The Love Boat(s)

Greetings everyone!

Next week I’m getting married aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California! For those who may not be familiar, she’s a British ocean liner that saw service from 1936 to 1967 with the Cunard Line. The ship was also a troop transport during World War II and transported thousands of soldiers to Europe (my Great Uncle Howard among them). Upon her retirement, the City of Long Beach bought the Queen Mary and turned her into a hotel and tourist attraction. I myself served as a tour guide aboard her from August 2009 to December 2012.

The day after the wedding, we’re embarking on a 7 day cruise to the Mexican Riviera aboard the Norwegian Gem. We'll have three full days at sea and three stops. It should be a blast!

But what does this have to do with miniatures, you may ask?

I finished a ship’s captain figure specifically for the ship-theme we have going on for our wedding and honeymoon! We’ll be taking photos of him around the Queen Mary, the Norwegian Gem, and our ports of call. Because why not? 

Initially a Darkest Africa Belgian command figure from Foundry, I painted him up as a ship’s captain instead. I've had the figure for probably 15 years or so and was happy to finally do something with him. The base was made about 10 years ago from coffee stirrers to simulate decking. As happy as I am with how he turned out, it only confirmed to me that painting white is not fun. 

I used white Vallejo surface primer instead of my usual black gesso and was happy with the result. This was also the first time that I've ever pinned a figure, which was considerably easier than I thought it'd be. I also used some Vallejo gloss varnish on the shoes to give them that "spit and polish" look. The recess lining is something else I don't usually do, but in this case I think it really makes the figure pop. I probably should have used a lighter grey, but I do tend to like vivid contrast in my figures (for the most part). 

Stay tuned and see how and where the Captain shows up!