seen both at more and less than 30 cm distance), and portray very well the original image from which you have drawn your inspiration. The reins also look great.

Santi.

[Rich W]

Super painting Patrick, I think they look very good close up!

[C M Dodson]

Very nice painting of this dynamic group.

Best wishes,

Chris

[Bessiere]

Seriously nice work Patrick. These figures come lacking a lot detail which you have filled in nicely. Excellent basing as well. What did you use to make the reins? They look very natural and match the other tack perfectly.
Cheers,
Bessiere

[k.b.]

These figures are by Massimo Costa if I am not mistaken. It’s sad for me to hear from Bessiere that they lack a lot of detail. I always had the impression Massimo was a perfectionist but perhaps there were deadlines to be met and as such shortcuts needed to be made in the production process or mould making…. which is still disappointing nevertheless. However, on the bright side you have made a splendid job of them Patrick. Beautiful painting and basing and as someone said your reins are absolutely terrific…..any tips as to material(s) you used?
Again i’d say your photographic skills are not doing full justice to your brushwork my friend. Sorry to be picky but it’s the only way we improve….
Use a single sheet of card/thick paper on a curve, place your models towards the front (to avoid shadows). If you don’t have good lamps to take pictures indoors or props such as card then use Mother Nature to lend a helping hand, nobody complains about Thomas Dürrschmidt’s photos, do they?

[Das_Dirch]

Very colorfull. Good Job.

[Peter]

Very good paintjob Patrick! You can take closer pictures because they deserve that! You did them honor!

And why don't you come and show them to us at Arnhem?

[PatrickJ71]

Thank you all for your kind comments.

@Bessiere & @k.b.

Concerning the level of details, for metal miniatures, these are pretty okay I think. You can't compare them with a good Zvezda set and it's true that sometimes you have to "find" the details while painting. Looking for good references is, as always, a must. I actually think this is a good set from Massimo (there are other, probably older, sets from him that I find less successful) but it is a hassle to glue the arms and the scabbards on. More than once I had to cut my thumb off my index finger .

As for the reins, as I said, I painted this set last fall but wasn't sure what to do with the reins. Of course I couldn't post them on this forum without reins... I first tried with copper wire, but it was either too thin or too thick and therefore too stiff to get them in the right shape...until a few weeks ago I saw on this forum in another topic someone gave the suggestion (I don't remember in which topic and who gave the suggestion) to use dental wire. And that's what I used!
As suggested I put PVA glue on them first and then painted the wire. Then I made a small loop in it and glued the thread together so that the loop was fixed. Then I cut in the middle where the thread was glued together so that you have the fixed loop on the one hand and two threads glued together at the other end. I then glued the loop to one side of the figure's hand and the two threads with the piece glued together to the other side of the hand. Finally, the free ends are glued to the horse's bit. Then all that remained was to repair the paint locally where it was damaged.

For the base I use a steel washer so that the center of gravity of the metal figures is lower and you can place them on a magnetic sheet. This way they fall over less quickly. The finish is with one of the Ready Base mixes from Geek Gaming Scenics, supplemented with some tufts.

I will indeed have to work on my photography techniques. I will keep your tips in mind k.b.

Patrick

[Bessiere]

You're correct Patrick, perhaps I am spoiled a bit by the level of detail on most plastic figures and not doing many metals. I've found the Franznap nicely detailed but have a hard time with faces that lack details. Thank you for sharing your method of making the reins. I'm not sure what dental wire is or where to get it. Do you know what gauge it is or where it can be procured? It looks fantastic on your figures and every other material I've tried has it's own issues so I'd like to try your method. Thanks again!
Cheers,
Bessiere

[k.b.]

Hi Bessiere,
If I’m not mistaken I believe Patrick might be referring to a type of dental floss that comes in a kind of flat shape, as opposed to the original floss which was round like cotton thread.
Many thanks Patrick for your explanation on how to do the reins…..it sounds fiddly but I’m gonna give it a shot…. no pun intended.

[Minuteman]

I like this set of figures very much, mainly for the vigorous action that the sculptor has been able to depict in these various charging horses and their splendidly-uniformed riders.

Great painting, well done!

[PatrickJ71]

Hi Bessiere,
If I’m not mistaken I believe Patrick might be referring to a type of dental floss that comes in a kind of flat shape, as opposed to the original floss which was round like cotton thread.

Well it is indeed dental floss but with a round thread, not the flat one, that's too wide. It is "Sensodyne expanding floss" and there is 30m of thread in it so I guess I can give reins to 300 horses

Very good paintjob Patrick! You can take closer pictures because they deserve that! You did them honor!

And why don't you come and show them to us at Arnhem?

thank you, Peter.

I'm still in doubt whether I will come to Arnhem or not. My godchild has a familyday at work that day and would love us to come over to show us around. I know what I would like best... and it's not the familyday...