Drummer, 7th Fusiliers, 1781 - Part Three - Sculpting the legs

The sculpting continues on the drummer of the 7th Foot! I got inspired by Mr. David Zabrocki, an excellent sculptor,  to once more try Duro as a sculpting medium. This time it is mixed with Magic Sculpt rather then just plain Duro, and I have to admit it's pretty nice to work with, though a bit of a pain to mix all the putties together, but well worth it. I have had a bit of a love/hate relationship with Duro the past  years, I love to work the stuff when it is freshly mixed as it is great for pushing around creating folds, but have always been frustrated when there was a part that needed sanding or some carving, and was unable to do so due to the sculpting medium. Adding Magic Sculpt to the mix seems to have 'cured' (ha!) this problem though.

Anyway, here are some shots of the legs both in progress and somewhat finished legs. The pictures were taken when the putty was still wet, so might need to go back and sand/carve some areas.

Porter!

Just found these pictures of one of our dogs. This is Porter, a 2 year old Akita.  Just something different from the normal figure posts!

Hard day at the Ranch

Drummer, 7th Fusiliers, 1781 - Part Two - Fleshing out the Mannequin

Once the pose was finalized it's 'fleshed out' with Aves Apoxie Sculpt. I like to use Aves for the fleshing out part for a couple of reasons. The first being that it is very sticky and soft when freshly mixed, allowing for good grip on the copper wire armature. The second reason is that it is white, a different color then what the rest of the figure will be sculpted in. This allows me to see exactly where the mannequin is, and aids in making the clothing appear in scale and not too bulky.

I like to keep the mannequin fairly skinny at this point, it will be built up in later stages creating the desired bulk. Another thing I like to do is to add as many curves to the body as the pose will allow for. The human body have a  lot of curvature to it, and when adding it to the miniature it adds a little extra to the piece. Raul Latorre is a master at this, and his work is something I study every chance I get. As you can see, the curves are somewhat exagerated, but again, this will be toned down a bit when the final layers of clothing is added, but should still be visible in the final sculpt.

I always pay extra attention to the anatomy at this stage, making sure the proportions are correct, that the knees and elbows are in the correct place on the body etc. It is not a study of human anatomy by any stretch, but rather just a crude body without any real detail. This is fine as long as you have the main proportions in the right places.

Click on images for larger version

And the drum added to the base to check the over all appearance once more

Drummer, 7th Fusiliers, 1781 - Part One - Posing the Mannequin

After completing several commercial projects in the past few weeks it's time to do another one off. This time it is a drummer of the 7th fusiliers at the battle of Cowpens 1781. The regiment got over run after advancing into what they thought was a defeated army. The drummer depicted here is running for his life trying to avoid capture or death from the bayonet charging Continentals.

Posing the mannequin is one of the most important steps when sculpting a figure, it lays the foundation and sets the tone for the rest of the sculpt. A lot of time is spent bending the copper wire into the desired pose. The figure starts out with pre cast resin torso, pelvis and shoes as well as a head from the Hornet range. The drum is also in place for this stage to see the over all composition of the piece.

Click on images for larger version

Horan Figure of the Week - Corporal, 79th Highlanders, Indian Mutiny 1858

I thought it boring for you blog visitors to only see my work on this blog. As a result I'd like to start doing "The Bill Horan Figure of the Week". Which means I will post pictures of a selected Horan figure each week until I run out of pictures to show. It might not be posted the same day each week but I will try to be as consistant as possible.

Bill has inspired us all through out the years with his magnificant creations, giving us all something to strive for, and showing us what can be acheived in miniature. So what better way to get excited about doing figures then looking at pictures of the masters work!

Corporal, 79th Highlanders, Indian Mutiny 1858

Tragic News

turday, January 23rd at around 12:30 pm a Light Sport Aircraft went down in northern Ellis County, Tx. The reason for the accident is still under investigation and it will likely be several months before any real conclusions are drawn. The crash left two people dead, an instructor and a high school flight student.

May they rest in peace and fly in smoother skies.

http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=71862
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/012310dnmetplanecrash.a7e9e0fb.html

This really hit a bit too close to home. The day before the accident my instructor and I flew that very same plane.

Private, 28th Mass. Infantry Regiment, 1862. 54mm

This was the second Fredericksburg figure I sculpted last year. I wasn't very pleased with the first effort but my good friend and awesome figure painter Doug Cohen really liked it, as such he ended up painting the first version. Still wanting to paint one my self, I sculpted this figure. Im still trying to figure out how to sculpt an ACW greatcoat in a manner that I am pleased with, but feel this sculpt turned out a bit better then the first one, but still not quite there yet. One of these days! I love great coats so I'm sure it is a subject I will revisit sometime soon. Sculpted with Magic Sculpt and Duro. Shennandoah rifle, canteen and cartridge pouch. The head is an excellent 1/32nd scale Hornet head.




For larger high resolution pictures go Here

All back to normal...I think!

Ok, got the links back in order. If you see a link I missed, please let me know and I will get it fixed.

Now onto more figure stuff!

Hm... Minor Issue!

Well, it looks like all the adjustments and links to other blogs that was on here have disapeared. Must have screwed it up somehow. I hope to have all back to normal tomorrow.

Edit: Getting closer to normal! Will add all the great blogs to the link section tomorrow.

54mm, Pioneer 77th Foot, 1758

Here is an almost finished figure of a Pioneer of the 77th regt of Foot from the French and Indian War. Still some clean up to do as well as a few more tweaks here and there including all the buttons. This is another figure that was sculpted in late 2009, as matter of fact it was at this stage before starting the 75mm 78th Grenadier figure. I hope to start painting it here in the next week or so. It should be part of my display at the upcoming Atlanta show, pending unforeseen disasters! As always, sculpted with Magic Sculpt with a Hornet head.

For larger pictures click here

78th Foot Grenadiers, Battle of Sillery, Quebec 1760. 75mm Sculpt

Here is a figure that was completed in late 2009. The material used for this sculpt was Magic Sculpt. The pink parts are also Magic Sculpt with some red Vallejo acrylic paint added when mixing the putty. I find when doing details such as lace etc. it is helpful to use a different color of putty to see whats going on a bit easier. This will be an upcoming release by Thunderbird Miniatures,a US based resin historical miniature company. Check out their website: Thunderbird Miniatures
For more pictures click Here

Some of the figures completed in 2009

Here are a couple of collages of some of the pieces that was completed during 2009. All of them are original scratch built figures with the exception of the large scale Colonial Ranger bust, which was a boxart paintjob for Thunderbird Minaitures. Click the images for larger view.

Oh, Blog, why oh why are you calling my name? Don't you know I have other stuff to do?

Sooooo, here we go! Joining the millions before me who have taken the leap to start blogging. I guess the main reason for starting this blog is that I really enjoy reading other peoples blogs, and as such would like to provide the same enjoyment for other people. I mean, c'mon, let's face it, how much fun is it to read your own blog!

So, hopefully this will become something of an online workbench, where new projects will be posted from time to time, in various stages of completion. Some pieces will be sculpted for production, while others will be just for fun.  But enough for now, I'm just getting the feet wet, don't want to jump all the way in at one time!