Chasseur Officer conversion

[DaddyO]

Afternoon all,
In between sessions on the knight I'm trying to reduce the groaning shelves of figures by picking a few simpler ones to paint up I decided to have a go at this fella from Pegaso. He's 54 mm high and there have been a few painted up over the years he's been available and I recently acquired a second one from Blind Pew (Cheers mate)

I started to look through my references to see whether I could turn one of the pair into a slightly different figure. In My treasured Osprey book (Napoleons Cavalry) I came across a Begnini print showing a couple of Chasseur Officers having a chat one of who was wearing a frock coat - result! A change from a blue coat to a green one and we're done . . .

Well it turned out it wasn't quite as simple as that, but not too complicated. Checking with Rousellot confirmed the uniform and also showed the alternative bonnet de police that might have been used instead of the bicorne in the original print.

Rather than use the rail and step I opted for a casual pipe i the right hand (from MM) which with a few tweaks to the folds fitted well. The badge on the bonnet de police was removed and replaced with the correct horn and a more delicate looking tassel added from Duro at the same time.
I wanted to add a sword which meant a bit of putty work (quite a lot as it turned out) to make it look as if it was hanging against the coat. (One of 'turn-backs' on the rear was removed in the process so both were replaced with new ones made from putty whilst I was at it. The belt is cut from lead sheet with a snake buckle from Historex and clasps added with some bent thin wire.
The slightly damaged cane was removed and a new one will be made from wire. A new epaulet was added with a mix of putty and plastic and any buttons were sliced from lead wire and super-glued in place. I also noted that both sources showed the cuffs to be pointed with two buttons rather than plain round as the original casting although this was a fairly simple change to make. Final tweaks were to replace the cast on collar with a thinner one from putty and add a new moustache (I can't picture this officer without one)

Here's where we've got to after a few days work . . .
Cheers
Paul

 

[Viking Bob]

Ooh, lovely Paul. No wonder you have been quiet.

Following with interest.

 

[Ronaldo]

Very nice conversion, and with all these small changes they aways throw up more than you anticipate .

 

[Nap]

Hi Leggy

Really nice bit of putty work on a already nice figure ...like the collar work and the tassel

Going to paint up well

Following with interest

Happy benchtime

Stay safe

Nap

PS Reckon he would look great talking to a lady .........

 

[Oda]

Very,very well planned and executed.Following with great interest.

Oda.

 

[Chris Oldfield]

That's a gorgeous figure to start with Paul, & I'll definitely be following. The small modifications you've made & the colour changes to the box stock kit will really make him pop.

 

[DaddyO]

Cheers folks

Very nice conversion, and with all these small changes they always throw up more than you anticipate .

That's so true Ronaldo - not done many conversions (although this hardly qualifies as anything too involved) so this sort of thing appeals although at the moment I'm trying to change a few things with my painting style so being able to sort out a figure quickly suits me for now.

Hmmm. . . .quite like that idea of your Kev. The only trouble is it means buying another figure and I'm trying to reduce the number I already have

Off to get the paints out
Toodlepip
Paul

 

[Viking Bob]

Hi Leggy

Really nice bit of putty work on a already nice figure ...like the collar work and the tassel

Going to paint up well

Following with interest

Happy benchtime

Stay safe

Nap

PS Reckon he would look great talking to a lady .........

OR

 

[DaddyO]

OR


View attachment 378601

Nice , I really like that figure.

However I've had a rummage through the grey army this morning and thought I could modify another one to give him a fellow officer to chat with so I'll give it a bit of attention this afternoon (when it gets too sunny in the workroom to paint) Stay tuned and I'll post some pics of what I'm thinking later . . .
Toodepip
Paul

 

[Nap]

Hi Toodlepip Paul

Come on we are all tuned in .....that's a nice looking figure Bob suggested but looking forward to seeing what you have in mind

Happy benchtime

Stay Safe

Nap

 

[DaddyO]

Hi Toodlepip Paul

Come on we are all tuned in .....that's a nice looking figure Bob suggested but looking forward to seeing what you have in mind

Nap

He he

Got to fight my way onto the computer oh Busty one

Right having elbowed the girls out of the way here's what I've been thinking. (Loved the idea of a pairing or more . . .cheers and thanks for the figure suggestions) Next to the Rousellot illustration I'm using as a uniform guide is another chap who would look good wearing a slightly different version of the same regiments uniform which conceivably could have been seen with it. I dug through the stash and found this fella (A Metal Modelles Officer) which looked okay next to my original figure so I decided that the pair had stopped for a brief chat in a park; the first officer having paused and put a foot up on a border to the path whilst the second explained an amusing anecdote about a young soldier.

So having set the scene I began with the second figure and started removing any unwanted details . . .
First off the insignia on the turn-backs needed removing - easy peasy
Next removed the shoulder decorations (I decided to remove both since the sculpting on the MM figure was so delicate it would show up my own poor efforts and at least this way they would match)
Pockets on the coat tails needed to be vertical rather than horizontal so they had to go.
Eeeek turnbacks had a slightly different point (finishing on the edge rather than slightly above as sculpted) Ah well off they come.
Good grief the front was different too (Bottom was pointed running into the coat tails and the top was often rounded rather than pointed) so that needed to go as well!

So basically the waistcoat and breeches were okay, but everything else needs some modification. (The boots also need a tassel and possibly spurs which were removable on the larger boots, but I'm not sure about these ones so I'll need to check)

The left arm came from the spares box (a drummer) After the drumsticks were removed I'll drill it out for a cane like his companion. The right arm is from the original kit with a bit of work on the hand itself to give expression. The head is from Figurinitaly and I wanted to tilt it a bit so the collar had to go. I also cut out where the coat tails were cast onto the legs as a solid piece (painting them black always seems a co out)


At the end of all that I'd pretty much destroyed a nice MM figure to get a mannequin to work with. Today I'll do a bit of painting on the first fella and leave this one alone to allow me time to confirm the pose before going any further with it

Cheers for now
Paul

 

[Nap]

Hi Leggy

Thanks for the update great description of the work you had to do ...and we get a look at a masters work area ....result

That's very accurate dremelling as well .....

Lots of Eeekks and Good Griefs .....


Keep the girls happy ...show them your ability around the house ...you know like advising where the sockets are for the hoover ........sorry girls ...lol

Happy benchtime

Stay safe

Nap

 

[Viking Bob]

Thats a nice bit of work, what seems simple, always involves more effort.
Looking excitingly forward to more old chap.

 

[KenBoyle]

Fantastic work Paul!

Cheers,
Ken

 

[Borek]

Hi Paul. So finally a vignette . Great work so far, nice conversion work

Cheers Borek

 

[DaddyO]

Thanks folks
A slight delay in dressing the second chap. I made up some of the Duro/Miliput mix and when it rolled flat there were a lot of small bumps in it (Tried a couple of different batches with the same result) So I've ordered some Magic Sculp from those good people at El Greco to play with. In the meantime I'll press on with the painting of the one which is finished and sort out swords and other bits. . . .

Toodlepip
Paul

 

[DaddyO]

Morning all
Managed to get a few long sessions in painting the first chap this week and the face went along nice and easy for a change (I'm not sure if I'm the only one, but sometimes, if I'm painting regularly, things just seem to flow along without the usual constant backwards and forwards and retouching)
Anyway was up bright and early this morning and started painting before anyone else was awake so I was able to go back and finish up (I'll get a face basically 'finished' and then go back the next day to refine and add final details)

I decided to go a bit lighter for the main green so started off with Napoleonic green (which is very vivid) and toned it right down with Basalt grey as a base colour. Highlights were done by adding Sunny skin tone and shadows added the darkest blue from the blue paint set (which appears almost black)
The mix I used was a bit green and I wanted a slight blueness to it so dark blue and dark green washes brought it back nicely in line with the colour I imagined. The rest of the colours used are shown on the pallet. No black used (I mix a black from dark brown and dark blue)

Cheers for now
Paul

 

[Borek]

Cool, very nice progress

Cheers Borek

 

[KenBoyle]

Looking good Paul!

Just an fyi. I have the same palette and after placing the paper I use a small 6 inch steel ruler laid lengthwise to gently push out the wrinkles. After a few minutes the paper lays perfectly flat and stays that way for several days. The paper does tend to stretch a bit, to the size of the sponge when doing this.

Cheers,
Ken

 

[Viking Bob]

Wow Paul, absolutely beautiful painting so far, lovely flesh tones.
Keep safe.