Just a wee post about where I've got to with these.
We'll see how we go. The enormous sycamore tree at the bottom of the garden fell down last week, so I now have rather a lot of wood splitting and stacking to do! Thank goodeness I had the good sense to produce a couple of strapping sons. I knew they'd be useful eventually.
Happy New Year!
WM
Edit: below is a recap of the test Rifleman I completed, next to an original, which gives an idea at least of the haversack/canteen area issue. I acually carved this area back and flattened it a bit for my test figures, but decided to leave as is for the rest of them in the hope that how to paint it would be resolved by experimentation. It's very hard indeed to see what Mr Gilder was intending here. The bayonet belt and scabbard amost look as if they're passing over the top of the haversack, which would look extremely awkward.
Coming along nicely I’d say - have fun with the buttons!
ReplyDeleteI reckon that there are about 18 per figure, which will make a total of around 432 when they're all done!
DeleteThese are coming on nicely, if a little slow. A picture of the haversack/canteen conundrum would've helped if you wanted suggestions on how to handle it.
ReplyDeleteI notice that you don't paint the bases until last, I do them fairly early, usually after the faces, black edging and block colour - I find it makes them start to look like finished figures and helps inspire me to onward progress, which nonetheless is still pretty slow.
I've added a shot from the previous post. What's going on in the left hip area is impossible to see, let alone photograph. It looks like there's some kind of squid or octopus crawing up his leg.
DeleteI do the bases last as I'm such a messy painter!
Looking at the raw castings (front and back) I'd be tempted to say that Mr Gilder didn't bother with a knapsack or canteen - I can't see any trace of a strap for them across the chest.
DeleteI'd blame the classic image (for me) of KGL troops which shows a 3rd Hussar lending his canteen to a soldier from a KGL Line Bn and one from the 2nd Lt Bn - perhaps Mr G inferred from this that they didn't carry them and had to cadge refreshment from their mounted brethren?
You could well right. Alberkens have a bit of form in this respect. All sorts of odd details tend to be left off. PG's Young Guard figures, for example, are all missing their flounders.
DeleteDressing them in Mirlitons would have been extremely cool. I did actually consider this at one point, but decided that an officer conversion was all that was really needed to show their Hanoverian credentials.
They will be a lovely unit when finished, may not be the sharpest of sculpts but still very nice.
ReplyDeleteCheers Donnie. This is what I'm hoping too. Despite their issues (such as having a large part of their right cheeks missing!), I really like the look of them - very 'business-like', in a slightly disconcerting way. Wouldn't want to meet one up a dark allyway.
DeleteComing along very well, I'd say!
ReplyDeleteKind Regards and Happy 2025,
Stokes
Thank you Stokes! I wasn't expecting to go into the logging business at the start of 2025, but it is what it is, so I'll just have to make the most of it.
DeleteIt’s all that crunchy peanut butter you fed them on.
ReplyDeleteWhich is now dribbling down their left legs, clearly.
DeleteIf you squint your eyes slightly it looks like the Rolls Royce bonnet lady.
ReplyDeleteHappy new Year and looks like another excellent addition to the collection.
*Laughter*. Ah yes, the Spirit of Ecstasy, but with a Baker Rifle. I shall think of these as the Rolls Royce Battalion.
DeleteIt will be hard work but they will, as always with your work, look good in the end. I had a glance at the LI in the range (advancing with musket at 45 degrees). It has the knapsack but no canteen. A suggestion is to build up the knapsack then glue (or push into the putty) a thin disc cut from the right diameter plastic rod.
ReplyDeleteThat would definitely work. It's a fine line though, isn't it. At some point they'd lose their original vintage character and become something else. Doing it 22 times would be a bit of a drag too!
Delete