I find to hard to believe but its been five years (!!) since my last liquid rtv mould of an original figure. ( see getting-mold-y)
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| First sample casting of an early War of 1812 US Infantry man. |
I was just going to paint him straight up in regulation blue faced with red but I've painted enough of that uniform in 54mm and in chunky 40mm and wanted something different. Since I like the grey or drab uniforms I went for that.
The 1813 period of the war saw some of my favourite engagements but the new tombstone shako was being introduced during 1813 and troops along the Niagara front and at Sackets Harbour seemed to have gotten it first so I'm pegging this lot as one of those who were stationed on Lake Champlain and fought at Chateauguay.
Of course, his regiment will have to fight when and where they are told regardless of their hats.
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| Mould with figure. |
Nice work Ross. Nice proportions.
ReplyDeleteThanks, one of the reasons I took up sculpting was to get what I wanted the way I wanted it. Slowly getting there.
DeleteRoss Mac,
ReplyDeleteI am very impressed by your new figure ... and I think that the choice of grey rather than the usual blue coat was a very good one.
All the best,
Bob
Thanks Bob, I like the grey/white combo.
DeleteI've still got a trial job in plaster molds to do...I did sign up for a little class in rubber scenery mold making at Gencon this year.
ReplyDeleterubber mould for scenery or a mould for rubber scenery?
DeleteNice figure and a great mold job. I never managed to make a two cavity mold work properly. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cesar, Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.
DeleteYeah, I'll echo everyone else. Great sculpting!
ReplyDeleteBest Regards,
Stokes
Thanks
DeleteI'm a converter and that's it - I've got a lot of respect for people who can sculpt figures from scratch.
ReplyDeleteMostly I had trouble finding what I wanted.
DeleteBeautiful figure, well done! How can I get one?
ReplyDeleteWhat would you do with one 40mm 1812 fellow?
DeleteAre you suggesting that I need an entire unit?
DeleteDepends on what you want 'em for.
DeleteWell done Ross. Doing sculpting, molding, casting and painting all takes time and patience- you are very good at it. Cheers. KEV.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kev, I am getting better anyway.
DeleteLovely figure Ross, and all your own work too.
ReplyDeleteYes though this one is actually a modification of an older original figure, not sure if that was laziness or fear of failure.
DeleteHe looks really smart in his uniform and is a great casting. I look forward to seeing him in action soon.
ReplyDeleteSoon is a relative word!
DeleteRoss
ReplyDeleteThe only mould I ever successfully made was for a conversion for a French SYW grenadier - a Bavarian version of which is on the header to my PA blog.
My conversion attempts pretty much stopped when PA started their SYW project.
Keep up the good work.
Steve
A great figure from one of my favorite historical periods. Besides some primitive figures 20+ years ago, seeing this figure makes me want to try to make an original figure.
ReplyDeleteLittle lost by trying.
DeleteLots of goodness to comment upon. The figures will look very nice when out of the mold and painted. May I offer a suggestion? You spoke about 20 figure units. Why not base the last four figures of each unit as singles that would serve as quite visible skirmishers? When not use in that way they could be then used as a four figure company giving each unit twenty figures: 2X 8, 1X4.
ReplyDeletebest regards for a pleasant summer!
Jerry
Thanks for the suggestion Jerry, always appreciated. That's how I would have done it 10 years ago. I can offer two very different reasons for not do so now.
DeleteFrom an historical perspective that matches my understanding of how things ought to have worked but from my reading of both historian's works and memoirs, I have yet to come across an example of a light company being dispatched as skirmishers mid-battle or reforming during one. They seem to have often been dispatched for special duties and outlying detachments and occasionally skirmish and picquet lines are mentioned at the beginning of an action but they don't seem to have played a significant role during any of the battles and so their presence can be represented by fielding light units for those areas where a large number of light troops were used, especially in woods etc or by 'factoring in' the presence of a small number of sentries and picquets.
On a purely practical level, I am expecting to use my grid for these games and 20 figure units won't fit in a grid area while the detailed function of small numbers of opposing skirmishers in the space between the battle lines would be considered "below the grain", in other words they would be the battalion commanders' concern not the general's.
Its a switch from how I began but it works.