Munitionette 1916

[Dan Morton]

Imagine it's 1916 and you're a young lass from Scotland. In 1914 and 1915, you saw your brothers and all the young lads from your neighborhood go off to war. One of them a boy you was a nice boy you thought of as "yours", although you're pretty sure he never knew it. His parents got the news he died somewhere near Ypres in late 1915, just before Christmas. Your mother and father are working "war service" jobs and you've just finished up school. Someone tells you about a new munitions plant near Glasgow. You take the train to apply and they hire you on the spot. After a year of making good wages mixing TNT and nitrocellulose ("gun cotton") by hand, and learning how to fill shells and load primers, your skin has turned an off yellow color all over, not purplish like jaundice, just yellow. Your eyes and skin sting most of the time and acne is beginning in places on your hands. Years go by and in the deep winter of 1918, the war ends and the plant shuts. You don't know it, but, by then, you've absorbed enough TNT and picric acid and other munitions-related chemicals to take 20 years off your life.

And with that by way of a little historical introduction, this is my latest.

1/16th scale - made using Magic Sculpt and Kneadatite, some plastic tube, some balsa wood, a basswood shaft, a female head and one hand from The Lost Battalion (I believe) and part of a hand from Verlinden. The shells and box are from D. J. Perkins. Looking at the photos, I realized I'd forgotten to add the unique triangular shaped women's munitions worker badge indicating that the lady was on war service. So I went back and added that. It also looks like the figure itself needs a little more cleaning, so I'll fix that also. Looks like one of the table legs needs to be re-secured a bit better and I'll correct that also. I never see these things until I get the photos loaded!

Hope you like it!

All the best,
Dan

 

[housecarl]

Brilliant work on an unsung heroine, or canaries as they were known.
Carl.

 

[Dan Morton]

Ulp...brilliant? If you say so, Carl.

Many thanks!!!

All the best,
Dan

 

[1969]

This is a great idea for a scene dan and unusual also which adds to the attraction, like what you have done with the figure and scenery both.

I think the ladies feet are a bit on the little side mate, just need extending a bit more i think. Apart from that great bit of work Dan and good to see you still knocking them out.

Steve

 

[Dan Morton]

Steve - the feet started off as shoes copped from a kit and were cut down drastically, hence the size they arrived at. Basically my wife just repeatedly looked at the scale diagram I was using (about 5 feet 1 inch) sizing the shoes/feet up with the scale diagram and telling me they were still too big. I may have over done it slightly.

Any painters interested in painting this one?

All the best,
Dan

 

[mil-mart]

Dan, a great intro and for me, an unfamiliar subject. Nice work on te sculpting and great setting.

Cheers Ken

 

[Dan Morton]

Ken - Many thanks!!! My intro was perhaps a bit melodramatic but many people are unfamiliar with the sacrifices made by the munitions workers. Almost all the chemical exposures were due to lack of knowledge, as opposed to callousness on the part of the factory owners or the authorities. Occupational medicine was virtually unknown.

All the best,
Dan

 

[Major_Goose]

You pick the most unusual themes to sculpt ! But you are doing it good !
Congratulations
Costas

 

[Dan Morton]

Thanks Costas! I'm not exactly looking for the obscure or unusual, but I'm pretty much always attracted to things nobody has done.

All the best,
Dan

 

[megroot]

Excellent work Dan on the soldiers behind the frontline.
Without them there where no granate's, bullet, morters etc.

Marc

 

[maerlandt]

wooow that's special...

 

[flart1943]

Hi Dan
Great idea, it shows how war affects a lot more people, not just the ones in the front line.
Pete

 

[Dan Morton]

Thanks very much Marc, Nicolas and Pete! Glad you liked it!

All the best,
Dan

 

[paulojsg]

Excelent work,well done

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Dan,
good to see something other then trench warfare types.

In any war, there is a logistics hose that is dragged behind any army, and that hose has to be run by people.

There will always be a cost, somewhere, and I doubt there were ever parades or medals for these people......

Cheers

 

[Dan Morton]

Paulo and Jamie - Cheers gents! Much appreciated!

I'm happy to announce also that Carl Barton would like to paint the Munitionette. I'll be sending her to Cheshire sometime this week.

All the best,
Dan