Wooden Toy Soldier - Part 2

(I guess the subtitle should be 'Project Peg Mk. 2'...)

Still concentrating on simplicity or a highly stylised toy soldier, I've made my model from just four parts; the peg body, the hat, a rifle and an MDF base. (All glued together with PVA wood glue for larger parts but superglue for the rifle as I needed 'instant tack'...Hope it will hold.)

The rifle is very simple and toylike and is just made from two matchsticks glued together and carved into shape with a craft knife, then sanded smooth...

It's crude, but as it's supposed to be a toy this kinda suits the purpose. My figure does not have arms or hands so I will just glue it to the side - in an 'at ease' pose - and paint a hand onto the rifle stock as if the soldier is holding the gun.

 As this is intended as a game marker I have glued the figure to a standard 25mm circular MDF gaming base...

The hat is on a little crooked, but lots quite 'jaunty' so I will leave that (this is just another test after all). Incidentally, this would be another good reason to consider turning these model in a lathe.

And now it's on with the primer and then the painting. Now is crunch time regarding the design - historic uniform of fantasy one?

I am unsure whether I might have been better to have primed with a brilliant white rather than grey. For one thing, as the primary colours I am using are very bright a white base will help to make the colours 'pop'. But, also, it means I have a good foundation for any of the white parts I intend to have, particularly as my Vallejo acrylic white seems to need a couple of coats get get a good opaque coverage.

Well, for now I'll make do with what I have and I have to say that the grey primer does make it easy to pencil in the design on the figure (and, yes, I went for a fantasy 'toy soldier' uniform design)...

The face isn't exactly 'traditional' but this is just a test. Though even though what detail there is is stylised and simplified I hope my shake brush work is up to painting the uniform by hand...

Is it me or does the grey primer coat dull down the bright top coats? Maybe
another reason to try a white primer next time.

Looking at my design I am thinking that if I do prime with white I could mask out certain regular design features - like stripes - so that they are not only straight but also provide an easy way to pick out fine painted details (guess I will save that for yet another test).

I will also have to expand my collection of craft acrylic paints. It's funny how some of my Vallejo paints cover beautifully - like the red and the blue I used - but other are a pain in the butt (like the flesh colour and white - and I happen to know that yellow is a nightmare to get a nice flat coat). Luckily, the craft paints are quite cheap. (I did wonder if I should try enamels, but they bring their own problems and are smelly!)

Next: The finished test model.

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