MamaGeek

This is a bust of Rear Admiral John Adophus Dahlgren, United States Navy officer during the Civil War who initiated major advances in gunnery, as founder of the U.S. Navy's Ordnance Department. It is a digital print of a digital scan of the bronze bust displayed at the Main Gate of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren, VA. The bust is sculpted by Theodore Augustus Mills (1839-1916). The digital print is about 2 inches tall. Dahlgren was of Swedish descent, with fair hair and blue eyes, though officers at his time used boot black to darken their hair. He had a small scar on his forehead.

Excellent! What a cool interpretation, and the painting is so smooth and even, really top notch.

Very cool!

They're perfect for a tabletop game. Good job, and good use of an hour!

I must be lazy, I never put this many layers into anything. The most time I spent on a single mini was 30 hours for my Golden Demon entry, and I was using glazing on that one. I've never had the patience to do it since, even though it looks awesome. I do lots of wet blending now, instead. I know I would get better results from a more patient technique, and sometimes I'll set out to do it, too, but then I end up giving up and going for the faster method. :). So, Andy, I applaud your patience and persistence!

I hate late-found mold lines. I feel your pain!

This is really nice. It's a good combination of differing elements. How much of it is scratch-built, and where did you get all of the premade elements?

And Andy, it's coming along very nicely. You may not have painted in a while, but you haven't lost your touch!

I worked on his face some more, and painted on the scar. I also painted his shoulder strap (though I think it needs an eagle in the middle like this). I decided on a red and white striped drape, so I painted faint red guidelines so I could judge whether they are evenly spaced and properly curving with the fabric. I think I have some work to do there, but it's a start. I'll even it out in my next post. (please click to view full size - again, the resize makes his eyes look brown for some reason)

Not necessarily. The rule applies to indoor lighting as well. And it's a rule of thumb, not absolute, but I've found it to be very effective.

Thanks for all the great information, TGP! I don't think I'll do STARS,simply because I don't trust my ability to freehand them properly. Or maybe that's my excuse to start eliminating possibilities... And a bit of historical trivia... the Navy tradition was to name their bases after the towns they were in, but those starting the Naval Research base on the Potomac wanted to name it after Dahlgren, so they finagled the post office there to change its name to Dahlgren. Then the base could be named to match the P.O. and Navy traditions would still be honored.

I was thinking of painting it either off-white or gold. Thoughts?

Thanks, that is helpful, even if the color is not reliable as a source.

Here's another example, a sculpted bust of John C. Calhoun, by the same sculptor of the Dahlgren bust. (linked because it's a large photo)

The bright green side, yes? Yes. Shadows are always a combination of LOCAL COLOR + BLUE + COMPLIMENT OF LOCAL COLOR Acrylic paints are transparent, though, so you already have the local color there (green) and only need to add the other two, very thinly glazed.

...isn't is considered disrespectful to wear the flag?

Here's my progress since yesterday. Adding the side-by-side shot of Dahlgren, I realized I need to paint the wrap around his throat black. (What is that called? Is it part of his tie?) Anyway, I think it's coming along. I still don't know what color to use for the fabric wrap. Please, if anyone knows of or can find some historical reference on how the fabric wrap on busts like this are typically painted, I would appreciate it! (Please click to view full-size, the resizing makes his eyes look brown! They are blue!)

Yes, it is a one-off, but I could see about getting the digital file...

I just found this (my participation on the boards is getting pretty spotty...). It's looking great, Andy. I recommend another shadow glaze on the green of 2:3 red:blue (thank you Jose Maria Parramon).

The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren, VA is named after Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, who served during the Civil War. There is a bronze bust of him as you enter the base. A digital scan of the bust was made, and a digital print was given to me to paint. There are no color photographs of Dahlgren, though there is one historic record that described him when he was a young man as fair-haired with blue eyes and a scar on his forehead (between his brows). All photos I have are when he was older, and his hair appears to be dark, so I'm guessing it darkened with age. I have corresponded with some historians who think that is a plausible explanation. There are plenty of records for the colors of a Union Admiral's uniform during the Civil War, so that part is no problem, but this particular bust has a stylized drape around it, and I'm at a loss as to what color it should be. Any help in that area would be appreciated! Here's what I have so far (photos taken with iPad): Relevant links: 1. Smithsonian Institute information page on the original bronze Dahlgren bust 2. Best photograph of John A. Dahlgren I could find 3. Civil War Navy officer uniform

Excellent work! Really, well done!

I'll try the sealer, thanks for the advice!

Ok, so I searched this forum for "cracked paint" and found plenty of information on what causes it, and advice on how to avoid it, but nothing on how to fix it once it happens. The paint has cracked on a very small portion of my current project. I think I know how I happened, but I'd rather not strip and start over. Is there a way to repair that one area?

That's really cool. Thanks for posting it.