Neil's Airfix 54mm 95th Rifleman

Neil Merryweather

SMF Supporter
Joined
Dec 29, 2018
Messages
4,385
Points
113
Location
London
First Name
Neil
Neil, figures look good. Just what I needed to see, a sbs on how to alter figures.:thumb2: Interesting how you go back to them and alter as necessary.
Some great tips thank you.
I'd be super chuffed to know that this has helped you, John.
Figures are tricky because everyone will know when something is not quite right , even if they can't identify what it is.
It's difficult to be objective sometimes which is why I leave them overnight. It also helps taking photos as that tends to lend "distance". In the olden days before digital photography I used to look at them in a mirror which works very well too.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JR
D

Deleted member 6559

Guest
Looking good Neil. You've certainly chopped that chap about a bit - hope he appreciates it.
 

Jon Heptonstall

SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 30, 2018
Messages
1,192
Points
113
First Name
Jon
Stanley Catchpol? Sid Horton??
Well well well.I never knew that.
Jon.
 

Steve Jones

Steve Jones Scale Modelling Site
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
6,698
Points
113
Location
Plymouth
First Name
Steve
Were you a surgeon in a former life??. Looks like the changes will add real character to these old classics. Terrific work mate
 
  • Haha
Reactions: JR

Andy the Sheep

SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 7, 2019
Messages
1,457
Points
113
Location
North Eastern Italy
First Name
Andrea
That kit was my return to the hobby after 35 years. It was a real bargain and I could not resist.
It was an OOB and paints were acrylics from a fine art shop that required some blending to get the requested tones (e.g.: the uniform was painted with Chrome Oxide Green darkened with Prussian Blue) and this is the result (I chose the more forgiving picture :smiling6: but I still can detect a lot of space for improvements).

340544


It became my farewell gift to a colleague, a Sharpe's fan. The colour of the hair can give you hint about the Cornwell's character inspiring my painting.

Neil, I'm following and learning from your nice work.
Pete: the plastic card problem is still there and it was my main issue during the building.
 

colin m

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
SMF Supporter
Joined
Dec 26, 2008
Messages
8,572
Points
113
Location
Stafford, UK
First Name
Colin
Amazing plastic surgery going on here Dr Neil.
 

Neil Merryweather

SMF Supporter
Joined
Dec 29, 2018
Messages
4,385
Points
113
Location
London
First Name
Neil
Hi Andy, that's very respectable for a 35 year pause! I know what that feels like myself. I like what you did with the pose. You didn't make life easy for yourself using artist's acrylics,did you?. I'm finding the thought of painting a real challenge, as I've been sculpting for the last 35 years but not painted anything until a couple of months ago.
Thanks for the heads up about the plastic sheet, I am putting off thinking about that.....
Welcome aboard
Neil
 

Neil Merryweather

SMF Supporter
Joined
Dec 29, 2018
Messages
4,385
Points
113
Location
London
First Name
Neil
Now then, back to number one.

Filling and smoothing (and bulge reducing) is mostly done.

His buttons are way too proud, so I have flattened them down with some wet & dry paper.
IMG_20190512_094205228.jpg
I’m about to start fitting his belts and stuff so I’ve filed a flat groove around his waist.

I was about to fit the kit buckle when I thought of all the crazy PE work that Steve and Scottie and Mike and others do on their AFVs so I thought I would have a go at the figure equivalent, knowing from my recent painting efforts that the crisper the detail the easier it is to paint.
IMG_20190514_205842682.jpg
This is where the internet is fantastic, as with the growth of re-enacting, there is a lot of pictorial information out there to help with details that might be missed even in the most careful of illustrations.
belt detail.jpg
So here is my first attempt, using pie foil as per Andy Belsey’s technique.
IMG_20190512_134930400.jpg
I had to trim down some PE buckles which was a challenge, but I only lost two to the carpet monster. The foil is certainly easier to wrap around the buckles than the plastic card supplied. The S-link looks too big now under scrutiny, but I won’t dump it unless I can manage to make a smaller one.

Next came the haversack belt, which needs to look more like cloth than leather, so I used wine bottle foil for that. I should actually have put it on first and then had the belt cross over it, but I’ll get over that. I’m going to sculpt the haversack rather than use the kit version as it needs to be a lot bigger.

I trimmed away the buttons from underneath the belt as the foil shows up every detail and it wouldn’t look right, and I did the same for the cartridge box belt, which I made from the pie foil.
IMG_20190514_200406547.jpg
As usual I left him overnight and decided I wasn’t happy with the cartridge case belt. It needed to look stiffer, so I decided to use the kit plastic card. Now, some people have had problems with this, but I never did back in the day. Maybe my standards were just lower then…….

One of the problems with this kind of thing is that, in reality, these belts are slightly curved to enable them to sit flat on the shoulder, and not straight as the template would have us believe. Happily, the foil I used had bent into a more correct shape on his body, so I was able to use that as a template. I stuck it down with double-sided tape and cut around it.
IMG_20190514_201137170.jpg

Even more happily, the action of peeling it off the double-sided tape imparted a useful curl to it, which helped to keep it in position.If that hadn't happened I would have scraped the back of a scalpel blade along the card to get a curl.
IMG_20190514_214925651.jpg

I then re-made the waist belt after all, this time from toothpaste tube, which is thicker than the pie foil, but easier to bend into the PE buckles than the plastic card.
So that's where we are at the moment.
thanks for looking
Neil
 

JR

Member of the Rabble and Pyromania Consultant
SMF Supporter
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
17,215
Points
113
Location
lincs
First Name
John
Great detail Neil, just bought some pies , now you tell me you've changed to toothpaste , well cleaner I suppose.:smiling3:

If plastic card is easier what thickness is it to be able to shape like that ? Thanks .
 
D

Deleted member 6559

Guest
Wow - that's some fettling at what to me is a tiny scale. Fine work Neil.
 

Neil Merryweather

SMF Supporter
Joined
Dec 29, 2018
Messages
4,385
Points
113
Location
London
First Name
Neil
Great detail Neil, just bought some pies , now you tell me you've changed to toothpaste , well cleaner I suppose.:smiling3:

If plastic card is easier what thickness is it to be able to shape like that ? Thanks .
Cheers John
Pies , toothpaste, wine - that's my diet! I've also got 1mm lead flashing(never used it, though, except for weight) and 0.8mm self adhesive window leading not to mention solder in various diameters. Does toothpaste still come in metal tubes? Mine doesn't anyway.I guess a glue tube would do. And only the more expensive wines still come with lead foil on now- luckily I laid up a stock when it was the only option.
The kit plastic card is 5 thou, John. The worst thing about it is it doesn't take much solvent glue to melt it completely, so you have to be sparing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JR

Steve Jones

Steve Jones Scale Modelling Site
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
6,698
Points
113
Location
Plymouth
First Name
Steve
I am from the Andy B school of pie foil as well. He did a terrific job on a hospital tent at MM and I haven't looked back. I will certainly have a look at the tooth paste tube as well. Wonderful additions to the figure Neil. Keep up the great work
 
  • Haha
Reactions: JR

JR

Member of the Rabble and Pyromania Consultant
SMF Supporter
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
17,215
Points
113
Location
lincs
First Name
John
Thanks Neil.
Glad you mentioned about melting it, I tend to flood things at times, thought now I use an old No 000 brush and have removed most of the strands on the TET brush in the lid. Now of course there's often not enough glue on things and they fall off. :surprised:
 

scottie3158

SMF Supporter
Joined
Apr 27, 2018
Messages
12,528
Points
113
Location
Spalding
First Name
Paul
Neil,
Some really nice work there, the new straps are a great improvement.
 
Top