The Fight

Subject:
The Fight
Time Machine - 54mm

Review & model by:
Ian Dow
Pictures: R. Forys

2007
Model of the Year

On a lonely hilltop surrounded by scrub brush and fallen timber two warriors meet to settle their differences one last time. One is the ruler of a band of Barbarians who has been marginalized, subjugated and ruled over since he was a baby. The other is a Prince of high standing who has come to claim the land that is his birth right and been ruled by his family for many years. Each believes they are entitled to what lies beneath them, and each is willing to fight to the death to ensure they have it. This is the moment both have been waiting for and there can only be one victor. As their swords clang in the morning air they both know at this very moment …the fight is on.

This piece is from the Time Machine collection of 54mm resin figures and is a very nice vignette. The casting is very crisp and clean with very little clean up and no filling was necessary. The hands grasping the broad sword of the Barbarian fit neatly into his arms and the seams were hidden by the wrist bands on his arms. The Prince had to have both arms attached along with his head. All these connection points were lined up and cleverly hidden by the armor and the angle of attachment. I give a lot of credit to the sculptor to making my job that much easier. The only hard part was getting the poses in the correct position so that they would line up when put together to actually look like they were locked in combat.

Construction began with attaching any loose body parts to a pin so they could be primed for painting. Since all the parts fit neatly together and most seams were hidden, the majority of the painting was completed on the pieces then they were assembled. This is not usually how it is done, but each kit presents its own advantages and challenges. The figures were sprayed with Tamiya primer, which goes on extremely smooth and dries very nice. The next step was painting the flesh tones.

There are many ways and many paints that can be used and techniques vary from article to article. I still use some basic principles that have been tried and true on many figure-painting sites. I start with a basic flesh tone in acrylic to cover the entire figure and then continue with a deep coloring of oils around the muscles and limbs, and then lighten up the colors to add shading and contrast with progressively lighter oils.

The Barbarian wearing only a loin cloth and some armor, had a very limited outfit. To make this stand out, I choose to paint the armor in black, copper and silver colors. The combination worked very nicely to give a contrasting and appealing look to the figure. Touches of gold and bronze were also used to accent the helmet and some armor pieces. When both figures were done I added a tribal tattoo to the Barbarian using ink on his right arm.

The Prince had more of a uniform so I choose colors that would complement the colors of the Barbarian's armor, and went with a green and red combination with yellow accents. Metallic gold, copper and silver were used for the armor to give some contrast, but to also help tie the two figures visually together. The silver was Model Master Chrome and is a great color. It brushes on smooth and dries very glossy, and is one of the best metal colored paint out there.

The ground work was very important to the final piece because it was needed to get the figures lined up correctly. Once all limbs were glued in place it was necessary to have both swords meeting together. Since getting everything lined up and on a flat plane was impossible, I had to cheat and use varying levels of ground work to make the two look like they were locked in combat. Other small stones, twigs and brush were used to create a craggy plateau.

This was a very satisfying build that helped stretch my painting abilities. The large amount of skin on these two figures was good practice at achieving realistic flesh tones. I would highly recommend any of the Time Machine figures.