Misterfriend Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 (edited) Here's what I'll be doing. An old Historex Imperial Guard officer. He's actually from the the Fusilier Grenadiers so he's in the shako not the bearskin. In the lovely little colour guide they include he's the little chap on his own in the background. Probably be a week or two before I get much done as I have a couple of things on the bench and I need to clear one to make room but thought I'd post this as a start. I have both volumes of the Osprey books that deal with the Imperial Guard on my iPad plus I took a lot of photos of various uniforms when I was last Les Invalides last year. Will have to spend a bit of time with the instructions and reference to work out which bits are used and what goes where! Allons-y! Edited June 1, 2015 by Misterfriend 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knikki Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Will have to watch this I have a stack of these Historex soldiers from years ago I never built. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Excellent, another figure!, very welcome indeed. Why is it the first thing I think of whenever I hear or see the word Shako is Pratchett's "Mounstrous Regiment"? Welcome to the GB. Wez 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Great choice, I've always liked the Historex figure, I'll follow your build with interest. Colin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Welcome with this super interesting entry. I hope you will build this figure faster than I am doing with my Grenadier drummer!!! Could you give me the titles of these Osprey books? When last in the UK, although I looked for doc, I was stumped and left empty handed... Have fun! JR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Stuart Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Great to see another figure, indeed another Historex figure, here. I'll watch with interest 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misterfriend Posted March 22, 2015 Author Share Posted March 22, 2015 Welcome with this super interesting entry. I hope you will build this figure faster than I am doing with my Grenadier drummer!!! Could you give me the titles of these Osprey books? When last in the UK, although I looked for doc, I was stumped and left empty handed... Have fun! JR They are from Osprey's Men at Arms Series and are; Napoleon's Guard Infantry 1 & 2. The first volume deals with the Old Guard and Grenadiers and is probably all you need. The second volume deals with the Young Guard and includes the Fusilier Grenadiers like the one I'm doing. They are available as real books or Kindle format, which I went for. I'm not a massive fan of research books on Kindle but they are actually pretty good, they are a little cheaper, the images are hi-res enough that I can zoom into stuff on my iPad and have a closer look, which is nice, and I have limited room for more books at my place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misterfriend Posted March 22, 2015 Author Share Posted March 22, 2015 (edited) Excellent, another figure!, very welcome indeed. Why is it the first thing I think of whenever I hear or see the word Shako is Pratchett's "Mounstrous Regiment"? Welcome to the GB. Wez Haha yes I know what you mean! That book is excellent, pity there won't be any more. I may even go back and reread it. Edit: I just went online and put a hold on it at my local library and I'm second in the queue for the next download! Edited March 22, 2015 by Misterfriend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enzo the Magnificent Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Looking forward to watching this one progress. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misterfriend Posted April 18, 2015 Author Share Posted April 18, 2015 (edited) OK, finally I'm off! At my normal breakneck speed, hang on tight, especially round the bends! I've just cleaned up various seam lines, glued the legs and now I have to sit down with my reference and work out which of the multitude of little details I need to add and which to ignore. The shako is a little kit in it's own right. First things will be to fashion a belt add the buckle and the gorget around the neck. Edited April 18, 2015 by Misterfriend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 Hi, that will be good to watch! A silly question for you: on my own Historex figurine I have reached the stage where I am to use that small roll of material to make the various belts, etc. Once you have cut it at the right width, do you then paint it with white oil paint? Are there any traps not to fall into? Cheers JR 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 I wouldn't use it. My experience is it's a swine to work with and never hangs right. I would get some foil from the top of a wine bottle. Whether you build then paint or paint and then assemble is a bit of a value judgement. Painting all the subassemblies then putting it all together makes access much easier, but it's harder to shade and highlight. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misterfriend Posted April 18, 2015 Author Share Posted April 18, 2015 Yeah I'm a little dubious about the roll of stuff supplied. I'm going the foil or maybe very thin styrene sheet route. I tend to do most of the assembling and then paint although sometimes I leave the head off and paint it separately and pop it on at the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Hi Mitch and Misterfriend, thanks guys for your insight. Only one problem I can see Mitch: I do not drink wine (anathema!!!) and very little of anything else... As I said before, nobody's perfect! Plus most wine bottles nowadays seem to have a waxy plastic on top rather than usable foil... So I've got to start drinking! I usually assemble and paint my figurines first before adding all the potential little thingies. Historex have all the webbing to install and therefore they tend to stand in a class of their own as far as I am concerned... OK, before becoming an alcoholic I will try and see what I can do with very thin styrene... Cheers and good luck with your guard officer!!! JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 You can buy that foil off wine bottles, I think! Tap up friends who enjoy a glass for what they buy, if you don't indulge yourself. The other good source was toothpaste tubes, but they're all plastic now Tubes of ointment, if they're metal, are good. If you find yourself using something like that, grab the empty tube, open it out and wash it for this purpose. One tube goes a very long way! Hope this helps. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatthewbacon Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 No need to drink the filthy stuff (though if you want to buy a few bottles of the '84 Gevrey-Chambertin and peel off the foil, send it to me and I'll make sure it is consumed before it goes off...): http://www.scalelink.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=foil&PN=Sundries__Lead_foil__Chain__Adhesives%2ehtml#aSMLEAD_2fC bestest, M. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misterfriend Posted April 22, 2015 Author Share Posted April 22, 2015 No need to drink the filthy stuff (though if you want to buy a few bottles of the '84 Gevrey-Chambertin and peel off the foil, send it to me and I'll make sure it is consumed before it goes off...): http://www.scalelink.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?WD=foil&PN=Sundries__Lead_foil__Chain__Adhesives%2ehtml#aSMLEAD_2fC bestest, M. Thanks for that link, I drink plenty of vino for most of my foil needs but sometimes a nice flat sheet of the stuff would be handy! The other good source was toothpaste tubes, but they're all plastic now That's where I used to get my foil from when I started out many moons ago. I kind of miss those old crinkly metal tubes, much like I miss a properly wrapped KitKat. Little bit of progress. Filled some small gaps with liquid Greenstuff, that or I spilt a scale bowl of pea soup on his lap! Sanded and scraped the area where the belt goes to make it sit better. Actually used thin sheet styrene for the belt but will go the foil route for the scabbard straps I think. Also added cuffs from the same stuff. The arms seem a little stiff in posture, not sure if I want to get into altering them too much but I'll see how they sit on the figure. cheers Segan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misterfriend Posted April 24, 2015 Author Share Posted April 24, 2015 Added the tiny grenade badges to the coat tails. Fashioned a little moustache out of liquid Greenstuff. Was playing around with the arms and I really couldn't work out the weird right hand, finally worked out it is designed for carrying a musket, which as he's an officer is of no use to me! Would have thought they would have included and optional limb but no. I don't make many figures but there were a few limbs in the spares box and a little bit of surgery later he now has a hand that will do for holding the sword, don't tell him it came off a German though! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 These Historex figures can be incredibly fiddly, witness these little grenades... Thank God they put a few spare ones! Well done with the cuffs! I am surprised that one hand would not be of any use. There is usually a plethora of spare limbs... It sounds terrible. Great show JR 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misterfriend Posted April 28, 2015 Author Share Posted April 28, 2015 These Historex figures can be incredibly fiddly, witness these little grenades... Thank God they put a few spare ones! Ah yes one did ping out of my grip, and as everyone knows the carpet monster is immune to grenades. Almost finished construction, looking forward to getting a bit of paint on him now. The shako I'm going to paint separately, it has so many delicate bits it would never last, and plop it on at the end. I think his posture looks a little stilted but not too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Growing up in the 60s/70s as I did, Historex seemed to have a legendary reputation for quality. I never made one of their kits, so I am particularly enjoying seeing the builds in this GB Cheers Cliff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Stuart Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Looking good It'll be great to see some of these painted (hint to self) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misterfriend Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 Started on the painting. Base colours for the white and flesh and done the first pass at shading and highlighting the face. Will let it dry and then do round 2 of that. Initially I shaded the forehead as he'll be wearing a hat but it was just so odd looking it was putting me off so I will go back and add a little shadow once the shako is on. Started painting the hands and the remembered he's wearing white gloves! Put him on a temporary base too so I wont get my grubby mitts all over the paint, doubles as a handy palette too! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misterfriend Posted May 15, 2015 Author Share Posted May 15, 2015 Little more painting done. He's a little shiny as the paints still wet! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotorheadtx Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 Wow, that figure looks impressive. I knew the brand of Historex from modelling magazines as a kid, but never encountered them in the flesh. I always thought they were metal figures, interesting to learn they were plastic (or at least some of them?) The reputation of Historex was always one of high quality, and the magazine reviews glowing. Great stuff! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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