As promised, the original figure based on how I viewed the uniform described by de Saxe. In this example the 'Turkish Coat' has been rolled and strapped to the bag on the figures left hip.
The coat is loose fitting and has full tails/skirts, folded back to the maximum, worn with a mid length waistcoat/veste underneath.
The musket is based on one desribed in Reveries and being about 60 inches long.
Two comparison shots against an RSM95 Austrian Grenadier.
Problems encountered - the figure has grown by 2mm during the making. All of this extra height is in the body of the figure. The chest seems to have expanded out of all proportion to the rest of the body. Some detail is way too thick i.e. belts. However I hope I can work around all of these things when the 'real' figures are started. Yes I know the hands are not finished and that the musket is far too chunky.All in all I was quite pleased with the result overall. Obviously more practice is needed, mostly on scaling, and more patience is needed as I want to be changing things constantly. For the new figures I will have several on the go at once which should keep me from tampering too much.
Next up is to get him painted while I work on a few basic armatures for the next batch.
6 comments:
Quite pleasing and extremely encouraging, as a first attempt to sculpting!
And, as an uniform, quite good-looking and fully deserving to exist 'by itself', regardless of how 'unfaithful' it may be to (often sais to be apocryphal) de Saxe's posthumous description! I'd really like to see a full regiment in this original uniform on a table-top.
Compliments,
Jean-Louis
You are justly pleased with the result. I too would love to see a unit of these fellows upon the table top...
best wishes
Alan
Looking very good for a first attempt! You've made one of the classic blunders; the first is never engage in a land war in Asia; only slightly lesser known - scale creep (mostly kidding - I did it myself on a number of figures, several years ago when I tried to sculpt some dwarves, who weren't exactly "stunty" and more recently with my Highlanders, so I have the one sergeant who is quite a big lad! lol).
In spite of that, after seeing many first time sculpts (my own included) it looks to me like you are off to a promising start! One thing you might consider is making separate casts of things like muskets, especially if you're going to sculpt various figures. You can add them to the sculpts, saving having to sculpt them multiple times and making sure they are more uniform across multiple figures.
very impressive . . . even if he does look to be about a 35mm figure. Have you thought about the 40-42mm figures that are becoming so popular?
Sash and Saber is one manufacturer . . . you might find that a more comfortable scale.
-- Jeff
Guys
Thanks for the comments, most encouraging.
I've just painted the figure and it looks reasonably good, even if I say so myself. The painting was quite easy as well, easy to reach detail and no wondering what any part was supposed to be. Photo to follow.
As a brief guide to the little fella, he is 32mm tall (to top of head),36mm to the top of the helmet. The original was to be 30mm, which at 1/56th scale gives a height of 5'7". Supprisingly it all worked out to that size, except the upper body which gained an extra 2mm in height and a couple of mm in the chest. This is lee noticeable now the figure is painted.
When I get into full swing I will be sticking on 30mm, armatures for figures, muskets etc will be used to keep things uniform. Just have to make some that I am happy with first.
Cheers
Steve
32mm to the top of the head is quite close to 'heroic' 28 - 30mm, I guess?
Looking forward to discovering the painted soldier (of the Saxe-Chambord Fusiliere, the one and only foreign regiment in Uber Gruntshuffener service?).
Cheers,
Jean-Louis
Post a Comment