ARAPAHO WOMAN SHAMAN

This figure was last updated in August 2014, I have collected all the photos and a summary text here.

This is an Arapaho Indian shaman figure (New Hope Design) bought, modified and painted in 1993 with 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. An interesting figure, the scale is slightly bigger than 1/32. 

I've recently rebased this figure on a new base. During the ceremony, the shaman would be blowing a whistle to summon the buffalo. On this piece, I removed the moulded whistle from around her neck and I made a new one out of thin tubing, inserted with a fine wire and attached this to her mouth which was drilled out to take the wire. 

Celtic Warrior

I last updated on this piece in 2015. Here are the collected updates with a summary text.

This figure was modified from an old Time Machine Miniature kit. The scale is slightly smaller than the usual 54mm and was sculpted by Rendall Patton. 

The pose was drastically converted as I wanted to depict a fighting mad berserker. A Pegaso head was substituted for the original head, which was too small. The body appeared to be too flat from the side and I built up the back musculature and midriff. I have also built up the hair to create a swept-back limed effect. The pants were resculpted because of the new pose. I also substituted a larger round shield for the small rectangular shield.

All the pictorial references that I have show the scabbard suspended on the right side. The mode of suspension was either the belt or a cross body leather strip from the left shoulder to the right hip. The sword, if held, is almost always in the right hand.A belt was created from a thin metal strip.

The hairstyle was re-sculpted several times to reflect a swept-back limed effect. I painted the fringe in oils, using an impasto technique to suggest hair strands. I created a tear in the trousers for interest and painted the trousers and the shield designs. 

I worked on the groundwork for this piece, adding grass, branches and brass-etch ferns. The figure was carefully mounted on the base through the long wire, which was carefully concealed by the foliage. The scene is that of a Celt leaping out to ambush his protagonist.

Article published on a Native

An article was published on the construction of a native woman of the Melpa tribe, PNG, in Military Modelling magazine 47 (3), 2017

http://www.militarymodelling.com/forums/postings.asp?th=125266

A Published Article

I have had an article published in Toy Soldier Collector Magazine Feb/March Number 74.

Entitled "Going Native", this is a holistic summary of the ethnic and tribal figures in my collection.

http://toysoldiercollector.com/

King Leopold I and Louisa Maria of Belgium

Another Cafe Storme/Mokarex pairing. These very old plastic figures give excellent representations of many minor European personalities, many of whom fall through the cracks of the main historical narratives.

The figures were painted without further modifications. Louisa Maria's dress was overpainted with iridiscent white to represent silk.

Kaluli Tribe Papua New Guinea

I saw a photo of this figure represented in an old Japanese travel publication over 30 years ago. This piece was made to represent the unusual headdress and long grass foliage added to his back. All foliage and feathers were made in plastic. Over the years, the piece has been slightly damaged and recently, I decided to refurbish this piece completely.

The drum position was shifted upwards to be held in the hand more convincingly. the dancing apron was resculpted. The pennate feathers on the headdress were made from aquarium plastic leaves. The long grass was made from aquarium plastic long leaves, tied with wire and soaked in very hot water and then cooled to retain their new shape. each strand was carefully added to the figure to represent a natural droop of these long leaves. The red feathers were made from real feathers trimmed down. The figure was transferred to a new base.

French Chasseurs Alpins WWI

Photos of WWI show a lot of ordinary French soldiers dressed in various fantassin costumes due to unplanned uniform shortages and poor distribution. The Chasseurs Alpins are particularly attractive in their dare blue tunics, greatcoats and black berets.

These troopers look generally mature (probably older soldiers with valuable mountaineering skills were retained in the army) and also shorter in stature on average. The Heller sets produced French WWII troops in 1/35 scale. I used two legs with puttees to represent one of these Blue Devils in 1/32 scale in an Alpine setting.The figure pose was finalised before the greatcoat was rolled out in putty and draped onto the figure. It is important to get the coat fronts and tails looking correct. As can be seen, these were made in stages. The imperfections can be sculpted in with putty.

The chasseur hunting horn appears to have a larger diameter and can be slipped onto the body. I decided to use a musical horn from Historex instead. A Historex trumpet was also added.

The dramatic landscape was made with part of a resin casting representing a rocky landscape and a cut down root. A hole was drilled into the root to create a hollow tree stump.