One of the truly inspiring blogs I go to is
Battle Game of the Month by Ross MacFarlane. Among my favorite molds are the Zinnbrigade line, which are Imperial German figures. Mr. Macfarlane converts these figures to different armies and periods. Someday I hope to be able to achieve the same results as his.
I did get some 40mm heads with an odd lot of toy soldiers at one time and made a mold of the heads. I converted some Zinnbrigade figures into British Guards, using the heads. After seeing the latest conversions at Battle Game of the Month, I decided to make a mold of the marching Guardsman I had made.
The mold was completed, however when making the mold the rifle in the master broke. I tried to position it so when the second half was poured, the rifle would be in the right place. Unfortunately, it moved and the rifle is all wrong. I decided to just remove the rifle at the shoulder and drill a hole to which I would put a piece of wire to represent the barrel. As I was casting, in between pouring I was cutting up old figures to melt down. While doing so I managed to cut a large chuck of skin out of one of my fingers; hence the blood, sweat and tears!
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| The finished figure out of the mold. The mistake with the rifle is clear in this picture. |
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| One of the figures with his new rifle at the start of the painting process. |
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| The bandage on the middle finger is for where I cut the chuck out. The bandage on the index figure is where I stabbed myself with an Xacto blade while trying to bore a starter hole for drilling out the rifle barrel. |
Such! It is said that one must suffer for one's art. He didn't turn out too badly for all that. I had pondered during the same but have been dithering for years over whether to do Crimean era guards in coatees or later ones in tunics.
ReplyDeleteWhat product are you using for your molds?
Oh, a Crimean War figure! Why didn't I think of that? I did cast a French Napoleonic figure which I was planning on trying to turn the shako into a round hat. Maybe it will turn out to be a head swap and make him a Crimean War Guardsman.
ReplyDeleteThe silicone rubber I use is Aeromarine 125 RTV. I like it because it is a 50/50 mix; no complicated math for me to figure out. The one bad part is it has a short shelf life once opened; I'm rushing to use it while it's still good.
By the way, did I spell your last name right? Once again it was a last minute post and I didn't check my facts.
Close enough, people around here often spell it that way as its a common variation whereas mine is uncommon but older:). The actual spelling of our branch of the family is Macfarlane.
DeleteSorry for the misspelling. I will correct it. I did the same to Bob Cordery.
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