The Three Musketeers ( all 4 of them ) !

[JayCee]

Well, seeing that the weather here has turned itself upside down, and now it is complete cloud cover, very windy and raining, my beach time has been knocked on the head. I am a completely certified beach bum, and have been since about 1955, but even I draw the line at sitting in the pouring rain. So I will make a start on figure three of the quartet. This one is Porthos, based on the historical musketeer Isaac de Porthau. This figure is slightly easier to construct than the previous one as there are only 19 parts to this and 8 of those are for the base. Here is the box art and figure parts.

he will be painted differently to the box as in the book he is described as wearing a "Cerulean Blue" doublet and a Scarlet cloak. While I do not have the exact shade of blue I have some which to my eyes look close enough. Even though it is easier than Athos as his legs are cast as one piece and his head is integral with his torso, I still need to plan the construction / painting sequence. Arms always seem to be sculpted in the most awkward poses possible. The first job will be a good soapy scrub, so off we go. All C&Cs welcome as usual.
John.

 

[Steve Brodie]

Is the wall included ?

 

[JayCee]

Hi Steve, yes it is. That is what 6 pieces of the base make up, and 2 pieces of floor. Should be fun trying to hide all the joins !
John.

 

[JayCee]

I have finally got Porthos stuck together (minus arms, of course). Also the wall/base for him to lean on. I am not at all happy with the fit of parts on this figure, but will admit to some of it being my fault. The filler will definitely need to come out. That will have to wait, as I have to go to the UK tomorrow, so no bench time for a week or so.
Here he is at the moment, in all his naked metal glory.
He will have to stay like this until I return and then I will see about giving him some clothing.
As always, C&Cs welcome.
John.

 

[JayCee]

Hello all. I am back home after my trip to the UK so can restart Porthos. Thanks to Steve Brodie and Tworrs for their likes of my last post. I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to anyone who has commented or liked on this blog that I may have ignored or not responded to.. So, the first thing I need to do is clean up the mess I made of glueing the parts together. That is, plenty of filler and filing. The wall should be relatively straightforward and the figure only needs his waistline filling. A start will hopefully be made tomorrow, so until then, cheers guys.
John.

 

[Steve Brodie]

Filling and filing - oh the joys

 

[JayCee]

Cheers Steve, you certainly know how to brighten up my day ! .
John.

 

[JayCee]

Well, after coming home from the UK with mojo at full steam ahead, life got in the way as it often does. I did the filling and filing on the figure. Looks okay to me. I was puzzled as to why I had got such a large gap at his waistline when Alexandros ( the owner of the manufacturers and painter of the box art ) had a seamless finish. Then I realised that he probably painted an original sculpt, before it was chopped up to facilitate casting. I know that some of the problem was of my own making, due to over zealous use of the epoxy adhesive. I lost time because I took my wife to a new hotel in Ayia Napa for a few days for her birthday. While Karen spent time in the hotel spa, doing what ladies do, I stayed by the pool with a book and a cold beer. Some people think me a tightwad as the hotel is only 20 minutes down the road. After we got home I was called to the surgeon for a little slicing and dicing. Nothing major, just the removal of a skin lesion and sending it for biopsy. It was just the result of too many years spent in the sun without protection when I was a child. Results back, all clear. I have managed to get most of the undercoat on, mainly to see what the colours look like together. To me they look ok. As it is summer here our average daily temperature is about the heatwave you have just had in the UK. Further painting is on hold for a time. This is mainly because as I am a fully paid up member of the D.O.M. club I prefer to spend my days at the beach admiring the "scenery". Here is Porthos as he stands at the moment.
Top coats and shading to follow in due course. As usual all comments good and bad welcome.

 

[Andy the Sheep]

A very neat job, John. The XVII century fashion is not very friendly with us modellers...
By the way, I googled "D.O.M. club" as it's a completely unknown acronym to me... well, what I got is not really what I think you meant...

Andrea

 

[JayCee]

Andrea, it was a bit of light hearted fun. D.O.M. is short for Dirty Old Man. My body is 75, my brain is still 25. .
Thanks for the comment. There is still a lot of work needed to get him as I want him.
John.

 

[Mini Me]

Keep it coming John, "Porthy" will be looking his finest before you know it.

 

[JayCee]

Thanks Rick, I certainly hope so.
John.

 

[JayCee]

Well, after the summer hiatus, Porthos is finally back on the bench. Life got in the way of a start immediately summer was over. October/November is the Olive Harvest Season, so I have been busy picking olives. I am lucky where I live as my village still has its own olive press. I just take all my olives 5 minutes up the road, weigh them in and next day collect the oil. Finest extra virgin olive oil is superb, especially when it is from your own trees. Back to Porthos. We started with a slight hickup. I picked him up to dust down and he somehow fell from about waist height onto the tiled floor. He landed flat and broke into two pieces at the waist joint. "Oh dear,that was silly" I said. The break was only a previous glued joint so a clean of the old adhesive, some new epoxy and he should be ready to paint. Then I gave him a closer look! He had obviously landed face first. His nose was as flat as a tomato that had been stood on by an Effalump. A spot of rhinoplasty was called for. My sculpting skills are non existant so his nose is not the best, but it will have to do. After all the cursing was finished I have finally managed to get some paint on. I have changed the colour of his doublet by using a slightly darker, more intense blue. This is how he stands at the moment.

The rubbish photo is taken on a mobile phone, indoors. You can probably get the general idea of where he's at. The two foot rule really is needed.
All comments and abuse gratefully received, as normal.
John.

 

[JayCee]

I'm back again. Firstly gents, thank you for the "likes". They do wonders for the mojo. Porthos is now fully armed, in all respects. I have attached his right arm, left arm and his sidearm (Rapier). He is carrying a "cup-hilted " rapier. Most of these had steel cups but I have seen some with brass ones so I decided to give him an extra bit of "bling". There is just his cloak and hat to do now, then some shading and touch ups. The wall he is leaning on is proving troublesome a I cannot get it how I want it. Patience is the key here I think. That or throw it through a window and have him leaning on a paint pot!
Usual crappy phone picture. As usual all C and Cs welcome.
John.

 

[PaulinKendal]

Looking good, John.
Your problems with the wall - doesn't he have a big iron-bound chest to lean against?

 

[JR]

Very nice , well worth the wait John .

 

[JayCee]

Paul, sorry no chest, just a portion of the city walls. will get it done soon.

John, thanks for the compliment. Not good enough yet, but I hope to get him there .
John

 

[JayCee]

Well I think I can call Porthos just about done. The figure is not fixed to the base yet, I will not do that until I have made the final decision on how best to display them. There are a few minor touch ups and tweaks, but they can wait until later. Just one final figure to go, but first the festivities. .



Until next time. Seasons greetings to you all.
John

 

[Gern]

Not a figure painter but I like what you've done.

I do got a question though. How come they're always referred to as "The Three (Four) Musketeers" when we never actually see them using a musket?

 

[JayCee]

That's a damn good question, Dave. They were members of The King's Musketeers, even though they mainly used swords as their main weapon. Why? I do not know.
John.