Finishing Uncle John

With the parrot painted it was time to assemble the separate elements and finish off the Uncle John bust. As often seems to be the case everything came together very quickly in the end! My biggest concern was with how well the parrot would fit but, after a couple of dodgy test fittings, it slipped into place almost perfectly. There was a very slight space under the feet but a little dilute PVA flowed into the crack and filled the gap. 

I’d prepared a couple of alternative plinths for Uncle John in advance. I thought the best option would be a rectangular plinth with a tapered top but, because the parrot’s tail comes down behind Uncle John’s shoulders, the angle of the taper just didn’t suit (or fit) the bust. In the end a simple flat topped round plinth was the best option. 

In just three hours time I'll be heading off to Folkestone for Euro Millitaire and I'm as ready as I can be. Finishing off a project is often a slightly odd experience. It's usually a matter of deciding to stop rather than actually completing every possible tweak and adjustment to the peak of perfection. It's important to know when to stop and move on to the next project. 

It’s now been a year since I won the Slayer Sword and in that time I’ve completed four projects. Chee-Chee, Jason and the Golden Fleece, Squarg and Uncle John. With Chee-Chee and Jason I consolidated the developments I’d made while working on the Dark Eldar diorama. With both the Uncle John and Squarg miniatures, I’ve expanded my range of painting techniques by working with transparency over a light background and by the application of texture. 

I’m now very much looking forward to taking what I’ve learnt and developing it further. For my next project I’m going to be painting Commodore Borgossa from LeBeN Studio. He may be a pirate but I can absolutely guarantee there will be no trace of a bloody parrot anywhere near this project!