Tuesday 22 November 2011

Through the Swamp - The Conclusion.

So here it is, the conclusion of my mini project to recreate an 'American Civil War' trading card!


The original card, printed in 1965, was part of a much larger set and a gift from my father when I was a boy.  Known as 'Civil War News', the cards depicted historic events or battles that occurred during the war, their graphic violence leaving a lasting impression on a ten year old Mikey.  


Front
Back

With the figures and alligator safely attached a little sisal string was used to represent the reeds and weeds.  These were positioned with P.V.A. and needed a little bit of colour to tone them into the rest of the piece.  Although the base only had a very shallow lip, it was enough to allow me to flood the remaining space with a clear drying resin.  This was my first attempt at a water effect and so I was a little apprehensive, worried that I was going to ruin several weeks worth of work!  Fortunately a colleague was on hand, thanks Jemma,  to guide me through the curing and colouring process so all went according to plan.  There was just a little more painting and leaf litter to add and then finished.  I have picked up so many useful modelling tips along the way  and without wishing this post to read a little like an acceptance speech, there are one or two people I would like to thank:

'Provost Marshal', whose generous donation started the whole thing off.  See 'a Beer and a Bag' for further details.

'Laughing Ferret' over at the 'Laughing Ferret Lab'; your tutorial was superb and carefully guided me through the pitfalls of constructing 'Spanish Hanging Moss'.

'Captain Richard' of 'Captain Richard's Miniature Civil War'; your piece entitled 'Weeds' was simply superb and really helped me to visualise what had previously been just a collection of random thoughts and ideas.

Finally a huge thank you to all of you who have taken the time to post comments along the way as the project developed.  They really do help to keep the spirits up and make the process have a very definite sense of direction. 






16 comments:

  1. It's turned out excellent and a beautiful piece that would grace any man cave.

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  2. Realy cool vignette, the water gives it the right atmosphere.
    The croc is amazing, like it a lot.
    Well done!!!

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  3. It became a very nice vignette. Great work on the groundwork. And the figures are very well painted!

    Greetings
    Peter
    http://docphobossdiary.blogspot.com/

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  4. Nice to see the project come to such a great conclusion. It looks awesome mate you should be chuffed

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  5. That turned out great! Very nicely done.

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  6. Thats blooming beautiful and I am surprised on the scale of it, I was thinking one 28. Brillant

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  7. That is a great little diorama the water/swamp effect looks really good.

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  8. Great result! tons of atmosphere in a small area.
    .. I'm rooting for the gator! ;)

    -ok, that's just too strange, the anti-spam code to type was 'skewerme' !

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  9. Thank you all, really pleased with the outcome and so much fun to do. Now that should be the end of ACW for a while but there are another 87 cards in the collection!

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  10. A spectacular finale to a very enjoyable series of posts. The water effect is spot on as well. Well done on a great piece, next please...

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  11. You can smell the fetid waters and feel the mosquito bites!

    A triumph, Michael!

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  12. Excellent piece of kit! The alligator looks well mean!!

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  13. This vignette is brilliant. It tells a story, is crafted to the highest standarts and painted in exactly the strong and slightly over-saturated colors that I personally like for 28mm miniatures.

    With this in mind, thank you for sharing. =)

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  14. Very cool and unusual part of the civil war not often discussed. Well done!

    Christopher

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  15. Thanks again gentlemen, I do find myself inventing excuses to go out and buy new minis from different periods.

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