West Wind Cowboy Test Photos

I've been wanting to set up a small studio in the game room, but all the big box hardware stores don't have the type of light bulb I need for my lamps. As a result, I'll have to go to the Light Bulbs Unlimited store downtown. I've been wanting to go there for weeks now, but we know how those things go, especially with me!

Anyway, the weather has been nice, so I took the camera outside. I set up a make-shift "studio" on a card table in the driveway, using God's own light bulb. At least this time no neighbors stopped by to see what I was doing. (That happens a lot in our neighborhood, which I like, but this time I just wanted to snap photos as quickly as possible without getting into the entire history of our hobby!)

The Soviets Are Coming!
I shot photos of all 25 finished Soviets, along with this test photo of some of my Western figures. Over the next several days, I'll be posting the photos of the Soviets in chunks along with my paint lists. Plus a little tutorial about how I painted their gun barrels, which look much better in person than my little Lumix snappy does them justice. Lots to come. (Note: I'll be doing the bases as soon as my hands can handle it.)

West Wind Cowboys
The three figures in the photo are from West Wind's Cowboy Wars line, which is made by Old Glory. I make it no secret that I love this line of figures, though there are a few clinkers here and there. I grabbed three figures out of the box for a test shot.

The figure on the far left is from pack ZCW-10 US Marshalls. It comes with a very John Wayne-looking figure. I painted this fellow's face a long time ago when learning how to paint flesh, but only recently finished his outfit. His trousers are Americana Burnt Umber, and the coat is Americana Russet. Can't recall the hat's color.

The middle figure, which I just realized has been seen on the blog long ago, is from ZCW-29 The Long Riders. I finished him a couple years ago. You can see how my shading and highlighting are different now than back then. I have no clue about the paints I used!

The far right figure is from West Wind's Gothic Horror - Realms of Terror - Jekyell & Hyde series of figures. This is one of four figures from pack GHJ-5 London Gentlemen. I painted his face a long time ago, but painted eyes on him when I did my Soviets last year. Other than his skin, I totally painted him last Sunday afternoon. I'm quite excited because I painted stripes on his pants. I have a very difficult time painting straight stripes. I think I'm getting better at it. His trousers are Americana Graphite, and the stripes are Folk Art Neutral Grey. His overcoat is Americana Black Plumb. (That was an oops! I wanted to paint it dark maroon, but grabbed the wrong bottle. Didn't realize it until I started painting! Sometimes mistakes work out for the best.) For a shadow color, I used Ceramcoat Dark Burnt Umber with a touch of Black Plumb. For highlights, I used Black Plumb mixed with Polyscale French Light Blue because it was easy to reach, though any very light grey will do. For the top highlight, I added a dab of white to this mix. The hat is also Americana Graphite, highlighted with Folk Art Neutral Grey, and then Folk Art Steel Grey for top-highlight.

That's all for today.
Watch for the photos of the Soviets. And then next weekend is the AWI-ACW-WWII-Modern military reenactment. Plus, I'll be returning to some old projects, like my ACW fellows, who have been feeling might lonely far too long!