Nocturna Models Le Petit Chaperon [Completed]

Le Petit Chaperon is definitely the toughest challenge I have faced as a miniature painter in my relatively short (soon-to-be) three year journey in this hobby. This 80-mm resin figure from Nocturna Models was not only the largest miniature I have attempted to paint, it was also the most realistically sculpted which meant the margin for error was greatly reduced. There is a finer line between what looks right and wrong because we all have our own preconceived notions on how a fair skinned girl should look like. Painting made-up fictional characters like say an Ork gives one more leeway to err.

Nocturna Models Le Petit Chaperon, a closeup view

As mentioned in a previous blog, Le Petit Chaperon was painted in the colours of the French flag as a visual tribute to the historical origins of the Red Riding Hood fairy tale. Vive La France indeed. Incidentally, Le Petit's blonde hair gave her an overall colour scheme that is found in many other national flags so she actually can be what (and all that) you want her to be ... how cool is that.

Nocturna Models Le Petit Chaperon [Completed]

Down boy ... the dog that is

More work was done on Le Petit Chaperon's skin tone, mainly the addition of some blush to her face to accentuate her cheek bones as well as increase the greens of the veins on her arms. Contrast on her skin remained low ... after all many billions of dollars are rightly or wrongly spent on makeup to look fairer so you could say she is the advertising poster girl for the cosmetics industry. 

Nocturna Models Le Petit Chaperon (Side view from the left)

A Marilyn Monroe moment

No thanks to my clumsiness, I broke the handle of the basket not once but twice in separate locations no less. It was all down to a lack of concentration as I accidentally had my hand on the basket while I was doing something else and put too much pressure thus breaking the handles. Once was bad but twice was unforgivable. Luckily I have grown adept at using the 'super glue-pure baking soda' combo to fix things back to how they were. An alternative fix would have been to sculpt 'green stuff' putty over the damaged part, which in fact is what I did to extend the length of the puppy's leash. I did this to position the leash at a slightly different angle from what was shown on the official artwork. 

Cosmetics can't hide cellulite so tough luck Le Petit

A closeup of the puppy painted as a Siberian Husky

Nocturna Models Le Petit Chaperon (Side view from the right)

My approach to miniature painting has been a fairly minimalist one so that partly explains why I didn't go ahead with two ideas on my mind for Le Petit Chaperon. One was to paint a tattoo of the Chinese character for the word wolf on her right shoulder while the other was to paint a series of freehand designs on both her white stockings. But in the end I felt she looked better with neither.

Painting sheer fabric was made doubly hard due to it being white

To slightly reposition the puppy's leash, I had to use 'green stuff'  to extend its length

360 view of Le Petit Chaperon
For a 360 degree view of the Nocturna Models Le Petit Chaperon, please check out the YouTube video below. For Le Petit, I used a lower ISO setting when taking the video to avoid a 'washed-out' look that sometimes affected miniatures that had a bright/light colour scheme. For videos of other selected miniatures I have painted, please visit my YouTube channel FourEyedMonster Miniatures. Please choose high definition (HD) for the best video viewing option.

Finishing Freya and Le Petit Chaperon has given me greater confidence to tackle other Nocturna Models stuff regardless of their size. I hope to start on the Akelarre Enchantment figure soon and maybe paint the Battle Chick too. In fact, I am so pumped up by the experience of painting Le Petit Chaperon that I am tempted to do both at the same time. Anyway, thanks for following the progress of Red Riding Hood that has taken a rather long time to complete. Hope she was worth the wait.