Emperor Palpatine bust paintup/finishing

[Howlrunner]

I recently got the fantastic Cyberman/Gino bust of Palpatine and have been working on cleaning him up (VERY little work to do) and getting him painted.

What may at first look like a very simple white paintjob was actually a real multi-toned pain!

Here's the basic run down of all the colours that I ended up using:

Citadel Elf Flesh base
Citadel Dwarf Flesh wash
Elf Flesh stippled on top, followed by an Elf Flesh wash
Humbrol 34 White wash(es)
White drybrush
Humbrol 121 Pale Stone wash
Humbrol 28 Camouflage Grey drydrush
Humbrol 87 Steel Grey wash in creases
Dwarf Flesh wash on eyelids
Acrylic Dusty Rose wash on eyelids and lips
Acrylic Lilac wash in some creases
Citadel Daemonette Hide wash on eyelids
Humbrol 33 Black wash in nostrils and where lips meet

He's also a real pain to photograph - sometimes he looks white, other times he looks more fleshtone:

The picture on the left was taken with my iPhone, the picture on the right was taken with my Fujifilm digital camera. The iPhone picture was taken about 1.5 metres closer than the other photo, hence the difference in face shape as well (which I find pretty interesting).

Obviously he needs proper eyes - both the correct colour, and with smaller irises. I just used these ones I had spare to help with visualisation. New ones are being custom made by Tech Optics.

And to see what he will (sort of) look like with his hood (I just threw a black sweatshirt over his head for this shot):

And with a little (not very good) Photoshop to change the eye colour:

So, anyone know of a source for the accurate waffle weave fabric for the hood, or of a source for accurate hoods for this bust?

 

[mugatu]

Fantastic paint job! He looks alive!

 

[Sym-Cha]

For Emperor robe you could try : http://www.clothearscostumes.com/ or http://www.elm-studios.com/ or just the fabric : http://jabbadashery.com/?wpsc-product=emperor-palpatine-robe-fabric just ask if they'll get new waffle fabric stock any time soon

Chaim

 

[jkno]

Very cool. And I think you also need to photograph it under special lighting, in partial shadow, like it was seen on screen.

 

[Trilogy]

A very well executed paint application. :thumbsup

Can Phil not help you out with regards obtaining accurate fabric?

 

[Sam Browne]

So, anyone know of a source for the accurate waffle weave fabric for the hood, or of a source for accurate hoods for this bust?

As Sym-Cha said above, www.clothearscostumes.com managed to find the full monty waffle material for my robes, If you haven't sourced it elsewhere yet, I'd give them a go 1st shout.

Sam

 

[Howlrunner]

Thanks guys. The custom eyes from Tech Optics finally arrived yesterday, so Palpatine is now finished and looking great.

(Sorry, it's not the best photo as I was determined to take a pic even though it was night-time so not the best lighting)

On the hunt for a hood next....

 

[Howlrunner]

Found a decent (not 100% accurate, but I can live with it) black waffle weave throw online which I've used for the hood. It's not cut up or stitched or anything. So for now, I'm finally calling this guy done.