Japanese WWII cyclist (2)

I have started painting this figure and the paint was still wet when I took the picures.

The figure was sculpted from Airfix and Tamiya parts. The bicycle was from Scalelink and all equipment was Airfix. Although I work in 1/32 scale, I like to represent my figures in different heights and am happy to move away from idealised "classical" phenotypes.

PNG Cyclist 2

I made some modest progress on this figure, making numerous attempts to align the figure to the bicycle.

PNG cyclist

I saw a picture of a PNG native on a bicycle. This piece tries to capture the humorous incongruity of putting a modern contrivance in the hands of a stone-age primitive.

Japanese WWII Cyclist

I located this piece made about 5 years ago on the above subject and will attempt to finish painting it. A conversion based on Airfix parts and a Scalelink bicycle.

World War One

This being a special World War One anniversary year, I thought I would do a piece related to WW1. Here is a ScaleLink Maxim machinegun.

Paris and Helen Diorama

I had sculpted a bas-relief of the above couple many years ago. The piece is based on a neo-classical painting by JL David.

There were other elements which I had modelled, including a bed and four statues made from a master and 3 cast resin copies. I decided that I could finally place all of these into a diorama. A simple box was made to fit with an Ikea frame.

Le Sacre II

This is an ongoing ambitious project of mine. My original entry on this blog was 3 Dec 2013. Recently I dusted off the container and took some pictures of the latest figures, last made a few years back but not photographed.

I had started with the major figures initially, then moved on to the supporting figures. I found that with time, as my modelling skills improved, I kept going back to the major figures to upgrade them. So I've decided to work on the background figures first.

As many of them are partially hidden, I do not bother to finish the unseen portions. Many of the figures are conversions or half resin castings. As these figures are generally standing, I made a generic standing body wearing typical court dress. The master was embedded into plasticine and numerous resin castings were obtained. These were given some measure of solidity by adding putty to the back. With specific head changes and other details added in putty, original figures can be created quite efficiently.

These figures comprise Madam Mere and her entourage, and other figures behind the large altar - the turkish ambassador, American ambassador, Portuguese envoy. I am now working on the young boy Prince Louis.

The ambassador group is pinned together. the American ambassador is supported by this arrangement.

These two figures were made from the same resin castings and stand behind Madam Mere in the box cubicle. their lower legs are not visible.

Madam Mere seated and looking down on the Coronation scene. She was not even present, as she was upset with Napoleon over a family dispute. However, Napoleon directed the painter JL David to paint her into the scene.

English Civil War Drummer

This was a piece started several years ago. I am now working on it again and will update when more progress has been made.

I have rearranged the main body parts.

More Red Indians

These two pieces were made in 1993. Painting was done in an alkyd resin oil paint, compatible with enamels and oil paints. As can be seen, the colours dry quite matt and are still vibrant despite the years.

The first is a "Crow Indian White Woman Shaman". Metal casting was from New Hope Design. This company had an interesting concept - their figures were based on illustrations in the very popular range of MAA Osprey illustrated booklets. Various sculptors were featured, some good, some bad.

The second piece "Sioux brave and squaw" was made from resin castings from a small Canadian company.

Two Toy soldiers

These are two metal toy soldiers made from kits. The mounted 5th lancer is from Yeomanry Miniatures and the Scottish Horse Yeomanry piper is a conversion from Richard Newth-Gibbs, two small UK companies. The style hovers between that of toy soldiers and model soldiers. A simple distinction was that the former was painted with gloss finish whilst the latter was left in matt finish.

General Mark Clark entry into Rome

I dug up this abandoned piece, probably 30 years then. I made the figures for this piece based on a colour photo in a book.