Polish Lancer

Jim Patrick · Jun 18, 2004

I discovered something completely new. Putty! :lol: Ok, not exactly new but new for me. After my recent observations on this figure in uniformology, I decided to see how "simple" this putty is when it comes to making minor uniform changes such as this. Guess what? It was. The putty is Knead-a-tite. The biggest problem was braiding 3 rolled out pieces of putty to create the braid. Not hard once you think it out but a problem for me at first. After looking at the epalauttes and aiguilettes, they almost look a little too big. I'm not changing them though. I still have a little more to add but nothing major. Something funny happened along the way. I discovered I like converting figures. I'm already eye balling another Pegaso fig for a conversion

. Anyway, tell me what you guys think. What can I do to get better next time?

Thanks,
Jim Patrick

KeithP · Jun 18, 2004

Jim-

I like it. Even small mods like this give me the hee bee gee bees...

Did you see David Lane's English hussar conversion he did in the HM one issue back? If you ever need "inspiration" on brading, take a look at that article!

Keith

Anders Heintz · Jun 18, 2004

Hey Jim!

Great job on the braids my friend! They really look the part. You will see once bitten by the putty bug you will have a hard time to get it out of your system. This is the way to start, just keep at it!

amherbert · Jun 18, 2004

Hi Jim

Looks great! That's the way to keep him in the Guard!!

Cheers
Andy

Jim Patrick · Jun 18, 2004

Thanks guys! (you too Hardy and Guy

) I'm really seriously eyeballing my next "conversion". We'll see though.
Kieth, I did see his article and that's kinda what pushed me to do this. I figured if he could do that (MY GAWD! That was great work!) then I should be able to do something this (relativley) simple.
Anders buddy, it has taken hold in my blood. I can feel it. Kinda like The Hulk or Spiderman. There musta been something in the kneadatite that geneticly bonded with my DNA......OK, that's a stretch even by my standards! :lol: I did enjoy it though.
Thanks Andy. This also allows me to add my own "touch" to a figure.
As a funny (well maybe not) afternote, I went back and re read Gordy's article on painless shoestrings. This would have helped immensely had I just read it first. I caught *&$# trying to get all those rolls of putty the same size. Oh well, there's always next time. There will be a "next" time !

Thanks again,
Jim Patrick

Roc · Jun 18, 2004

Jim, it looks great,I think the epaulettes and aguilettes, theu are very much in scale.

I'm looking forward to seeing it painted.

Keep up the good work.

Roc.

slaj · Jun 18, 2004

Jim, nice work. For a mere suggestion , try mixing MS with Duro.It works even better

Stephen Mallia

Joe Hudson · Jun 18, 2004

Hey Jim,

You are on your way! Looking forward to seeing what's next.

Joe

yeo_64 · Jun 18, 2004

GOOD JOB,Jim

!! Looking forward to the next step.Cheers !
Kenneth :lol:

Jim Patrick · Jun 19, 2004

Thanks Roc, Stephan, Joe and Kenneth. This whole putty thing has really got me fired up to work on figures. No more being satisfied with what I get in a box. I'm not going to run off and start sculpting my own figures but, it's nice to have a choice and to be able to make a figure that much more of my own. By the way Stephan, would mixing MS and Duro be about the same as MS and Keadatite? I don't have Duro but could. It's not a problem at all. I also plan to get some A-poxie (sp?) putty this summer.

Thanks,
Jim Patrick

Einion · Jun 20, 2004

Originally posted by Jim Patrick@Jun 18 2004, 07:13 PM
Something funny happened along the way. I discovered I like converting figures. I'm already eye balling another Pegaso fig for a conversion

Hehe, that's how it starts! Before you know it you'll have the saw out and you'll be hacking limbs off left and right :lol:

I agree with the above, these additions look good and scale-wise they look fine to me. Braiding Kneadatite strings is quite the experience isn't it?!

As to suggestions on what to do better next time, on the epaulette there's a small amount of flattening where they were cut to length. I don't think it's much of a problem here since they would naturally fray wouldn't they? But if you want to avoid this in future one of the easiest ways around it is to trim them on the figure after the putty has cured, another option is to make them off the figure, where you can re-roll them to make them round again, and apply them when the putty has nearly set. Kneadatite still clings quite well at this stage, I've used this latter technique to make individual strands of wavy hair that hold their shape after being attached.

Einion

Jim Patrick · Jun 20, 2004

Enion, thanks so much. Your suggestion has not fallen on deaf ears. That's exactly what I was looking for. "That" being comments like yours. The other part of what I was looking for ....well.... I found it by looking for it :lol: . Imagine that. As far as braiding rolled pieces of Kneadatite, once again, I found what I was looking for AFTER the fact. It was in Shep Paine's book Building and Painting Scale Figures. I need to remind my self that before I do something like this again, I'll look through my books and magazines so I can see how someone else did something. Another thing I found, someone else has always done it before me. One of these days I'm gonna learn but there is something to be said for something learned the hard way. You remember the easy way next time

.

Thanks again,
Jim Patrick

Jim Patrick · Dec 9, 2004

OK, so it took me a LONG time to get back to this figure. Actually, I tried painting the blue uniform once but it didn't turn out very well. So after my so-so attempt at painting white, I picked up another figure. Not the Lancer but this time I went back to my 75mm Pegaso Centurion. I couldn't get this to turn out either. Ever have one of those weeks where everything you do doesn't turn out? Well, I picked my Polish Lancer back up and said "What the heck, as long as I'm messing figures up, I might as well mess this one up too". I didn't quite manage to mess it up but my blues are improving. Not the best mind you. Just improving. I also roughed in some other colors. Just to "get a feel" for how the blue looks. Also, I had a Devil of a time photographing blue. I used a blue backdrop at first but the pics looked way off. I was in the process of adjusting the white balanc when my batteries died. The actual color of the blue is a couple shades darker. Not too dark but it isn't this light either. Oh well, when the batteries are recharged, I'll try it again. Well, like I said, it ok I guess. I still have a ways to go but in the mean time, what do the rest of you think? Tips, suggestions? Short of actually dropping it in a jar of brush cleaner :lol:

Thanks,
Jim Patrick

Note- I went back and shrunk the pic size and darkened them up just a bit.

thegoodsgt · Dec 9, 2004

Good for you! Braiding and lace has always been a reason for me not to attempt certain conversions. Like many things that we modelers do, it really comes down to thinking through the process and just being patient. And being willing to make mistakes.

Guy · Dec 9, 2004

He is looking great so far Jim...........glad you got back to him

Jim Patrick · Jan 18, 2005

OK, this is begining to turn into the figure that wouldn't go away. After reading all these posts from you guys here on The Planet, I decided to get off my worthless rear end and finish this figure before I go to "Hot-lanta". I repainted this figure (AGAIN!) but this time made a lot more headway on him. It's nearly finished now with only a few minor things left to paint. The lance, the headgear and the blanket come to mind plus a few other minor items. I'm saving the boots until after I attach the rider to the horse. Then I can get a better fit between the stirrups and saddle. As you can probably tell from the pics, I need to do some touching up. I swear, I paint more touch ups than I do figures :lol: . Tell me what you think about the flesh tones. I'm not sure if I should tweak them some more or not. For that matter, is there anything else I need to tweak still? I'll get back to the horse and groundwork later this week but first I'll finish up my Lancer!

Thanks for your time,
Jim Patrick

Joe Hudson · Jan 18, 2005

Hey Jim,

He is looking nice. I think you have it this time. Maybe one thing I would do and it may be there, would be to put a higher highlight on the top edge of the waist belt. Look forward to seeing it in Atlanta.

Joe

Anders Heintz · Jan 18, 2005

Looking great man! Really like the gentle 5 O'clock shadow.

amherbert · Jan 18, 2005

The figure looks great!
The fleshtones are very nice.

The leather parts of the trousers don't look 'leathery' enough to me. Too matt and uniform in color. Of course most of that is hidden by the horse, I bet. What are you going to do for the oilskin on the shako? I'm curious because I have a similar covering to deal with on another figure, and I'll steal your method!!

He really is looking good.

Andy

Jim Patrick · Jan 23, 2005

OK, here he is. Finally finished (or at least as much as I'll do for now). I wanted to have him done by Friday evening but life has this funny way of getting in the way of my hobby. That and I just didn't feel like it

. Well, I would have had these up a lot sooner but my batteries went dead and I was watching a great playoff game (so far-Eagles v.s. Falcons). Halftime came around and after my batteries I went. Well, what do you think?
Andy, I painted the czapka oil cover is painted with a base of 862 + 875. I kept adding 875 until this was pure. I added black to the 862 for shadows.

Thanks for your time,
Jim Patrick