Thursday, March 13, 2014

From AnneO'L: 30mm 'Women in Uniform' (28 points)

From Anne:
Four weeks ago I challenged myself to make a radical change in my palette, avoiding my usual bright colours in favour of blacks, greys and shades of brown. Further, I have chosen to use minimal basing that does not detract from the figure itself.
For my admission fee piece I chose to paint a figure from Peckinpah's classic film "Cross of Iron". My figure represents the female Russian soldiers in the film. Peckinpah was criticized for including a rape scene in the film and the scene was used by feminists to condemn him as a misogynist. I strongly disagree. What was portrayed was a fact of war and should not be shied away from. In my eyes these were brave women, willing to take up arms to defend their country and able to fight back when set upon by brutal, savage men.


This is a 28mm figure from Reaper Miniatures and was sculpted by Werner Klocke.
Meet Moira, the Irish fighter pilot. As a child Moira was a bit of a tomboy preferring to play rugby with the boys over playing dollies with the girls.  The thought of growing up and having loads of babies and taking care of house filled Moira with a savage anger. She longed to fight and she longed for freedom.
That freedom came when the yanks joined the fighting in WWII.  Hearing that America had equal opportunities for women, Moira boarded a steamer bound for New York.
Upon passing her physical, Moira was told she could serve, but it would be behind a desk, not behind enemy lines. Well let me tell you, Moira flew into a rage so great it scared General Patton near to death.  "Anger like this could win us the war" Patton was heard to say.  
So they did the only thing they could do. They renamed her "Bob" , gave her a plane and she spent the rest of the war as a fighter pilot, happily bombing away her anger at being born a woman. 
This is a 32mm figure from Bombshell Babes and was sculpted by Patrick Keith.

First off, thank you very much Anne for this wonderful Soviet sniper. Both of these are such fabulous miniatures. 

I've really quite enjoyed this recent series where you've been using variations of this wonderful orange-russet-brown colour, punctuated with that vibrant emerald green. Subdued yet still very punchy. Great stuff.

These two women in uniform will give Anne 28 points. Super work Anne and thanks again!

23 comments:

  1. Very nice Anne. I prefer this more subdued style. It is clear that you are a figure painter as opposed to a wargamer. Your brushwork is always top notch.

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  2. Very nice work on both of these Anne. Maybe Moira should have been "Kate" rather than "Moira" if they renamed her "Bob".

    I agree with you about the rape scene in Cross of Iron - it was definitely right to leave it in. The rapist was the only Nazi in Steiner's platoon and the victim did get her own back by biting his junk off. When Steiner finds out, he is disgusted and leaves the Nazi to the tender justice of the Russian women.

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    1. I liked how Steiner dealt with it because he stayed true to character at that moment.

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  3. Really very nice work Anne, very impressive. With very few colours you have really leap off the screen.

    John

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  4. Nice work Anne, all your work has a nice touch to it.

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  5. That's some absolutely cracking stuff!

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  6. Nicely done Anne, i think you have captured the Slavic look of the sniper rather well.

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  7. Wonderful painting work!!! Really nice.

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  8. Beautifully rendered figures. Congratulations on these.

    Pip pip

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  9. Thank you for your kind comments. They are greatly appreciated!

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  10. I love your normal style but you know I think this one is even better for some work and shows your talent is no one trick pony ;-)

    Ian

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  11. Fantastic brushwork Anne, its like you've been painting for years!

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  12. I love your submissions Anne. They're always top quality but also well outside what the rest of us do for the most part. It makes them captivating every single time.

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  13. Anne, you've done some top-notch work. Both in the painting and the photography of same, which is often just as difficult.

    I firmly agree with Curt - the leather/khaki tone you've been using here and for Don Quixote is perfect. Any chance of spilling the beans on what paints you used for it?

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    1. I only used four paints for these and the Quixote figures. All are from Reaper. I used Chestnut Gold, Palomino Gold, Buckskin Pale and Dessert Tan.

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    2. Wow, where do you work the Desert Tan in?

      I have the other three, and I agree it's a solid triad, but I don't seem to get the same slightly orangy color out of them that you do.

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  14. Stunning work Anne. Really good.
    I look forward to every miniature you post.
    Cheers

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  15. Really stunning work. I am very, very impressed. I liked the back story on the pilot fig also!

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  16. Fantastic stuff Anne. That scene from Cross of Iron left a lasting impression on me. I definitely came away from it thinking that Russian women were not to be messed with.

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  17. Ooh, I missed this post earlier; Lovely, lovely brushwork by Anne!

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Thanks for your comment! As long as you're not a spam droid I'll have it up on the blog soon. :)