Dan Morton
A Fixture
I know that some members of the hobby don't like the idea of showing soldiers suffering and dying, but to me that's never made sense. I like shiny toy soldiers as much as anybody else, but so far I would rather make realistic miniatures.
This poor Tommy has basically had enough. Enough bombardment, enough noise, enough death, pain and disfigurement. All of us have our breaking point.
British soldier in small dugout shelter or "funk hole" in side of trench. 1/16th scale. The soldier is in a small hole dug into the side of a trench. These ‘funk holes’ were used in temporary or poorly engineered trenches for soldier rest and to protect them some against shrapnel during bombardments.
The original piece is a museum display near the entrance to the Bovington Tank Museum in Dorset, UK. It is a manikin with flexible hands and fingers and wearing a wig, dressed in British uniform.
I found a photo of the museum display posted on Pinterest, asked some questions about it on Great War Forum and Planetfigure. I thought at first it was a sculpture! A photo of the display was used by Fiona Reid as the cover to her book, Broken Men, about shell shock and similar injuries.
The display manikin has been set up with a PH gas mask bag and haversack, slightly behind and to either side of the manikin and not visible in all photos. The conspicuous absence of a weapon, helmet and a canteen bothers me a bit.
The clear disadvantage of this pose for sculpting is that it affords only a straight-ahead view. No satisfactory side views, etc., because the soldier has withdrawn into the smallest space possible and the space is semi-enclosed. But the pose is so emotionally evocative maybe this problem is acceptable.
Let me thank again my photographer friend, Patrick Student and my fellow model-maker, Charlie Duckworth for their kind and patient support! I also need to thank PF member Windy and a couple of commentators on Great War Forum for their knowledge and assistance. Windy's photos particularly helped so that I could see the manikin from all angles - thanks again!!
I cut up and used a piece of thick white plastic light enclosure to enclose the 'funk hole'. Then built the irregular soil walls using putty and started the figure. I found that since the figure is so bent over I needed to make it in two pieces - otherwise the painter might be unable to reach everything. Actually, the painter will still have a difficult time, but it should be possible. I took a head from a kit, hands and a water bottle that I made earlier and have had cast, boots from a kit, etc. I've now added a DJ Parkins helmet and SMLE rifle. I thought the scene setting would be incomplete without these additions.
The figure itself is about 50% complete in the photos. I've since added coat sleeves, altered the hands so that the fingers in the hair look right and a few other bits.
Looking forward to your critique and comments!
All the best,
Dan
This poor Tommy has basically had enough. Enough bombardment, enough noise, enough death, pain and disfigurement. All of us have our breaking point.
British soldier in small dugout shelter or "funk hole" in side of trench. 1/16th scale. The soldier is in a small hole dug into the side of a trench. These ‘funk holes’ were used in temporary or poorly engineered trenches for soldier rest and to protect them some against shrapnel during bombardments.
The original piece is a museum display near the entrance to the Bovington Tank Museum in Dorset, UK. It is a manikin with flexible hands and fingers and wearing a wig, dressed in British uniform.
I found a photo of the museum display posted on Pinterest, asked some questions about it on Great War Forum and Planetfigure. I thought at first it was a sculpture! A photo of the display was used by Fiona Reid as the cover to her book, Broken Men, about shell shock and similar injuries.
The display manikin has been set up with a PH gas mask bag and haversack, slightly behind and to either side of the manikin and not visible in all photos. The conspicuous absence of a weapon, helmet and a canteen bothers me a bit.
The clear disadvantage of this pose for sculpting is that it affords only a straight-ahead view. No satisfactory side views, etc., because the soldier has withdrawn into the smallest space possible and the space is semi-enclosed. But the pose is so emotionally evocative maybe this problem is acceptable.
Let me thank again my photographer friend, Patrick Student and my fellow model-maker, Charlie Duckworth for their kind and patient support! I also need to thank PF member Windy and a couple of commentators on Great War Forum for their knowledge and assistance. Windy's photos particularly helped so that I could see the manikin from all angles - thanks again!!
I cut up and used a piece of thick white plastic light enclosure to enclose the 'funk hole'. Then built the irregular soil walls using putty and started the figure. I found that since the figure is so bent over I needed to make it in two pieces - otherwise the painter might be unable to reach everything. Actually, the painter will still have a difficult time, but it should be possible. I took a head from a kit, hands and a water bottle that I made earlier and have had cast, boots from a kit, etc. I've now added a DJ Parkins helmet and SMLE rifle. I thought the scene setting would be incomplete without these additions.
The figure itself is about 50% complete in the photos. I've since added coat sleeves, altered the hands so that the fingers in the hair look right and a few other bits.
Looking forward to your critique and comments!
All the best,
Dan
Attachments
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Broken Men book by Fiona Reid.jpg -
A Shattered-Soldier-1918.jpg -
D-Shattered Soldier 1918 showing funk hole b&w.jpg -
Front-view.jpg -
Left-side-view.jpg -
Right-side-view.jpg -
Close-up---hands-on-head-slight-left-side-view.jpg -
Close-up-hands-on-head-slight-left-side-view.jpg -
Close-up-hands-on-head.jpg -
A.jpg -
C.jpg -
Crouching-figure-A.jpg -
Crouching-figure-B.jpg -
Crouching-figure-C.jpg -
D.jpg -
B.jpg
