The Saturday after Thanksgiving was glorious, with above average temperatures. It was one of those days where you feel guilty staying inside; doubly so if you own a dog. While sitting outside, my mind started to wander to Backyard Wars, and why I never did much with it. I started thinking of my British Heralds troops and how to use them. In one of my earlier posting, several writers responded about using Little Wars or Funny Little Wars rules. At first I shot down these ideas, leaning towards using dice. However, I realized that this is just bringing an indoor game outside. However, I started to rethink my objection. Perhaps I lost interest in the game because of using dice instead of toy guns.
I also started thinking of the figures I was using. While I like the Herald figures, I was also thinking of using Britain's hollow cast. Among the few Britain's I have are some ACW figures. While I have tried to use standing figures outside, but because the rough terrain, they won't stand well. However, I brought the kneeling firing outside and found that this figure works quite well in the grass.
I decided to thy a mold of this figure. I must admit that I rushed this mold, and had my doubt about the mold working. I was pleasantly surprised that the figures turned out the way they did.
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| Painting my new casting. |
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| Out in the field. |
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| With these figures, I am thinking of painting them with different uniforms used in the Civil War. I've also started working on some simple rules to use with these figures. |
Looking forward to seeing more,figure looks great.
ReplyDeleteI have been having problems with the metal. It has been crystalizing after a few casting. I'm thinking the metal is getting too hot; just a guess. I do have another melting pot that I hope will take care of the problem.
DeleteI'm not sure exactly what you mean but are you getting rid of the 'scum' in the melting metal. You can scoop it off with a ladle or pour the liquid metal into a different container (I use old saucepans)and be careful to leave the crumbly stuff in the old saucepan or other container to dispose of .
DeleteAlso, some sources of metal are better than others. personally I like to melt down old pewter cups that i pick up at garage sales (yard sales). Pewter is better than lead for fine definition.
Nice mold making!
ReplyDeleteOddly enough converting Britain's guardsmen to ACW is on my list.
I am still on the fence as to whether I will need enough of any one pose to do a conversion then a mold or if I should just do a heads mold and convert a dozen in several poses.
I am hoping to make another mold shortly to go along with this project. I have started thinking of making a head mold to use with these figures.
DeleteDo it but keep your base figure with its head rather than a headless figure. Then you can keep some of the castings as is and the others just saw off the heads and drill out the bodies for the new head.
DeleteSplendid figure!
ReplyDeleteThank you; I wish I could take credit for it.
DeleteThey look splendid - proper old fashioned Toy Soldiers
ReplyDeleteThat's the look I'm going for. I am using thick enamel paints and putting it on heavy. I noticed that old Britain's painted figures have such heavy coats, that it actually covers some of the detailing; and on some figures, you can hardly make out the "England" on the pieces.
ReplyDelete