I have had it my head to do one of these for a while. The figures are RHA from "Front Rank". I had two with rammer which had it cut away and had my own home made rockets added. They are made from piano wire, , some milliput rolled into a small sausage and fixed to the end. A couple of thin bits of paper cut and stuck to wrap them on and finally a small ball bearing added for the ball.
The rocket firing apparatus is made from brass wire and sheet, soldered together. It may not be 100% accurate to the originals (thats is another project with the heavier version launched from the wagon) , but put it on a table and people will see its a rocket troop. As far as i have read they fired a lot straight from the ground as well , so who knows that may be another one to do.
Background to the photos courtesy of Mark Freeth at the Wargames Holiday Centre (Yes that is La Haye Saint in the background)
Beautiful work, indeed! I love your style and the gloss finish only adds to the look. Regards, Dean
ReplyDeleteDave,
ReplyDeleteNice work indeed!
Whilst I'm not a great fan of Front Rank figures (too modern and "stiff" for my liking) you've done a very nice conversion job on them, and I really like your painting style, very "gilderesc" something that I know from personal experience is very hard to do well. Very impressive, nice too see another proponent of this style!
Look forward to see your future creations, good work!
John
Thanks guys. John I tend to agree with the "stiff" bit with Front Rank, but I think their British are amongst their best castings , not too chunky, and with reasonable variation. They do also reward a good paint job. I spent many hours staring at Pete G's figures in flesh and questioning him and Doug Mason on how to do it, so think I am pretty close to it.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Dave
Dave,
ReplyDeleteI agree, pretty close indeed, I'm lucky enough to have a reasonable number of PG / Doug Mason painted stuff, and your style is certainly comparable.
Something I've been trying to replicate myself, starting to get there to (Doug from Unfashionably Shiny) did a short photo sequence recently on how I'm progressing with this.
A question if I may? I'm still struggling a bit to get a good dark blue look, it either ends up too dark without enough contrast, or it's too light.
Any suggestions?
Cheers
John
John, Oxford Blue - Humbrol 104, for a base. Let it dry fully. -Simple is a light dry brush of grey 64. I have used that when matching old painted stuff to fill out units.
ReplyDeleteIf you are using a gloss varnish do not be afraid of bold colour. For my own new stuff I use 104, let it dry fully.I then use a Vellejo blue, - flat blue (70962) or medium blue (70963), and paint it it on in thin brush strokeS over high points , muscles groups etc,.Sometimes it may need a bit of white adding too (or use a lighter blue. When you first put it on it can look to garish vallejos dry darker. Maybe if I can get the webcam working again I will do a vid of one!