From a homemade dolly, a Turk emerges.
and is 1/2 submerged in plasticine and then buried in RTV latex.
Once both 1/2s of the mold harden, a white metal mixture is poured in, and with a lick off paint become:.
A Ral Partha 19thC Egyptian gunner (who is about to time travel backward) for comparison . Wish I had had a mini-fig handy since that was what these lads were designed to look natural beside.
A nice glossy toy style seems appropriate for these. The last time I did Turks, in 15mm, I mixed in poses and variations and painted them in various colours but this time, I think I shall do the OSW thing with 1 pose and uniforms. Each unit different though.
A credit to the Sublime Porte.
ReplyDeleteI wish that I had your talent, Ross. Those figures will certainly do.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, did I ever email you that I found those copies of MacDuff that I wanted you to autograph for me within an hour of your leaving?
-- Jeff
Not 40mm?
ReplyDeleteRoss
ReplyDeleteI am, as ever, very envious of your talent (and time)! Is mass production about to commence?
Excellent, and many happy memories trying to do the same after pouring (ouch) over the relevant section of Featherstone's "Military Modelling" as a much younger Steve the Wargamer..
ReplyDeleteRoss Mac,
ReplyDeleteIs there no end to your talents?
I wish I had your ability to make your own model soldiers.
All the best,
Bob
Thank you all gentlemen, gloss varnish covers a multitude of anatomical sins.
ReplyDeleteConrad, we'll see tomorrow if they do the Pasha credit or not.
Tim, Mass productionwill follow when2 things happen, I teach myself to use the rusty spin caster in the basement and I learn how to sculpt faces and hands.
(the rest I'm willing to fudge)
Bob after seeing some of your scratch building, I'm sure all you would need to do is study the techniques and give it a try.
Rob, yes 18th C and 25mm vs 16thC and 40mm. More practice.
Steve, ah yes, I was fond of that book.
Jeff, Hopefully you'll find them again before I make my back to that coast in a year or 2.
Got a good chuckle out of the post title.
ReplyDeleteNice work! And I agree, more people could make their own figures if they would only give it a try. I find it fun and satisfying, as imperfect as my own efforts are.
lovely post. Two things that may help from my experience with drop moulds.
ReplyDeletePlace the figure upside down in the mould so the metal flows with gravity into the rifle and bayonet.
Have a long ingate that's relatively wide (you can do this if it's going into the base). The extra weight will help push the metal down and into the detail of the mould. If you leave it for 10 or so seconds at which point the surface of the ingate starts to harden, you can generally tip the ingate back into the pot to remelt and pour into another mould.
Cheers
Mark