Richard48
SMF Supporter
Nice progress Neil.Real labour of love.
Rich.
Rich.
1/12 Airfix Imperial Guard Grenadier
- Thread starter Neil Merryweather
- Start date
Jon Heptonstall
SMF Supporter
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2018
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- 1,194
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- Jon
Fantastic improvements Neil.
Bet you wish you'd never lost that old pyrogravure tool.
Jon.
Bet you wish you'd never lost that old pyrogravure tool.
Jon.
D
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Wow Neil, you're really going for it. Fantastic improvements.
Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
Thanks Jon.
Actually, I wasn't heating up an old table knife in a candle flame, I used this
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/71Pcs-60...hy-Kit-/303568282064?var=&hash=item46ae1461d0
I wasn't so happy with the pyrogravure so I went looking for a soldering iron with a variable temperature control, and I found this for £20.99( at the time).
Bargain!
Temp range is from 180 -480 degrees in 5 degree steps and loads of (admittedly mostly useless) tips.
As far as I'm concerned it's paid for itself already on this job.
Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
Thanks Richard-your scale, I believe?
Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
Welcome Rick,. You'll have to scrap for biscuits now the rabble is in.
Yes, this would be Gigantic compared to your microscale miracles.
Trouble is there's no excuse for missing any of the detail
Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
Thankyou Peter ,glad you approve.
scottie3158
SMF Supporter
Neil,
Some lovely surgery the improvements are looking good.
Some lovely surgery the improvements are looking good.
Richard48
SMF Supporter
I dabble in 1.12th and 1.9th,May do 120mm figures soon.
Rich.
Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
cheers Scottie
Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
Having enhanced the creases in the sleeves I need to add a couple to the torso. For that I need to know where the cross belts and haversack straps will sit.
Whatever the instructions tell you, a simple straight cross belt will not sit correctly, especially on a figure as large as this. I don’t know if they are actually shaped in real life or if it’s just that they wear into shape over time and use. But anyway I need to define the correct shape and this is a technique I learned in art school.
I taped the sabre-briquet& bayonet into position, according to a re-enactor pic, rather than the instructions. Incidentally, this is a bit brutalistic and will need refining later on. I cut the belt from paper, over length, and in fact, wider than the instructions , again referring to re-enactor pics.
I made a series of cuts, almost all the way through, to enable the belt to stay flat over the shoulder.
I taped it down and traced the edges on the tape.
Then I removed the belt and trimmed it to the true contour
I did the same for the other belt and then pencilled in their actual positions, rather than guess them.
Interestingly, it shows me that I don’t actually need to make all the buttons as many of them will be hidden. I haven’t decided what to use for the belts yet, because I think the 5thou plastic provided is too thin at this scale, and 10 thou will probably be a bit unmanageable.
I refined the sabre-briquet & bayonet
This took a LOT of whittling just to get to this stage!
and it's not finished yet.
And I put in another stint on the haversack, but I won’t bother with a pic.
Well, that’s that for another day, thanks for looking in
Cheers
Neil
Whatever the instructions tell you, a simple straight cross belt will not sit correctly, especially on a figure as large as this. I don’t know if they are actually shaped in real life or if it’s just that they wear into shape over time and use. But anyway I need to define the correct shape and this is a technique I learned in art school.
I taped the sabre-briquet& bayonet into position, according to a re-enactor pic, rather than the instructions. Incidentally, this is a bit brutalistic and will need refining later on. I cut the belt from paper, over length, and in fact, wider than the instructions , again referring to re-enactor pics.
I made a series of cuts, almost all the way through, to enable the belt to stay flat over the shoulder.
I taped it down and traced the edges on the tape.
Then I removed the belt and trimmed it to the true contour
I did the same for the other belt and then pencilled in their actual positions, rather than guess them.
Interestingly, it shows me that I don’t actually need to make all the buttons as many of them will be hidden. I haven’t decided what to use for the belts yet, because I think the 5thou plastic provided is too thin at this scale, and 10 thou will probably be a bit unmanageable.
I refined the sabre-briquet & bayonet
This took a LOT of whittling just to get to this stage!
and it's not finished yet.
And I put in another stint on the haversack, but I won’t bother with a pic.
Well, that’s that for another day, thanks for looking in
Cheers
Neil
scottie3158
SMF Supporter
Neil,
That is an excellent way of forming the straps thanks for sharing.
That is an excellent way of forming the straps thanks for sharing.
Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
Thanks Simon, that's a thought. I've never really got on with Duro much. I use it for fine stuff occasionally but I find the stickiness annoying. Still , Bill Horan made a great success with it, so maybe I will have another bash at it.
Hi Neil,
once you have mixed it use the very smallest smear of petroleum jelly - just touch a finger tip to the jar contents - to lightly coat the surface
Stops it sticking to everything in sight
A light smear on a ceramic tile or cheap picture frame glass makes an ideal place to roll it out
You can even CA one end of the strap to the model, because of its plastic like consistency, and then form the rest of the strap without it falling off
once you have mixed it use the very smallest smear of petroleum jelly - just touch a finger tip to the jar contents - to lightly coat the surface
Stops it sticking to everything in sight
A light smear on a ceramic tile or cheap picture frame glass makes an ideal place to roll it out
You can even CA one end of the strap to the model, because of its plastic like consistency, and then form the rest of the strap without it falling off
Steve Brodie
SMF Supporter
Superb workmanship going on here
Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
cheers Steve!
Neil Merryweather
SMF Supporter
I have a small amount of progress to report on this project, gentlemen.
I finally finished the texturing of the pack,and got stuck into the strappage and buckle-age.
I used pewter strip that's designed for fake leaded windows. It's 0.5mm thick which is perfect for this scale
Rolling those greatcoat straps was a nice absorbing challenge. How the real guys managed during battlefield conditions I have no idea, but knowing the kind of regimental pride our own guards regiments have I'm sure they actually would have done it. I cheated in the end, but even that was tricky.
I've also missed a couple of details in the form of the retaining loops on the top of the pack which hold the greatcoat roll in place,but I discovered it too late and there's no way I am re-doing that little job.
I found a fantastic re-enactors' supplier which has detailed pictures of all these accoutrements
https://en.empirecostume.com/
I'm approaching the point where the only way of progressing is to deal with the detail on the buttons, so with that in mind I added the piping to the tail pocket flaps, using 0.3mm solder, which is nice and soft and stays put because it doesn't have the spring that some wire has.
so that's all for now,
thanks for looking in
Neil
I finally finished the texturing of the pack,and got stuck into the strappage and buckle-age.
I used pewter strip that's designed for fake leaded windows. It's 0.5mm thick which is perfect for this scale
Rolling those greatcoat straps was a nice absorbing challenge. How the real guys managed during battlefield conditions I have no idea, but knowing the kind of regimental pride our own guards regiments have I'm sure they actually would have done it. I cheated in the end, but even that was tricky.
I've also missed a couple of details in the form of the retaining loops on the top of the pack which hold the greatcoat roll in place,but I discovered it too late and there's no way I am re-doing that little job.
I found a fantastic re-enactors' supplier which has detailed pictures of all these accoutrements
https://en.empirecostume.com/
I'm approaching the point where the only way of progressing is to deal with the detail on the buttons, so with that in mind I added the piping to the tail pocket flaps, using 0.3mm solder, which is nice and soft and stays put because it doesn't have the spring that some wire has.
so that's all for now,
thanks for looking in
Neil
scottie3158
SMF Supporter
Lovely work Neil.