COMPLETED: The B von.

[krow113]

Thanks to admins for this opportunity and a great tribute.
 I look forward to an incredible show of modelling skills.

 One of the most iconic characters from The Great War;
 The Red Baron.
 Excellent kit to start with:



 I will render him as shown on the model box with the officer cap and not the flying helmet.
 
 A more than respectable figure to reflect the admiration we all felt for Mr. Delatorre.

[krow113]

And screaming into the kit I ran into a few issues , not too bad 2 hours work took care of them.
The first is the fit of the feet into the 'pitchers mound' base , dumping the base took care of that:

 
So the opportunity to use some of the coolest , classiest , wood I have in stock . some blonde spalted , birdseye , crazy-leopard maple arose:


 Resin base only for fitting, and maple  base still in rough cut shape. I'll also be able to burn in some inscriptions into the maple  base with my laser.
 
 The last 2 issues were with the figs arms and hands. The right hand is holding gloves and a significant amount of removal was needed to get the hand up into the sleeve. No worry as there is plenty of resin to cut away.
The left hand was a little more difficult to deal with , it was really just a blob! This was a little more difficult to deal with until I realised there was more than enough resin to carve away and make the detail of the knuckles and the back of the hand. I also had to carve the main torso piece to accept the knuckle detail , so a little tough!
Arms on:

All the hand and garment detail had to be added:

 I was hoping to keep the a/m down on this but I do have some 120mm p/e medals that might be more realistic than the resin renderings . Not that they NEED  to be replaced...
  I like to get to this stage as soon as possible. I call it the milliput stage , 90 % glued and pinned  together and ready to fill . There are some tiny voids to fill and the joints will get some more work:

Head and hand not glued. I used the base to posion the legas , so next will be the cutting off of the foot flanges and getting him pinned for painting.

[krow113]

Pure class:

Head plopped on and boots deflanged.
A/M p/e is out too , no WW! medals all WW2.

[RAGIII]

Awesome start and assembly positioning of the figure on the base. I am looking forward to your further progress. I stared this one years ago and have been stalled . Perhaps yours will inspire me to finish mine 
RAGIII

[krow113]

Thanks RIII!
I bet you stalled when you saw the left hand!
Looks like the GB is heating up nicely , good luck and happy building to all who participate!
 I worked on The Baron for 3 hours last night. Mostly on what is called 'undercutting' a term I learned from actual figure modellers , not a dabbler like me!
This is the practise of using a scribing tool and knife to outline and delineate the mouldings , you cant really see the work as it is subtle but adds up when the fig is into final detailing.
I also piped in the shoulders , I like this look and deals nicely with the seams there:


 I'm looking forward to rendering the black leather coat and the greenish caste to the uniform.
Next up a little milliput...

[krow113]

 Some little patches of milliput in place, as well as wholesale replacement of the trouser buttons and the bootlace tie. This was needed , as can been seen in prior pics that the boot lace tie detail was mismatched , the buttons didn't look all the same so …:


I think I'll do the button on the jacket this way as well , then I can finish them in the silver easier.

[RAGIII]

Excellent work all around. Love the new laces and buttons.
RAGIII

[krow113]

Thank you ,RIII!!!
 And setting the bar high is gonna  be the story of a lot of my work, s'ok I'm used to it.

 The uniform buttons didn't make the cut , too many diff sizes and shapes , so off they come , I drilled some small holes to mark location but may have gotten carried away! I also accented the material folds a little more as well.
LOL! That's what modelling is sposda be : FUN!

Any way I'll have no trouble knowing where the new buttons will go.

[krow113]

[RAGIII]

excellent! You are doing a fantastic job as always. Replacing the buttons and scribing seem to be working wonders!
RAGIII

[krow113]

RIII
Thank you.
Base work today. I sanded all smooth the distressed the wood , adding some bullet holes and a lot of tiny marks , chipped edgea etc. All going to look really nice with the staining and artwork treatments to come:




 There are 2 facias on each elevation , these were kept to minmal distressing as they will be where the laser burnt inscriptions will be.

[aliluke]

Hi Steve
You are certainly a master of figurines - something I've never tried but I look on with interest. At the rate you are going you could have a squadron done by the end of six months for the Memorial Build! 

Cheers
Alistair

[krow113]

Thank you Alistair.
 I'm certainly not a master...and my style is to bomb into a kit , solve the most obvious issues and the settle into a steady pace. Figs cant be compared to other models , what with a face to deal with.
I'm waiting for info to come back on questions asked on other forums regarding  the green uniform color.

[Manni]

Very nice to see that you are doing a figure. I hope I can copy some of your work steps to my figure of the pilot.
Bye,
Manni

[krow113]

Thanks Manni!
 The kit has been scoured for imperfections and sanded , picked , scribed , massaged and scraped into shape.
Pretty decent as an older resin kit should be , some work but comes up nicely and you need to know that going in.
 Here is the state of things as they sit today , base well into being and the kit in white primer -surfacer:



I'll do both heads, as they can be swapped depending on how I feel , and practise of figure face painting is always good.