Plasticine Soldiers 1958

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Just for the record`s sake ( and two and an half years on from my last post on this forum), I have now just brought back home (today 20/5/23) my plasticine `Minden` model from the Fusiliers Museum in Bury, who have had it since 1988.
They have therefore had a good run with it, but for various reasons (including some damage incurred from 2010 onwards) I thought it would be best to take it off their hands. Also given the Battle of Minden`s great historical significance in connection with the Lancashire Fusiliers, I cannot say that I appreciated it being displayed on the floor and underneath one of the display tables. Thought it deserved a bit better than that but there we are.
The model itself is now 42 years old.
Will it get repaired? Doubtful.
Will it go the way of my `Nery` model and others? Probably.

regards to all

John Curran
 
I know this is an older thread, but I am so happy it popped up again with an update.

Marvelous; simply marvelous, and it illustrates so much why I love the vintage figures. It’s been wonderful to glimpse these early creations and to learn about the creators/artists. Just great stuff.
 
Raider17 said:
Just for the record`s sake ( and two and an half years on from my last post on this forum), I have now just brought back home (today 20/5/23) my plasticine `Minden` model from the Fusiliers Museum in Bury, who have had it since 1988.
They have therefore had a good run with it, but for various reasons (including some damage incurred from 2010 onwards) I thought it would be best to take it off their hands. Also given the Battle of Minden`s great historical significance in connection with the Lancashire Fusiliers, I cannot say that I appreciated it being displayed on the floor and underneath one of the display tables. Thought it deserved a bit better than that but there we are.
The model itself is now 42 years old.
Will it get repaired? Doubtful.
Will it go the way of my `Nery` model and others? Probably.

regards to all

John Curran
Click to expand...


John these are such wonderful models- is there any chance of some pics of the Minden model?
 
To Nap, HistorexRob and Merryweather, to be brutally honest I can`t make any promises regarding any pictures of either the Minden model or the three other remaining plasticine models which I have left. I just don`t know.
To complicate things we are now in the digital age and I have not really got the means (software and whatnot) to get any photos up on the internet even if I wanted to.
There was one chap (the name of whom I sadly can`t recall now) who came to my house at the time - 82 or 83, with a large format camera, much bigger than 35mm, and who took some brilliant photos of the Minden model and gave me a duplicate set of the results, which were full colour transparencies about three inches square, and I am damned if I can find them :mad: All I can say at this time is please don`t hold your breath as that would be unfair to you all.
My thanks to all three of you for your interest in something from all those years back. Thank you.
regards
John Curran
 
Hi John,

I had a bit of a furkle on t'internet and came across this photo which shows a diorama on the floor:-

8eb73f100ee5c2467217b97ad48fd0e0.jpeg


Could that be your model on the floor?

Cheers,
Andrew
 
Merryweather,
Hello. Yes, they are considerably larger than 54mm. Back in the day I just built them to a size that I was comfortable with, but exactly what size is terms of scale I can`t really say. All four models that I have must vary between 1/12th up to about 1/9th scale - no more than that. Not the way to make models these days I know, and not very scientific, but thats how I played it back then.
As far as the Minden model is concerned, the figures on that look nearer to 1/12th scale. The base of the Minden model measures about 29 inches by 24 inches, about the same size as that of my `Last gun at Nery` model, which weighed 32lb, and the Minden model is also very heavy, so yes, a bit bigger than 54mm, its a big `un!:)
With the case on it, its massive.

cheers

John Curran
 
Merryweather,
Yep; figures, equipment and horses all made from plasticine - a stuff which Shep Paine once told me you could, quote; `mush with your fingers`, unquote (!)
Not a very encouraging comment from the statesman of modelling at the time but he was right of course, but then again, if you put any plastic 54mm figure near a naked flame it will start to melt,....so its all relative! Crazy, potty days back then, and all old hat now and ancient history so who really cares?:)
If you have any further questions please don`t hesitate to ask, it is a pleasure to chat with you - and that goes for anyone else out there. Thanks.

Cheers and regards

John Curran
 
Raider17 said:
Merryweather,
Yep; figures, equipment and horses all made from plasticine - a stuff which Shep Paine once told me you could, quote; `mush with your fingers`, unquote (!)
Not a very encouraging comment from the statesman of modelling at the time but he was right of course, but then again, if you put any plastic 54mm figure near a naked flame it will start to melt,....so its all relative! Crazy, potty days back then, and all old hat now and ancient history so who really cares?:)
If you have any further questions please don`t hesitate to ask, it is a pleasure to chat with you - and that goes for anyone else out there. Thanks.

Cheers and regards

John Curran
Click to expand...


You must have had pretty solid armatures with all that weight!
It may seem like ancient history to you John, but it's you and your contemporaries who inspired me and my contemporaries to make our own figures. My first ever semi-sculpt(aged 15) involved a liberal use of plasticine over a plastic figure and in my early twenties I graduated to plasticine figures at 1-25 scale for my Stage Design models at art school, and from then on I was HOOKED! Then I discovered Milliput....
So thanks for engaging with me , it's a total honour!
Kind regards to you
Neil
 
Neil (aka Merryweather),
Thanks for your comments:) You are right about the armatures having to be strong, especially for any `standing` horses that I made as they were solid and therefore heavier. I used high tensile steel rod so everything else on my models may fail with the passage of time, but never the armatures (!)
With your involvement with art school etc it sounds like you travelled much further down the line than I did, and Milliput was a material I could not adjust to with all the baggage that went with the different approach which it required - I thought it was a bit messy, with the problems of it sticking to the modelling tools and that kind of thing, although I did use it when making the 54mm mounted knight figure based on Historex parts as mentioned elsewhere in this thread. Everything has its uses but Milliput as the primary material for making scratchbuilt figures just did not appeal to me, so I just stayed with what I was comfortable with - which was Plasticine.
I would like to see some of your work if at all possible - what scale do you prefer to work in, and what subject matter?

Cheers

JC
 
Thanks for your interest John, I feel a bit weird posting my stuff on this thread of masters. But I DO still have some of my art school models, so as they are actually made of Plasticine they do at least qualify under the title of the thread, although they are nowhere near your league.
They were made for the 1-25 scale stage-set model of a dance piece which formed my final project -they have suffered a bit over the years ....
Chinkonsai (1).JPG

All the best
Neil
 
Neil,
Nothing wrong with them if they are made from Plasticine - they are excellent so don`t sell yourself short. I especially like the stance of the second figure from the left but I like them all - they are all interesting figures that are full of character plus an interesting subject too (anything that involves Japanese samurai gets my vote). When you say `dance-piece` do you mean that it was based on an actual known `dance` (from say theatre or film) or did you do everything from your own imagination? Either way I think they are great and I`d like to see more if possible.
Just remind me, in terms of scale what does 1/25th scale equate to in terms of the `millimetre` scale, is it 75 or 90 (?) I can`t recall now - I`ve been out of the hobby that long.
Anyway congratulations on these figures and many thanks for taking the time to post them.
Cheers and regards

JC
 
Merryweather said:
Thanks for your interest John, I feel a bit weird posting my stuff on this thread of masters. But I DO still have some of my art school models, so as they are actually made of Plasticine they do at least qualify under the title of the thread, although they are nowhere near your league.
They were made for the 1-25 scale stage-set model of a dance piece which formed my final project -they have suffered a bit over the years ....
View attachment 469731
All the best
Neil
Click to expand...

Very impressive work Neil.

Cheers,
Andrew
 
Raider17 said:
....
Just remind me, in terms of scale what does 1/25th scale equate to in terms of the `millimetre` scale, is it 75 or 90 (?) I can`t recall now - I`ve been out of the hobby that long.
Anyway congratulations on these figures and many thanks for taking the time to post them.
Cheers and regards

JC
Click to expand...

Hi John,

I prepared a table some while back linking scale, mm. and inches, which you might find of some use:-
https://www.planetfigure.com/threads/scale-sizes-in-terms-of-inches.274828/#post-1098149

Cheers,
Andrew
 
About 75mm John.
It was an actual dance piece called 'Chinkonsai ' and I conceived and designed it and staged it as part of my degree finals.
We had to design the set and costumes for a real production- we weren't REQUIRED to create our own but Mr Ego here didn't think much of what else was on offer....
It was loosely based on Japanese theatre styles such as Noh and Bunraku. I used traditional Japanese music pieces which I mixed together into a soundtrack . The principal dancers were from a local ballet school and the students on the course built the set and costumes. It was totally grueling and I nearly had a breakdown with the responsibility, but it got done in the end and I was very proud of it.
I didn't, however, go on to have a shining career as a stage designer, although I worked for a while as an assistant to many of the big name designers of the time, specialising(happily) in making figures for their set models. In stage design the main plank of communication from the designer to the director,the lighting designer,the set construction and everyone is the model.
It's one of the reasons I chose the course in the first place, and I had an absolutely wonderful 3 years. I ended up being an architectural model maker, which also provided a huge amount of job satisfaction.
The end!
 
Hi Neil

Thanks for sharing the pieces all credit to you they look good to me

I seem to remember reading somewhere about using plasticine over a wire armature with banana oil ?

Interesting thread and great to see John posting

Nap
 

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