Thought initially of entering Hawkeye on his own but my three partially painted 28mm figures by Conquest Miniatures had been sitting around gathering dust for so long so I deemed it was a fitting moment and motivation for me to finish them and enter them in the competition to honour Kostis our dear member who we lost recently. Especially as he was a master story teller - as indeed was James F Cooper who wrote the LOTM.
It was the first ever book I read without illustrations. I must have been 11 or 12 and that the written word alone could stir so many vivid scenes in my imagination was truly a revelation. The 1982 remake of the original movie with Daniel D Lewis and Madeline Stowe also left a lasting impression on me. It was an absolute classic, perhaps my favourite war movie of all time, and clearly the motivation behind Conquest’s figures.
After painting them up I needed to hurriedly get them photographed and sent quickly to Peter to guarantee them in the competition. All I needed was an appropriate background to photograph them in. This forest scene came to the rescue.
It was at this point I realised I needed some darker shadows and that the arm tattoos needed to be added.