54mm Airfix Scots Greys

[rtfoe]

Hi All, now you have seen the finish...here's how it all started and what's underneath all that paint. Some of you may have seen it in the previous website but I will be showing it here for the benefit of those who haven't.

It starts off with the kit and some references. The boxing was the later variant which offered a coloured instruction sheet with front and back of the rider. This helped tremendously with the painting. The parts molding was shallow in some areas which left some of the detail obscured for example the pouch just behind the saddle was missing the four letters and thats where the instruction sheet came in handy.




The fitting of the parts came next...a bit of cutting and whittling was needed to get the figure fitting to the saddle... the horse did come together quite well needing little putty.





Cheers,
Richard

 

[Deleted member 6559]

Good to see this superb figure again Richard. I seem to remember that it won a prize?

 

[rtfoe]

Hi Peter, yes it did...a bronze. Didn't stand a chance against some really great Asian figure painters. It would probably be relegated to the back in European events.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

The pose on the Airfix kit is not bad but a little stiff. With slight adjustments it can look better. As it is now, it looks like the trooper is sitting on his sadle. At full gallop he would be standing on his stirrups. I have roughly positioned the arms and sabre.






Putty will be smoothed over the joints when I am satisfied with the final pose. The kit provides two sets of tails, I chose the shorter.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

Yes, figure all puttied up. Certain joints had large gaps so more filler was used. The kit suffered from some sink marks on the arm and was filled over too.





The overall mold detail is quite soft and would need enhancement with a blade and carving tools.






Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

The horse had its fair share of gaps and fit problems that were easily puttied over.



Mainly around the head joints...



Back after the saddle...



The base of the mane...



And the front chest area...




Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

The kit supplies plastic card for the belts and straps but I used foil from an Ikea Salmon paste tube.



The foil belts were attached with CA. Kit buckles were used nad attached with the same glue.



The gloves were hollowed out with a dremel and cleaned up with sharp blade.



The canteen and pouch were dry fitted. The shoulder epaulette needs putty at the joint. I would later re-adjust the left arm position




Cheers,
Richard

 

[Peter Gillson]

Coming along nicely

Peter

 

[rtfoe]

Thanks Peter,

The next few pictures concentrated on the horse. The kit comes with flat hooves which needed to be hollowed and horse shoes scratched from plastic strip made.



The images aren't clear as the camera kept focusing on the nearest image





Metal foil straps replaced plastic ones.



I carved out indentations to the saddle sides and blanket for a better fit of the rider.





Thick brass wire was inserted into the pre-drilled hoof of the back rear leg.



This is quite a nice horse by Airfix. All the muscle tone of the limbs and neck show it just before a full gallop.



Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

Next was this pouch or some sort of document case...



Reference showed it had buckles so some had to be made with wire and the straps with tube foil.



Having done that the carbine musket needed detailing around the trigger guard.




Cheers,
Richard

 

[Ian M]

If not for the build pictures, I would never believed that this was one of the old Airfix figures.
Wow, I mean just wow.

 

[rtfoe]

Thanks Ian, anything can be done if you have a nice base to work from. In this case the Airfix kit already had the basic stance and detail, it was just stretching the level I could achieve. I can bet you a better modeler would achieve better results than I can. This is the first I've done on the Airfix series and have another three I'd like to do.

A little bit more on the musket... I had some reference of the flint-lock mechanism and decided it was too complex and just cleaned and defined the existing detail with a sharp blade.





However the trigger guard was too much of a sausage and that I could do something about it with foil for the guard and wire for the trigger.



The rolled whachamacallit had detail deepened around the straps. I didn't use the foil for the straps , it was used for the metal container attached on top of the rolled w....



The soft detail of the trouser fold, buttons and strip were deepened. Seamlines removed, heel and sole lip for the boots enhanced.



The stirrup leather straps were made with foil and buckles added



The metal container on the rolled w......the buckle was crude here so I later replaced it.




Cheers,
Richard

 

[adt70hk]

Great work Richard. This should look great once finished.

ATB

Andrew

 

[rtfoe]

Thanks Andrew, I'm glad it did...the figure has been finished for at least 2 years now. You can see it at the beginning of page one. I realised I hadn't shown the progress on this forum and decided to for the benefit of those not present at the other forum I was on when it was being built and painted.

I'm glad you like the WIP so far.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[scottie3158]

Richard,
Great work the additions are taking this to a whole new level.

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Richard please stop.you're setting the bar too high!
I must say your original model seems incredibly soft in the detail.

mine isn't quite so bad, although I will have to fettle it now you've done it!

 

[Si Benson]

Hi Richard,
Seems I completely missed this thread As I looked through I was amazed firstly by your excellent painting skills and then all the refinements you made to enhance the kit....brilliant Richard

 

[rtfoe]

Hi, sorry for the late replies guys...

Scottie, thanks. Been a while in my stash and planning the approach. Thank goodness it worked.
Neil, ...the plastic must have been different then. Yours look much more crisp. I see no bar except the one that's ahead of me
Si, glad to have you around. It's so surprising many from the past have not seen it either. Thanks.

Here's just a bit more...



Bits and pieces put together and posed...



Getting the head and hat braiding angled right. Also the belts and straps the right pull...





At this angle his left arm didn't look right which I would later cut and reposition. Also whatever thats hanging loose ought to be flaing by his sides.









After this it was primed which would hide all the added detail.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

The horse needs feeding and the rider has a a little sack of oats...



The kit part came flat at the opening so I burred it hollow...



I primed all the paraphernalia with flat black...



...and dry brushed them with white with more white where light would catch. This also brings up detail.







Cheers,
Richard

 

[rtfoe]

Hi, now to the main subject...

The rest of the figure was primed as well but after repairing the spurs with thin wire curled at one end and inserting the other to a pre-drilled hole on the heel.



This was a good time to spot any blemishes and glue build up...



Then a coat of white is sprayed from the top to catch highlights. The horse had a bit more white coating to make it easier for final painting as it will predominently be white.



On the base that I will work the ground. I would insert a similar wire to the drilled hole and work the surface.



It's slightly off center...well have to work on my woodworking skills.

Cheers,
Richard