patmaquette
Active Member
This imposing resin kit was my first figurine in many years. I find the larger scale kits difficult to paint so I normally avoid them. However, I bought it as an impulse buy at SMW Telford last year and thought I would give it a bash to round off this year's modelling enjoyment.
It needed quite a bit of effort to assemble and fill gaps in the joints. The (resin) straps for the sabretache and sword scabbard were really difficult to get right and I added wire to brace them in position. It probably would have been better to have solidly attached the main parts to the rider’s leg and run-in new straps from metal strip (as I did for the reins).
The single illustration of the kit on the box top shows the sabre suspended from the rider’s arm. I thought this a bit iffy and bound to lead to mishaps, although quite how the hussar was supposed to fight with a heavy standard (topped off by a weighty bronze eagle) in one hand has me puzzled. I cut away the hilt from the sword blade to glue it to the scabbard (so it looked undrawn), but unfortunately the scabbard is a lot thicker than the hilt so it didn’t look right. So I glued the hilt and blade back together and hung them from the rider’s arm as shown on the box art. Unfortunately, it is very delicate and vulnerable hanging there and a wire brace would look too noticeable, so I’ll need to find a way to hold it in place at least during handling the model. The same situation applied to the flag, although the pole does have a metal reinforcing rod running through it.
The model is large and heavy, which makes holding it in your hand during painting very difficult. Knowing this, I 3d printed an adapter to attach the model to a camera tripod. With this you can adjust the height and orientation of the model as you work on it. To say it worked well would be an understatement. It also works well for transporting the model until such time as it is put onto its final display plinth (a task for some time next year).
It needed quite a bit of effort to assemble and fill gaps in the joints. The (resin) straps for the sabretache and sword scabbard were really difficult to get right and I added wire to brace them in position. It probably would have been better to have solidly attached the main parts to the rider’s leg and run-in new straps from metal strip (as I did for the reins).
The single illustration of the kit on the box top shows the sabre suspended from the rider’s arm. I thought this a bit iffy and bound to lead to mishaps, although quite how the hussar was supposed to fight with a heavy standard (topped off by a weighty bronze eagle) in one hand has me puzzled. I cut away the hilt from the sword blade to glue it to the scabbard (so it looked undrawn), but unfortunately the scabbard is a lot thicker than the hilt so it didn’t look right. So I glued the hilt and blade back together and hung them from the rider’s arm as shown on the box art. Unfortunately, it is very delicate and vulnerable hanging there and a wire brace would look too noticeable, so I’ll need to find a way to hold it in place at least during handling the model. The same situation applied to the flag, although the pole does have a metal reinforcing rod running through it.
The model is large and heavy, which makes holding it in your hand during painting very difficult. Knowing this, I 3d printed an adapter to attach the model to a camera tripod. With this you can adjust the height and orientation of the model as you work on it. To say it worked well would be an understatement. It also works well for transporting the model until such time as it is put onto its final display plinth (a task for some time next year).
