Author Topic: FINISHED: Rating, Royal Naval Division, Antwerp, 1914 --- Tommy's War 54mm (WIP)  (Read 3538 times)

Offline Old Man

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 600
 I don't do figures often, so when I do get one, it's because I really want to do one, and therefore I tend to pile straight in whatever else I may have planned or on the plate.

 

I have had some interest in the Naval Division at Antwerp since back in high school, when I came upon an article on it in an academic history magazine in the school library, and then read Mr. Churchill's history of the Great War. I was interested to discover the Tommy's War people did a figure of an enlisted man in the unit, and found I could get one from a state-side supplier.



There was a pretty significant mould mis-alignment on the lower legs....



I dealt with this as my first step, it being something I know how to do....



 After this comes the tricky bit (ie just about everything else...)....

 

I started with the eyes and face because if these aren't at least passable, nothing else is going to matter much. I am pretty much a duffer at figures. I did not try anything fancy, and will spare you the preliminaries: what is pictured here represents the result after the third complete stripping of the face down to white primer....









I'm going to put the head aside for a bit, so I can come at it with fresh eyes after a spell. I expect I will want to try and get a little more dark color at the edges of the eye-lids, and perhaps add a couple more touches of glaze/wash on the cheeks and chin. But next on the agenda is putting on the arms and beginning to paint the clothes.
« Last Edit: September 23, 2017, 06:03:56 AM by Old Man »

Offline Old Man

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 600
Assembled the figure itself (sans head and equipment), and started in on the uniform.









The trousers I am pretty well finished on, the navy blue portion shirt got a bit more paint after these were taken, and may still get a little more. Of course the tricky bits, the stripes on the neck-cloth (or whatever it is called) in particular, remain ahead....

 

I did a little more work on the eyes and face (eyes mostly), doing my best to get decent eye-lids in.








Offline Old Man

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 600
Re: Rating, Royal Naval Division, Antwerp, 1914 --- Tommy's War 54mm (WIP)
« Reply #2 on: August 01, 2017, 05:09:09 AM »
A bit more progress here.

The 'square-rig' neckcloth and undershirt are pretty much done.





After some experiment, it became quite clear I was not going to be able to paint the three narrow white stripes, so I resorted to 'special' methods, cutting strips of white decal film as skinny as I could manage. The film itself is exceedingly thin, and the strips were applied with Future, and so do not stand proud of the surface appreciably.

The box art for this figure shows the undershirt as white, but contemporary illustrations show it as dark blue, and photographs of the men at Antwerp seem to confirm this.

Offline Old Man

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 600
Re: Rating, Royal Naval Division, Antwerp, 1914 --- Tommy's War 54mm (WIP)
« Reply #3 on: August 08, 2017, 10:36:11 AM »
 More progress on this, Gentlemen.

 

I tightened things up a bit on the face, mostly around the eyes....








 After these pictures were taken, I put a tiny fleck of white color into the outer corner of the left (figure's left) eye, but otherwise I think I am to a point where I really ought to leave the head alone, at least until it is off the block and onto the figure.

 

I cleaned up in a couple of places on the white stripes, got a bit more color onto some of the kit, and some color onto the hands, and took a run at the leading seaman badge on the left arm...








This is my fourth try at the fouled anchor. I scraped the patch clean each time, down to the resin. Wound up drawing in with pencil, then painting in red, and trimming that down with blue, with a few final dabs put in with a sharpened toothpick. At this point I feel pretty good about it, though I think the left fluke of the anchor needs to be shortened a hair. If after a while I decide I don't like the thing at all, and that I can't do better, I will scrape it clean again, and de-rate the fellow to able seaman by just painting the area plain dark blue....

Offline Old Man

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 600
Painting is done, figure is up on a plain base...












Offline RLWP

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1494
  • Bodger


I couldn't help thinking of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lfIgu23kms

Reading about the early history of the RNAS in WW1, those guys fought hard

Richard
Hendon for flying - the fastest way to the ground!

Offline Old Man

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 600
That, Sir, is just stone weird....

Something to think about.

Offline coyotemagic

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7710
  • "Here's to not buggering it up." -Winston Chuchill
    • My Models
That is fantastic, OM!  I like the fact that he looks so young.  Most of those boys were.  Bravo!
Cheers,
Bud
"All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream in the dark recesses of the night awake in the day to find all was vanity. But the dreamers of day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, and make it possible." -T. E. Lawrence

Offline RLWP

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1494
  • Bodger
That, Sir, is just stone weird....

Something to think about.

They were often found at arcades at the seaside. And yes, they are weird

Richard
Hendon for flying - the fastest way to the ground!