72nd Regt of Foot, South Africa 1835

At this years SCAHMS show I had the very exciting opportunity to spend a couple of days at Bill Horans house, where we sat down and sculpted a bit. This was a dream come true, as who is better at posing miniatures then Bill Horan, and I learned quite a bit from him during this time. Not only did I get to pick his brain a bit, but left there extremely motivated to continue to push forward with my figures. 

The figure we worked on was this piece, a private from the 72nd highlanders, 1835 placed in South Africa. Bill posed the figure and it was very interesting to watch how he works the mannequin. The years of experience was very evident and I learned a lot just by watching.  The first shot if of the figure on Bills workbench. The rest of the pictures are a series of shots from various angles of the figure at each key stage.

This was the first figure I used the Duro/Magic Sculpt mix (though started out with A&B as Bill doesnt use Magic Sculpt). I decided to finish the figure out with the same materials when I returned home and started liking the mix more and more as a result.

The figure was painted with Reaper Master Series Paints as well as Vallejos. If you haven't tried the Reaper paints, you really should, they are truly excellent to work with!

A big thanks goes out to Bill, for the hospitality and the willingness to sit down and sculpt with me.

As always, click images for larger versions

"Steady Lads, Here They Come Again!" - 42nd Highlanders, Quatre Bras, 1815

Here is a little 54mm vignette I've started working on. The picture showing the three figures is a bit dated, as the groundwork was not done, but more over the figures are not the same and the composition is not necessarily the same, it is similar but not the same. It's just included to give an idea as to where the project is headed.


The figure depicts an officer of the 42nd Highlanders (Regt. of Foot) at Quatre Bras. I've been wanting to experiment with more dynamic poses and this was the result of such an experiement. Small vignettes is also an area which I'd like to explore more, so it is a good project which covering many of my interests in one go.


Of note is the use of new materials since the last postings here, I've switched to a Duro/Magic Sculpt mix, but more on that at a later date.


The figure itself is sculpted with the new mix, the head is a Historex part and the scabbard is made out of a tooth pick, my favorite scabbard making material!

The painted figure is also a part of the vignette. I'll make a seperate post on that piece later on.

As always, click images for larger versions!

Horan Figure of the Week is back! "Stand Fast You Boys From Maine!"

This is without a doubt a way over due update and hopefully a "re-launch" of "The Bench" blog. A lot has happened since the last postings but more on that later. To kick things off I thought a good dose of Bill Horan's work would do us all some good, and what better then a spectacular diorama called "Stand Fast You Boys From Maine!, 1863". The diorama that was finished in 1993 based on the date on the base,but 1994 according to "The Complete Bill Horan". Either way it is a timeless classic from Horans first book, the Military Modeling Masterclass. I had the opportunity to shoot the piece at the MFCA show earlier this year. So without further ado, please enjoy the pictures. The pictures are detail oriented as opposed to general views of the scene, I assume most people will be familiar with the diorama, and if not I appologize.

For over 190 Horan pictures already posted, click here.

As always, click images for larger pictures. 

Drummer, 2nd West India Regiment, 1815

Here is the latest figure completed. It's a pretty random subject, and slightly unusual for me. The inspiration came from an osprey book I was flipping through, and decided it make a neat figure, albeit an extremely static and 'dull' one. However, the way I choose to look at it, it is as a challenge to paint a figure which cannot 'hide' behind a dramatic or dynamic pose. With that said, I am not sure as to what success I performed the task. It was a lot of fun either way!

And a couple of images of the sculpt

My friend Dave Harper

I'd like to say a few words about my friend Dave Harper. As some of you may know, he fought a battle with Cancer for the past couple of years. He got much better for a time and then the cancer returned, stronger then ever. I saw him about 3 weeks ago, he told me that he was back doing the Chemo treatments but he was doing well, just a little tired from the intense treatments. I never saw him down, he never complained, and was his own happy go lucky self. Well, it turns out he was not doing so well after all. His liver had started to give out, and when they realized what was happening Dave went into the hosptial again. There he went into a coma and never woke up. Dave passed on to greener pastures on October 1, 2010.


The first time I met Dave was back in 2003, at the annual VLS competition  Mastercon. I went to the regristration table, and inquired about where to enter my figures. Dave showed me where to go and what to do. It was only later that he told me that the first time he saw me, he thought "I was a punk ass kid there to destroy stuff". As weird as that sounds, it is a very fond memory. After Mastercon we stayed in touch and he offered for me to sculpt a few figures for Warriors. As a result I would drive up to their home at least once a month to stay for the weekend and talk shop and sculpt figures. This continued for a couple of years until they moved down to Texas, (where ironically I would end up as well) and we became good friends. I would not be where I am today if it was not for Dave, it is as simple as that. There are a lot of things I am wanting to share, but not really sure how to put it into words. Even though we did not speak every week, we always just picked up where we left off the last time. I concider him a close friend and he will be very much missed. See you on the other side D-Man.

Daaaang! What a summer!

Wow...has been an intense summer so far. Life on a Ranch during Summer time is busy, busy busy! But in reality, that's no excuse for not being productive and dilligent enough to keep the blog updated. But, things are slowing down and I hope to be able to resume the constantly evolving blog!

Horan figure of the week will also continue, still have hundreds of pictures to share. However, the day of the week has to be moved as Wednesday are the busiest days of the week at the moment. So stay tuned for more updates!

I would also like to pick up where we left off with the sculpting videos. The problem is it is extremely time consuming to go through all the footage and edit it into 10 minute sections. However, it has been very popular and have received many great emails in support so will continue this for sure, just a matter of allocating time to get with it.

As far as what I have managed to accomplish during the blog down time is actually quite substantial. Have several new pieces to post on here and will do so in the coming days. But for now I will post a few pictures of whats to come. Will post several pictures as well as inprogress shots of each piece. Still got a few more up my sleeve and will post them when able!

54mm Original, Officer of the Bavarian Cuirassiers

54mm Original, Private, Närke-Värmland Regiment, Narva 1700



54mm Original, Amos Humiston, APG Auction figure

Legionarius - Young Miniatures



Horan Figure of the Week, 11th Hussars, 1854

Click images for larger version