Operation Frankton - Blondie

[Gaudin]

Allow me to show you a commissioned joint project with Gordon Mitchell of MMM

Its a 200mm bust of Major Herbert "Blondie" Hasler, a remarkable character who's ideas pretty much shaped Special Boat Service of British Commando's

In 1942 12 men in 6 canoes paddled from Britain to Bordeaux and destroyed significant amount of German transport cargo ships. The tactic was to attach magnetic " limpet" mines below the waterline by hand.
Only 2 men ( including Hasler) survived, albeit didnt avoid capture. 2 of their comrades were also caught and shot following capture, as at the time by Hitler orders every captured British commando was to be executed on the spot.

I hope my attempt of sculpting a likeness is worthy of the WW2 hero, this is a moment of approach to German ship.
He wears a cap comforter and although there are indications that that they may have worn dark blue balaclava type hats, a conscious choice was made in favour of an iconic and instantly recognisable commando item.

I hope you like it.

 

[DEL]

Great job. Nice to see a 'personality' engaged in the activity he is famed for.
A well considered action pose that is not overdone.
Will it come with a complimentary bottle of MOET ?
Cheers
Derek

 

[smudger1960]

Cockleshe'll heroes,great subject and nice piece

 

[stu]

Shouldnt he have both paddles ie at both ends as i dont think the one depicted would get them anywhere !!!

Esp since you clearly show the correct one in the pictures provided. It also makes your pose wrong. He looks like he's in a rubber dingy at the seaside paddling about.

Stuart

 

[Nap]

Hi Guys,

An interesting subject ...at the RM museum the canoe type is there with the full paddle but perhaps the were able to split and fit back together ..something I would be interested in finding out .

When I'll this be available from MMM ?

Is this the start of a series ?

....is there much more you need to do to the sculpt before then ?

Nap

 

[Gaudin]

The paddle indeed consists of two detachable oars, linked in the middle. To cover distance they would use "double " version, but as this would increase silhouette in the dark, so when stealth was needed they used just halves. If you look closely at Cachalot, the only original surviving boat ( it was damaged when they off loaded it from submarine on the night of the raid) the boat has hinges on both sides of the central section to store halves of the paddle.

 

[Nap]

D,

Nap

The paddle indeed consists of two detachable oars, linked in the middle. To cover distance they would use "double " version, but as this would increase silhouette in the dark, so when stealth was needed they used just halves. If you look closely at Cachalot, the only original surviving boat ( it was damaged when they off loaded it from submarine on the night of the raid) the boat has hinges on both sides of the central section to store halves of the paddle.

Have you any pictures of the actual boat and paddle hinges?

Nap

 

[chemicalkenny]

WW2 uniforms are a great area of interest to me and the cockle suit is an area which is surrounded by speculation. One museum, I think its the `combined services museum` purports to have a complete suit however this has been discredited. The consensus is though that there was one single large map pocket on the chest. The wrist were fastened with bands made from tyre inner tubes, this is documented.
It was quite a loose fitting thing, I think this is clear in the photograph you have there, perhaps you could make it appear more baggy especially around the shoulders
I think that in the interest of historical accuracy, he should be wearing a Balaclava.
here is the best representation I have seen to date. The cuffs are wrong though. Note the Balaclavas

Hope this helps, would be great to see his other crewman and the whole Canoe in 1/35th to go with it.

 

[Gaudin]

There is Hasler's ( allegedly) original drawing that we went by, accompanied by quite a bit of deduction. There is alot of varying descriptions, but what is worse - dozens of artist impressions which contradict themselves and alot of reconstructors all doing something different, but believing what they do is 100%

There is at least 3-4 different paddle shapes I have seen too, all claiming to be original, but again, had to go with what is 100% certain, and that is original boat No6 " Cachalote" Mark II cockle canoe.

This idea of discrepancy is extremely interesting - given the events are so recent and should have been well documented, however secrecy of SBS played a part I think.

There is some minor work that will be done with a smock following some feedback and references from a colleague, so certainly bagginess issue can be fixed.
There is also a plan to accommodate a balaclava version, as an add on.

 

[Nap]

D,
Trying to look at the attachment coming up as an error ...looks very interesting

...Its now gone!!

Nap

 

[jenghiz]

As usual Dimitry your research goes that extra mile,well done.Looking forward to seeing one in the flesh.

 

[stu]

Cheers gaudin.

Looks a great piece and it looks like we will have 2 of them too. Would be a great idea to include the mine . Well done to all involved.

Found these

Stuart

 

[Gaudin]

Those boats are later versions as far as I can tell, so not Mark II of Cockleshell raid
The recons are not too bad. They actually do a yearly " raid" to Bordaeux to commemorate the event.

This is apparently ? Hasler's original drawing, may be just an artists impression, who knows.

There is a lot of various cool things that could be depicted, limpet mine, magnetic holder ( speaking of which - there is at least 2 known different versions, looking very different and seemingly not possible to tell which one was used during Frankton, as they also been used by Australians in various other boat raids and Internet is full of those references), folding hook tool to place the mines, etc etc.

Problem is that all these goodies and alot of other equipment would have been stored and stashed away until very last moment when it was used, so choosing a scene to depict was quite difficult, without overloading the character and making it improbable.

 

[stu]

I suppose with all this information like a lot of us sculptors its hard to properly interpret what is deemed correct or not.

I suppose we can only interpret the findings as we determine them correct at the time and the information we have to hand. As with a few threads recently accuracy and interpretation have clashed...this piece being so recent you would think would be easy with a wealth of info but has clearly shown that a lot of the information is wide open to varying interpretations.

Its a tough job being a commercial sculptor...you spend more time on research than sculpting generally and you can really understand the appeal of fantasy pieces

Stuart

 

[Gaudin]

you can really understand the appeal of fantasy pieces

Another benefit of fantasy project, of course, is that the concept is safe in your head until very end, whilst historical piece idea is likely to come to several bright minds at once...

 

[Grod]

Hi Guys,

An interesting subject ...at the RM museum the canoe type is there with the full paddle but perhaps the were able to split and fit back together ..something I would be interested in finding out .

When I'll this be available from MMM ?

Is this the start of a series ?

....is there much more you need to do to the sculpt before then ?

Nap

Hello Kev
The boys at MMM won't be producing this as it's one of my personal commissions . It's a great subject for me and a difficult one to research as I know that Dimitry has spent some time gathering information. Some great material has arisen from this and Hugo's post. The end result should be interesting.
Cheers
Gordon

 

[Nap]

Hi Gordon,

Will this be still available if it's a personal commission ?

You are right lots of great info from both threads

Nap

 

[Grod]

Hi Gordon,

Will this be still available if it's a personal commission ?

You are right lots of great info from both threads

Nap

Kev
Once the sculpting is complete depending on interest shown I'll probably be casting a few kits initially and will offer them to PF members. It's difficult to predict sales these days with so many great models available to the hobby.
Cheers
Gordon

 

[MCPWilk]

The SBS was initially called the Special Boat Section, then Squadron and finally Service sometime around the Falklands War. A very nicely sculpted piece.

Mike