One More.....

[bonehead]

One more figure I was asked to post here. This is another figure that has been on my bucket list for 20 years or more: Lieutenant Souter at Gandamak. Yeah, I know, it has been done before. But this has been on my list since before all those other examples. I had the idea first, but came a little late to execution....

The figure is 90mm and will also be available at Euro. The producer wanted me to keep it anonymous. So here it is:



Here are some photos of the figure painted by one "Eddy". Sorry, that is all the information i was given. Nice job Eddy!



I hope you like it!

Mike

 

[MalcC]

Superb sculpting Mike.
I'm sure folk will be hunting down the supplier at Euro.

 

[captnenglish]

This made my day!

 

[Edward]

Magnificent. Definitely buying this one.

 

[Helm]

Very nice indeed
Steve

 

[RossM]

Looks great Mike. El Greco?

Ross

 

[Tecumsea]

John Fitzgerald at Hawk Miniatures will be selling this!

 

[david pickford]

Do you do 54mm mike? I first saw your stuff in the bill horan book from which this comes...

 

[david pickford]

Dare i say the arms look long?

 

[megroot]

It has to stop now.
I can't handle it no more.
The last 12 hours..............how many new releases for Euro????
I can't buy them all, but I want them all.
This is another great release.

Marc

 

[Rich Sculpts]

Never ever disappointed when I see Mike post new work .

 

[kidsbday7]

Not my genre or scale, but it is just so much pleasure to see your work. Big fan.

 

[Joe55]

Never ever disappointed when I see Mike post new work .

Ditto!

 

[Hawk_Uk]

HI Mike,
Thanks for posting this and glad everyone likes this classic figure.

I have done a full release announcement in figure news here

 

[Renéduret]

Bellissimo!

 

[bonehead]

Thanks to everybody for the kind comments! One good thing about being late to the game is that I could look at all the past renditions of this subject and figure out how I could do mine better. For one thing, my figure is the only one that shows the foliate embroidery on his cap band. That was a detail I found in one of my books not depicted on any other Souter figure....

Dare i say the arms look long?

You can say it, but it is not true!

The illusion is caused by the pose and the large heavy coat. First, I have always been very fastidious about measuring my armatures repeatedly while sculpting. It is the only way i know to maintain consistent proportions from figure to figure. Eyeballing it is not good enough to ensure that every figure has good and consistent proportions.

But this figure may give the "long arm" look because of the pose with arms stretched out straight and the legs far apart and bent at the knees. Here are pics of the bare armature without the coat:



The bent legs compress the body of the figure vertically. Notice how close his right hand is to his foot. This is not because his arms are too long. It is because his legs are compressed. Now, add to that his heavy poshteen coat - which hangs straight down vertically (as gravity would make it do) and gives the impression of a "straight up and down" body, where the body is actually compressed somewhat.

I will not say that every one of my figures has perfect proportions. But I am very careful to make sure that i measure everything to help ensure that that does not happen......

 

[Colin_Fraser]

Thanks for the pix Mike. I was wrestling on whether or not to say that his crotch looked too low (legs too short) and am glad I didn't as its clear from your in progress shots that it was an illusory issue. Nice to see how you go about a figure.

I assume face is Aves. Can I ask why you use that material....I.e. what properties draw you to i? I have tried Aves and find it sticky and fibrous....so I always return to sculpt for heads.

Thanks

Colin

 

[bonehead]

Thanks for the pix Mike. I was wrestling on whether or not to say that his crotch looked too low (legs too short) and am glad I didn't as its clear from your in progress shots that it was an illusory issue. Nice to see how you go about a figure.

I assume face is Aves. Can I ask why you use that material....I.e. what properties draw you to i? I have tried Aves and find it sticky and fibrous....so I always return to sculpt for heads.

Thanks

Colin

Colin,

I do not use Aves for the face. I sculpt my heads and faces using Sculpey Premo. I like the darker colors because it is easier for me to see what i am doing. Sculpey has the advantage that you can work on it as long as you like before baking it. I usually do a face over several days. That way i can fuss with it if need be and it stays soft until I decide to bake it. With epoxy putty, it is only a form of torture with the putty hardening every hour or two. Forget it, I will never do another face with epoxy putty.

I do not know what you mean by "fibrous". Aves does not feel that way to me at all. In fact, it works almost exactly the same as Magic Sculpt. I like magic sculpt too, but i never use it anymore as i prefer the white version of Aves Apoxie Sculpt. Unlike Magic sculpt, the Aves white is opaque. It allows me to see what i am doing. The only complaint I had with Magic Sculpt is its translucence. I could never see the surface or tell how smooth anything was. I will not do that anymore either!

Mike

 

[Colin_Fraser]

Thanks Mike - that explains a lot. I just assumed the dark brown was Aves. I like dark brown sculpey and grey sculpey Firm for faces for the same reasons you note.....plus I do a lot of brush sculpting and like the dilutant's effects on polymer clay. So we agree. No one can argue with your results.

The dark brown Aves I bought was quite different than Magic Sculpt. As I mentioned I found it sticky and gum like. There were also micro fibres in it that we're apparent when I tore apart a blob of the putty. Perhaps an unusual or old batch? I have relegated it to groundwork.

Thanks

Colin

 

[Richie]

Hi Mike,
As a person who has previously converted one of the predecessor's to this figure I can certainly appreciate those extra details that you have added. Such things as the 44th cross belt insignia, the collar and hat detail, the inner lining on the sheepskin. I just love that face and the hair, I wish this head was available as a spare in 1/16 scale.
I would like see what else you have stashed away in your pandora's box of 20 years..........any 1/16 Zulu War pieces by any chance!
cheers
Richie