This was a small diversion from my next job, repairing, magnetic basing and tidying up some figures I had painted professionally (probably a future post). So, before diving into what is a less than satisfying task, I indulged my nostalgia demon and tried to reproduce the painting style of Gilder et al on some figures from the Hinchliffe / Calder Craft Robin Hood range.
As this was a painting trial, I just did three personality figures, namely Robin, Little John and Marian. These were cleaned up and Little John had his quarterstaff shortened to a more reasonable length; other than this the figures were not messed about with.
Marion is the weakest figure, suffering from overly short legs and overlong arms, the latter a classic Hinchliffe failing, that make her anatomy a look off.
However, I think her face is well sculpted managing to look more feminine than many female castings.
Robin is one of three figures in the range, this one obviously intended for the river crossing contest with Little John.
The other Robin figures have him either blowing his own trumpet or 'disguised' as a 'hooded man', presumably to compete for the silver arrow.
Little John also looks like he's intended to scrap with Robin, the other John in the range is simply standing with quarterstaff and pointing. This figure has an overly long quarterstaff; so long it would be both hard to wield and give him an unfair advantage over Robin so I trimmed it back.
Painting these figures was fun, but I was constantly surprised how big a contrast was needed for the 'Gilderesque' style shading. Several times I toned down the contrast only to find that once the enamel paint dried the contrast was not strong enough.
Very nice work. Marion may have become a bit deformed by all that side-saddle riding?
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