Saturday 19 April 2014

Crazy Ivan by Forged Monkey

Forged Monkey is a small mini company by German Miniature Maestro Raffaele Picca (of Massive Voodoo fame), and they produce an eclectic mix of miniatures and busts designed with the painter in mind. I have a number of their busts, and being a big fan of painting flesh tones, this Knucklehead bust really screamed out to me to get painted.

On the suggestion of my mate MrDee I went for a Russian gangster theme... unwittingly following a similar path to Raffa himself... bit of a scary prospect that! Fortunately I didn't realise until I was finished and wanted to see if anyone else had painted him... (Raffa's paint job >>here<<). Actually, before you see the master's work, here's my interpretation:


Each of the tattoos has a specific meaning, some less savoury than others. For example the tattoo on his chest shows a Russian cathedral, where the number of domes shows the number of convictions. The bulls on his back signifies a fight for leadership in the criminal environment.



Better pictures (and an opportunity for members to vote) can be found on Putty & Paint here: http://www.puttyandpaint.com/projects/4529

Just added this guy to Cool Mini or Not too: http://www.coolminiornot.com/356205

Votey-vote vote-vote :)

4 comments:

  1. Very nice and well done with the tats, very hard to make them not look painted on!!!

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    1. It’s all about the colour - I picked a grey which was quite neutral, and I also glazed over the top of all the flesh once the painting was done with various different colours to create nuance in the skin tones. I think that really helped pull it together.

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  2. Great piece mate.. was great to be able to see it in person at Salute! Nice work!

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