THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW
&
THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN
Around 1799, Ichabod Crane, an eccentric but earnest constable, is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate murders allegedly committed by The Headless Horseman on a steed from the depths of Hades.
Here you have one of the newer releases from Polar Lights, this is a 1999, and one of the first new models I've purchased. To start things off, I just cemented the main parts together and left it all unassembled for now. I did a good putty job on this one, got most all the cracks and spaces, let dry over night, and then a fine sanding work-out. Then I used a flat black "spray" Krylon for a base primer and set in a box to dry, as you can see in the picture.
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NEXT, THE GUILLOTINE
Well here's the dirty part! I just kind of put myself back in the saddle on this one, as cowboys often do. I know from experience, you put a crazy wild horse, and an even wilder rider in a pumpkin patch, your going to have mud and s**t everywhere! So I just took some flat brown testers paint, and saturated a large #5 brush in some paint thinner and let the color run all over, it's quite messy, so be careful. It turned out great just like real mud. Then as you work to the tree and the signpost thicken your paint as you go, then start your dry brushing and shading.
PUMPKINS & JACK-O-LANTERNS
With these guys, I simply did the pumpkins with several mixes of red, and yellow to make orange, with a little green dry brushing for the vine. The jack-o-lanterns, I cleaned up alittle with a darker and glossier look. Then to blend the pumpkins in better, a very lite tan wash to make them look alittle dirty too.
THE HORSE & RIDER
The cape was pretty simple, just a coat or two of some black and brown wash, and dry brushing for the outside. On the inside of the cape, I used several different shades of red, then a good black-red wash for contrast, turned out really cool, to bad these pictures don't do it justice.
The rider I did in several stages, the jacket and gloves got a lite wash of yellow and gray, while the pants and chaps got a bit of red just to enough to compliment each other. Then after that, I started in on the horse with a red wash after doing a coat of gloss black on the saddle, just to separate the two. The dark red highlights look great against the shinny saddle.
Now for the finishing touches. First I took some silver
and did the sword, spurs, buckles, ax, bridle, and so on.
I also did a silver dry brush to the saddle and the rider, it
made everything jump right out, especially the chaps and the
breast strap on the saddle, but to take it one step further,
I took a can of gold spray paint, and sprayed alittle into
a paper cup, dipped my #5 brush in the gold and wiped it
off really well, to get all access paint off the brush, then
with a very light touch, I highlighted both rider and saddle,
WOW, what a cool effect!
Just for fun I took the ax and carved the hand off, painted the handle with a light brown wash, and the blade silver, then touched it up with some blood red paint on the blade and handle for that gory effect. I then took a hot knife from the stove, and cut a gash in the sign post and glued the ax in the gash, letting some runny blood red paint run off the blade onto the signpost, Sleepy Hollow.
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NEXT, THE GUILLOTINE
