WIP Historex Project: Francisco Menéndez 1740

[Merryweather]

Love it. Full of character and very unusual.
Rock on with the old school plastic!

 

[Nap]

Hi Rob

This is really coming along now rather nicely

Interesting to read ref the uniform

Look forward to seeing more

Happy Historexing

Nap

 

[Historex Rob]

Very inspiring work indeed.Following with interest.

Oda.

Thank you, Oda.

 

[Historex Rob]

Love it. Full of character and very unusual.
Rock on with the old school plastic!

Thank you, Nigel. He’s almost there.

 

[Historex Rob]

Happy Historexing

Nap

Historexing… love this.

I just looked at the photos I’ve posted. They are terrible; sorry. They look much better on my phone.

I did more work on him yesterday. I’ll take some better photos and post later today.

 

[clubcat]

This is an interesting subject, looking good so far.

 

[Historex Rob]

This is an interesting subject, looking good so far.

Thank you; appreciated.

 

[Historex Rob]

Update #3

All of my previous photos look fine on my phone, but when I opened them here this morning on the site, I saw they were pretty bad.

Below, are some better photos... hopefully.

Yesterday, I added sword/bayonet scabbard straps (paper), and I also gave him some thicker hair where the tricorn meets his head.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Nap]

Hi Rob

Better pics and the additions look good , loving seeing what you and others do with the bits to make a great figure like this

Following with interest

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Historex Rob]

Final update

Construction is done. Epoxy is curing. Tomorrow I will airbrush primer, and then I will start painting next week.

Overall, I'm pleased. I could not make the original pose work. The hands I picked just could not be positioned as I had envisioned, so I opted for my "plan B" pose.

I had planned to keep him in two parts for painting, but I realized that I can reach under enough to paint the underside of the coat tails and trousers. Further up than that is not visible unless one wants to use a mirror.

Making him one piece also enabled me to add the musket. I am still waiting for an alternate set of weapons (over a month now; ordered when project started). I am assuming the parcel is trapped in Customs somewhere. I opted for a metal musket from Metal Modeles.

I know nothing of firearms, but it seems to match both the Historex muskets and also the set I ordered as an option. I was hoping the ordered muskets might be a bit longer, but I scaled and compared them against the Metal Modeles musket and they seem very close in size. The Historex muskets always look too thin for my taste.

I have no doubt the tardy parcel will arrive tomorrow.

The hardest part for me was securing the buttons (lead foil) and sword sheath straps (paper). Cyano "Super Glue" would not work. I went nearly mad trying to make them work. I finally opted for 5-minute epoxy for the buttons. This allowed me sufficient time to place all the buttons and still have extra to move them into final spacing/position. I waited about 20 minutes after placing them, then scraped off the excess epoxy around the buttons. It was a tiny, tiny amount, but I was concerned about paint adhesion. The epoxy is still rubbery at this point, and it's easy to just roll it up on the end of a #11 blade to remove.

After three tries, I finally got the Cyano to adhere to the sword strap ends and the sword assembly. I am waiting for it to again pop loose any moment.

So, this is the final update. The next time you will see this little guy is when he is painted under completed works.

Thanks for looking in.

 

[Nap]

Hi Rob

Pre paint he certainly looks good ..may your straps not pop.....ever !

Hope you can share the WIP on the painting here

If I may ref the boulder on the base looks a little lost on its own ...

Look forward to seeing more

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[NigelR]

Superb work, really nicely done and really encouraging me to have a go....

 

[Historex Rob]

Hi Rob

Pre paint he certainly looks good ..may your straps not pop.....ever !

Hope you can share the WIP on the painting here

If I may ref the boulder on the base looks a little lost on its own ...

Look forward to seeing more

Happy benchtime

Nap

Not quite done with the groundwork, but I am keeping it simple.

NO way I am showing the “in progress’ painting. I am a terrible painter. No one wants to see that.

 

[Historex Rob]

Superb work, really nicely done and really encouraging me to have a go....

Thank you, Nigel; appreciated.

 

[eppi]

Hi Rob, that's a very interesting and inspiring conversion! Well done!
I can't understand why the cyano glue behaves that way, maybe because of the glossy plastic?
Did you try a very gentle sandpapering? I'd suggest a glassfiber pen, I use it and it works fine.
May I suggest to drill some very little holes on the belt end? Maybe you already did but it's hard to see on the pics.
Wait to see this guy come to life with paints!

p.s. is it a 54 mm?

 

[Historex Rob]

Hi Rob, that's a very interesting and inspiring conversion! Well done!
I can't understand why the cyano glue behaves that way, maybe because of the glossy plastic?
Did you try a very gentle sandpapering? I'd suggest a glassfiber pen, I use it and it works fine.
May I suggest to drill some very little holes on the belt end? Maybe you already did but it's hard to see on the pics.
Wait to see this guy come to life with paints!

p.s. is it a 54 mm?

I am not sure about the cyano. The glue remained on the plastic, but the paper popped right off. I had to file the cyano off for subsequent attempts. Maybe I have bad cyano?

I have primed the figure now, and I hope the paint may strengthen those parts.

I did add a few holes to the belt, but they are not really visible.

He is standard Historex size, so 58mm (1:30).

 

[eppi]

Maybe I have bad cyano?

This is the one I use and it works fine.

 

[Historex Rob]

Final update...

Well, I messed up big time.

I planned to build him in two parts. I should have stuck with that.

It turns out there is NO way (at any angle or with any angled brush), to reach under the coat to paint its underside or his legs above the gaiters. The base and low coat block all angles.

I tried everything. No good.

I will have to completely rebuild the figure from scratch (I do have all the parts to give another go).

I hope everyone else is faring better with your projects.

 

[NigelR]

Oh dear. No way of taking him off the base? What a pity. But we look forward to your next one.....

I just dumped a part completed build of a 1/32 Wingnut Wings Sopwith Dolphin as it wasn't working out, too many issues to make it worth completing. So no, my project also hit a barrier However, I am now doing some figure painting instead, so hopefully that will work out

 

[Steve Ski]

Very nice work!