The Courtship of Paris and Helen

This famous art history painting was by Jacques-Louis David.

If you remember, I had sculpted the main elements many years ago but then had left the project aside in one of my earliest blogs.

Recently, I managed to locate the two figures, the bed and the four statues in the background. My foray into box dioramas has been largely based on flat figures. However, I decided that it was about time to do a small diorama in 3-D.

I built a simple box with sufficient depth based on a suitable sized Ikea picture frame. Then I created an interior with forced perspectives to accomodate the main elements of this piece.

PNG Cyclist 7

I finally relocated the rider after some searching. I had decided to change the headdress again. The right leg pose was changed slightly. The backside was drastically filed down. The arms were also filed down overall.

Chota Sahib French Foreign Legion

This figure will be repainted.

Sarum 71st Highland Officer 3

I sculpted the boots, cuffs, hands and buttons. I also filed and thinned the hat visor. A basic undercoat of enamels was given to the figure.

ECW Standard Bearer 5

I printed out a flag and fixed it onto a short flag-staff. This figure represents a Parliamentary London trained band unit and the likely sash colour would be orange. The flag-staff was attached to the right arm which underwent several rounds of posing and resculpting before I was satisfied with the final pose. I cleaned up any obvious defects and have started to undercoat the figure with enamels.

Imrie-Risley AWI Boy Drummer 5

I added a left ear which was visible on the left side. The figure was carefully painted in oils, thinned with turpentine and white spirit. The buttons have yet to be fully painted. I am now making up a suitable base for the figure.

Celtic Warrior 15 Finished

I carefully worked up the fringe, adding little slivers of putty and then painting over with oil paints.

The trousers were repainted carefully. The shield was painted with blobs of browns and reds and then, these were dabbed all over. When the shield was dry, the patterns were then painted.

The figure was mounted to the base by its metal wire, carefully camouflaged by the foliage.