Old Man

Thanks, Pat. I've got to give more credit to the sculptor than me. If it does owe to me, I made a mistake, under the modeller's definition that if you do it once, its a mistake, if you do it twice it's a technique. I doubt I could pull it off twice, whatever, if anything, I did.

Great project, Sir. Bonne chance! You might want to a take a look at the nose of the Heller kit, my recollection is the exhausts and such are squashed a bit closer than they ought to be, but it has been a while.

Quite a project, Sir. Looking forward to seeing these with a lick o' paint on!

Excellent work, Sir! Glad I took a look, this a great project.

I do something similar, Pat, employing acrylics. I paint with a fairly small brush (or at least a well pointed one), and what goes off the frame can be taken off right away with a toothpick/cocktailstick. If you missed bits of the frame you can touch them up knowing any 'slop' will go away quick. If the piece has any sort of a raised frame, it can come out right. If there is no frame, I paint water-slide film and razor out thin strips.

That's a very impressive piece, Sir. And quite a saga to boot.

Thank you. I can't claim any credit for it, but I think some personality emerges from the face. My daughter was over with the baby grand-daughter, and when I showed her the figure, she said 'He's seen some things.' In the Spanish campaign he damned sure would have.

This is an Art Gerona 54mm figure I am doing in the 'French Fancy II' group build below, but I thought I would put something up here as well. Picture taken with indoor sunlight, no flash. WIP thread can be found here: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235098755-voltigeur-on-campaign-in-spain-1811/

De nouveaux progrès, messieurs... Pictures taken in indoor sunlight, without flash. As you can see, arms and musket are assembled to the figure. I like the pose, this is a tired man. That said, it's awfully tricky to assemble. The hands are molded to the musket, the arms have to be just-so, and test-fitting is not on, at least not for both arms and hands/musket all at once. Seams at the shoulders are being filled with white glue (several applications) and un-thinned tube paint. Standard fillers and any sort of sanding just are not on in something like this. I expect fellow was un vrai as at this could paint the torso front after assembling the arms and hands/musket pieces, but that is quite beyond my duffer's abilities. I still may do a smidge more with the figure's left eye. The shako needs painting, and the epaulets, too. Painting and attaching the various accoutrements, the knapsack, cartridge pouch, etc., is the next big step. I will probably mount the figure to a working base as well. That will give me something to hold that isn't painted.

Careful with the marker, Sir. It needs to be the last thing on. Tends to turn purple and bleed under a clear-coat, in my experience. Great subject and a great camouflage scheme. We're all rooting for you.

So I am, Sir. I haven't been in the section for a while, and plumb forgot. Still, I hope this one comes off. I can't think of more than a couple of kits I've got that fall outside the range.

I expect I have some items that would fit this....

What a great subject, Sir! Looking forward to this one.

Thanks, Dave. The camera is kind. But I do feel pretty good about this one so far. I am going to look into getting a couple more from the French company Patrick mentioned. they have a foot dragoons figure, and a regular infantryman posed actually using his musket....

That's a real treat for the eyes, Sir!