Wedding figures

gsr15

gsr15

New member
Hi all, I've seen a few times around here people mentioning that they were going to be painting wedding figures as gifts for friends getting hitched and I liked the idea...now I've got some friends taking the plunge and thought I'd try to do the same thing for them but I've been having a hell of a time finding appropriate figures. I haven't looked for the groom yet since I think in this case it's a bit more flexible, but the bride is Indian (i.e. from India, not Native American.) I doubt I'll be able to find a figure wearing a sari (though if I can that would be perfect,) but does anyone have any suggestions? The best I've found so far is Hasslefree's Miranda (http://www.hasslefreeminiatures.co.uk/pack.php?pack=688) but that's only because it's one of the few human, non-weapon wielding, non-half naked, fairly static posed female figures I've come across so far.

Many thanks for any and all suggestions!
 
freakinacage

freakinacage

New member
bear in mind you can always convert a figure that is close. i had to sculpt the ones for my mates as well, so consider yourself lucky!
 
No Such Agency

No Such Agency

New member
Buy full size cake toppers and (re)paint those. The usually have pretty basic paint jobs to begin with and you can really spruce them up to look nice, since the sculpts are often surprisingly decent. Also a little more accessible to non-[whatever we are here] and potentially useful (for the cake) if you let them know ahead of time you'll be providing them.

You can also adjust ethnicity to match the actual couple, for instance buy a set like this and repaint the groom:

WS8449-2.jpg


I've done exactly this, as a "gift commission" at the bride's request. I matched the skin tones closely to hers and her fiance's, and tried to match what they'd be wearing.
 
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gsr15

gsr15

New member
@freakinacage, I've considered that, but I've never done any sculpting or conversion whatsoever...I think the most I'd be comfortable doing at this point might be removing a weapon from the hand and repositioning a limb or something like that...so I'm quite impressed that you literally did the entire project from scratch!

@NSA, I found those in my search as well (they also have a red one that's nice) but they're 5.5" tall! I'm not sure my painting skills will hold up to that scale, to be honest, though they are the closest thing to what I'm looking for. I was intending for it to be a surprise, though I was hoping to weasel some information about their attire out of them as they do the planning.

If I do go that route, since you've done this before...can they be stripped and re-primed like traditional metal figs or does the porcelain require different treatment?

Thanks!
 
Dragonsreach

Dragonsreach

Super Moderator
gsr15 said:
but the bride is Indian (i.e. from India, not Native American.) I doubt I'll be able to find a figure wearing a sari (though if I can that would be perfect,) but does anyone have any suggestions? The best I've found so far is Hasslefree's Miranda (http://www.hasslefreeminiatures.co.uk/pack.php?pack=688)
Click to expand...
OK gonna hit on a pet peeve of mine...........accuracy in depicting ethincal apperance.

Sari's aren't just a dress, they are a Traditional Clothing and have a specific way of being worn, which varies from region to region of the Indian sub continent. AS well as with Caste to Caste......so if you are going to convert Miranda (good choice by the way) do your homework! Don't forget about the Mehndi (Henna Tattooing as well).

Fran & I have a good friend who's brain we can pick on traditional Indian (Gujarati) Muslim wedding dress (*) if you want.

Of course things get a little more or less complex when it comes to the Groom. If he's a traditional Sikh then you are bang into luck.
Mutineer miniatures do this Maharajah which with some judicial pruning/tweeking could be the Bee's Knee's.


View attachment 4970

(*as opposed to Pakistani/Bangladeshi style)

gsr15 said:
If I do go that route, since you've done this before...can they be stripped and re-primed like traditional metal figs or does the porcelain require different treatment?
Click to expand...
If its porcelain I doubt you'd be abe to strip it, due to the Glaze.
However unglazed pottery/china whatever will probaly have absorbed some of the paint being porous.
Best to reprime with a smooth white primer.
 
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IdofEntity

New member
fDR has some great points, but also make sure that this is the ethnic and cultural background that she identifies with.

For instance if she is estranged from family or is non-traditional in her cultural practices it might be best NOT to accurately depict her in a Sari. She may have utter contempt for the caste system. Or she may be quite proud of her caste and would be thrilled to have it accurately depicted. If she never wears a Sari then putting her figurine in a Sari might be a bit insensitive. (Projecting an expectation) It may be best to ask her how she would best like her figure to be depicted. If she is immersed in that culture and would be happy to have it be depicted that way she can most likely direct you in how to depict it accurately.

Unless they are HUGE fans of surprises I'd suggest getting their input from the beginning. It's surprisingly easy to offend with a surprise. That and they could be very touched that you took the time to learn their preferences and wishes.

Added Note:
My friend Aaron was getting married and his mother-in-law was involved in quite a bit of the preparation for the ceremony. He's Jewish by blood, and she thought it would be cute to use a cake topper that looked like a very orthodox Jew. It's true that his mother is Jewish, but he's non-practicing and is a staunch atheist. He didn't know about the cake-topper until he saw the cake. Aaron was very gracious about it and played it off, but he admitted later that it kind of rankled.
 
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gsr15

gsr15

New member
Thanks for the additional tips guys, luckily I've already considered most of this (another reason I'm considering the larger scale ones now...mehndi would be tough enough on that scale let alone the 28mm size!) The groom is your standard American white guy and they're actually doing two ceremonies, one here and one in India, likely different garb in both but I'm positive she's doing some form of sari for the Indian one and is currently in high-level negotiations for the groom to wear a sherwani (he's not a fan atm.) I'm also lucky in that I can contact her sister and/or her mother to get secret details as the planning goes forward, so I should hopefully be able to get reasonably close...also, they're not a heavily traditional family so there's not really any risk of offense if I'm a little bit off, but it is still something I want to try and get as right as I can. I've also got a lot of time, the Indian ceremony is likely to be in December (though having only painted 3.5 figures in the last year, I figured I should start ASAP :D)

@DR thanks for the tip on the porcelain, I'd completely blanked that it was likely to be a fired glaze type finish...luckily that's probably a pretty smooth surface so it shouldn't require much prep work.

Appreciate all the advice, hopefully I can pull this off without embarrassing myself!
 
No Such Agency

No Such Agency

New member
gsr15 said:
@NSA, I found those in my search as well (they also have a red one that's nice) but they're 5.5" tall! I'm not sure my painting skills will hold up to that scale, to be honest, though they are the closest thing to what I'm looking for. I was intending for it to be a surprise, though I was hoping to weasel some information about their attire out of them as they do the planning.
Click to expand...

I polished up that red version for my friend, it looked sharp... Anyway you don't have to paint them well by "our" standards (butter smooth blends, SENMM, spectral highlights etc.)... most laypeople are amazed if they're the right colours and neatly detailed.
 
freakinacage

freakinacage

New member
No Such Agency said:
most laypeople are amazed if they're the right colours and neatly detailed.
Click to expand...

very true. most of the reason why i never posted pics up here is because they would probably go for a 4/5 on here! very basic but they were extremely happy

as for the sari, i wouldn't worry too much, i'm sure they would be forgiving of an ignorant white guy. i don't mean that as an insult, i am clueless regarding these things as well
 
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pferdeherr

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