Tuesday 23 December 2008

A Christmas gift For Little Irma




My apologies for the poor photos but my usual place has been taken over by Santa's little helpers.
Again this is just one that I have finished to see how it looks. Still need to work on pose and detailing, but overall I am rather pleased with this one (obviously you do not get to see the ones that I am not happy with).
Quick overview of the little chap. He stands 27mm to th top of his head. The shoes and leggins are as I described in a previous post, i.e. that is done the wrong way round with the gaiter going over the top of the shoe. This will be changed on the next batch. The jackets are; a long under waistcoat with sleeves made of fabric; a short over waistcoat without sleeves made of leather.
It is quite hard to see some of the differences due to the poor lighting.
Other details added since the figure was last shown - the arms, musket, belts, cartridge box, sack, shoulder tabs for unit identification and the @@*%%$%$ stupid decoration on the top of the helmet.
Anyway let me know what you think.

Tuesday 16 December 2008

Another Update

I've been quiet on here and thought that I would take the opportunity of sitting up with an upset baby to rectify the situation.
Sculpting practice continues, if a little slowly. Thanks for all the encouragement and advice given after the last couple of posts. I will try to get time to post a few photos soon.
On the design of the uniform, I have been having some fun that I will share over the coming posts. This mainly consists of period and reproduction items that Ican use as templates. My theory being that de Saxe is describing how he would uniform the troops based on variations of existing outfits.
First up, the shoes and gaiters. From looking at the 'original' artwork (posted earlier) and reading Jean-Louis translation, this is what I have come up with. Look at the gaiters on the central figure in this picture and imagine the top of the gaiter extended further up the thigh. Then take the boots from the left side figure and shorten the to just above the ankle, but still over the bottom of the gaiter. Thi gives something that looks similar to the, sketchy, 'original'. Or do you think I have it wrong?

Monday 8 December 2008

A Quick Update

Having laid down the rather loose rules of how I was going to operate on this blog, I have now disregarded them but only short term. My main problem with this project is that I cannot sculpt at all well. So from now until the new year, my time on this project will be dedicated to pushing putty around. The results of this I will post please let me know what you think and what I need to do to improve.
First up, an infantry man. Legs are finished, torso is mostly finished and the arms are just being posed. The uniform is based on the picture of de Saxes' Legion as shown earlier in this blog. So we have a very high gaiter, long waistcoat under a shorter,sleeveless waistcoat and a lovely helmet!

The Front

The Rear

Head with Helmet
I can't wait to try making te funny wing decorations for the front of the helmet - Iv'e no idea where to start!


Comparison with RSM
Although the RSM figure looks much larger than mine, the completion of the torso will give the body the same height although it will still be narrower. The heads are almost identical in size. Adding a base will also make them look closer.
I still do not know which pose to go with. Currently it is posed so that the right arm is in pretty much the same position as that of the RSM figure. The left arm will be holding the musket with the hand supporting the end of the stock rather than the lock resting in the crook of the elbow. However that RSM pose is one that I really like, does anyone else prefer one pose over another?
Leave a note, let meknow what you think.

Saturday 6 December 2008

Poor Gruns

Starting out again has proved a tiring time for Herr Gruns. However he is delighted when word reaches him that the Duchess is providing him with extra resources to enable him to complete his task. It is hoped that they will be recieved before the end of the year. Until then he spends his time working on the patterns for the new uniforms.

For his own amusement he makes up his initial attempt into a completed outfit.