From the painting desk #58 – Long John Silver
March 31, 2018I’m not much for the whole yarrrrrrrrrrr thing, but I’ll make an exception here. A while back I previewed a lovely pirate from Slug Industries – Long John Silver as portrayed by Robert Newton. Phil who runs Slug Industries was kind enough to send me one of the resin masters for painting. It’s a great mini and painted up wonderfully. I had a wonderful time with the parrot and everything. I did my best to recreate the five o’clock shadow and the ruddiness of his cheeks, and I’m quite happy with how they turned out.
Click for a larger version
I should note that the eyes weren’t botched, I was going for this look that is outrageously cartoony for an actual human being:
The miniature in question is currently available through Slug Industries’ The Sailboat Malarkey Kickstarter! I should mention that there is no commercial transaction involved here, Phil who is running the KS is a personal friend that I’ve gotten to know through internet forums and Salute visits, so I’m quite happy to advertise it without any special incentive. I helped Phil out on the KS by taking the comparison photo of various manufacturers’ pirate minis alongside Long John that you can see on the Kickstarter site.
As it happens, I’ve been promised an extra, unpainted Long John Silver model by Phil to give out to a lucky reader of this humble blog. Let me know in the comments if you want to take part in the raffle – I’ll pick a winner at random next Sunday (April 8) and we can sort out delivery after that. Even if you don’t luck out on that, there’s always the Kickstarter.
Dawn of the Lead 
Looks nice, a really characterful model.
Also taking part of the lottery to get one for me 😎
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Really effective job on the pirate. Truly pro painted Mikko. Kudos!
Btw, and I ask this as a diluted Finnish descendent, given that The Finnish language seems to love vowels over consonants (ie arrrrr), what does a Finnish pirate sound like? 😁
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Thanks Mark! I think because Finnish has such an abundance of vowels, we rrrreally like to rrrroll to rrrrrrs when yarrrrrring like pirrrrates 😀 We do enjoy harsh r’s etc especially when swearing!
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Those are the few words I do know!
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Robert Newton was my Dad’s Long john Silver, I have many memories of his pirate impersonations.
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Newton really defined the pop culture pirate, his style of speaking is pretty much what people think when they hear the word pirate. Thanks for the comment!
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Nice figure and your paint job really lends it character – great work especially on the face! And well, of course I can’t resist participating in the raffle – it would be a great addition to my pirate collection…
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Thanks! Spent a good lot of time on that face, happy I’m not the only one who likes it.
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Nicely captured that Newton scowl. Yes please for the raffle.
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Thanks for the comment! The model is a great likeness 🙂
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A good pirate should always have his “arrrrs” to fall back on! I really liked the detail on his face. Good work.
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Thanks for the kind words and nice to have you here, big fan of your blog 🙂
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Fantastic work man. He’s very characterful. Love the eyes.
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Thanks ork! Paul Hicks is a great sculptor, love his minis.
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Great paint job on a great figure.
Hoping for a lottery win so I can add one to my pirate crew
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Robert Newton is the best Long John Silver, when you read the book you just think of him! I am a massive pirate fan and deffentily going for this KS! Would love if you could enter me in the raffle! Thanks.
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Thanks for the comment Alex! Newton’s performance really is iconic!
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Congratulations Alex Robinson! You were picked as a winner in the Long John Silver raffle. I’ll contact you for details.
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Wow, he’s great and you’ve really done an amazing job on him here. A really good job across the board, but you’ve excelled with the face and all of the sculpted character that you’ve highlighted and enhanced with your paint!
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Thank you very much Azazel! I love it when a mini gives you a great canvas to work with, makes the job a lot easier 🙂
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That’s true, and you’ve certainly done justice to the sculpt.
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I’m not crazy about the whole “YARRRR!” thing (especially Talk like a Pirate Day), but I’m always a sucker for a mini full of character! Can you sign me up for the lottery please?
I love the paint on him. Nice colors on the coat and clothing. Excellent face and I keep wanting to see more of the parrot!
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The whole yarrr thing has been done to death, true. Then again, this is Mr. Yarr himself, so if ever there was a time and a place…
Thanks for the kind words and good luck with the raffle!
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Great mini mate, you’ve nailed the character perfectly! And yeah, please do put me in yer raffle 😉
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Thanks Alex, will do!
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I saw the 1950 Treasure Island for the first time only a couple of months ago. I have a new appreciation for that miniature now, its fantastic.
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It really is a great rendition!
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