discussion 1/12 Airfix Imperial Guard Grenadier

[SimonT]

Excellent. Off to a good start Neil

I have the 54mm version in the stash but only made the Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn 1:12 figures years ago for my mum - they had an appalling fit and the detail was not very detailed

 

[Jason Crausby]

Ohh... I can tell already this is going to be good!

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Oh yes! - this is epic Neil. You're doing a great job.

I did actually buy a 1/12 academy bust so that I could replace the head on this. It's the one I used on the recent samurai bust.

Thanks Peter.
That young man was FAR too handsome! I'm going to see if I can make him look more like a grizzled old veteran

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Excellent. Off to a good start Neil

I have the 54mm version in the stash but only made the Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn 1:12 figures years ago for my mum - they had an appalling fit and the detail was not very detailed

Thanks Simon
I think I still have mine, somewhere.
I didn't know any better - in those days I just threw them together and piled on the Humbrol!

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Ohh... I can tell already this is going to be good!

thanks Jason

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Today I started to marry up the legs with the torso and again we pay the price of 54mm engineering enlarged three times.

The original has a butt joint at the edge of the waistcoat which is fine at the small scale, but there are great yawning gaps at the larger scale.

I carved into the edge of the waistcoat to sharpen the edge but it wasn’t enough

I put them together and this exposed another fit issue.


His hips are too narrow. The tails of the coat should be sitting on them and they should be the same width as the bottom of the waistcoat.

So, having ascertained that I need to address this area, I started to think about improving the pose. I have always felt this was a rather passive pose, and then I discovered the painting it is based on and I find that the original is a little more dynamic .

It’s On The Evening of the Battle of Waterloo by Ernest Crofts

So I decided to alter the arms as well

Out came the saw- I just couldn’t help myself !

I set the torso slightly further back and more upright, and bent both arms. I will have some work to do on the hands now, but I was considering that anyway.

Time to break out the Milliput

Thanks for looking in

Neil

 

[Guest]

Great butchery Neil. Glad to see you're getting stuck in.

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Great butchery Neil. Glad to see you're getting stuck in.

thanks Peter
very enjoyable,so far

 

[SimonT]

Parts fit looks about as good as I remember on the two I made

 

[rtfoe]

Does this help?
Here he is with his 54mm ancestor

the squares on the cutting mat are 10mm

Most busts are around 1/9 or 1/10 scale, although some are 1/12. so if he was a bust he would be a bit smaller than most .

My goodness, he is huge. Hope you can knock out some starch from this plastic figure with a natural pose Neil which I'm sure you will. Already the little details added and them buttons is a good start.

Cheers,
Richard

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Thanks Richard.
As always, it's the paint that I'm dreading. As a teenager I was quite happy with my abilities, but standards are SO high these days, especially at the larger scales with busts, that I'm really quite nervous.

 

[Steve Jones]

One of my favourite subjects ever modelled. Looking forward to seeing you work your magic on this one. Good luck

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Welcome Steve,
John's got the biscuits.

 

[Neil Merryweather]

I KNEW I had them somewhere....

As you can see they need a dust, but I shall unveil them, one by one, as they become more respectable for public viewing.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Neil
Already you have recognised the issues and are sorting them. Makes a really interesting thread to follow. I'm certain you'll end up with a great figure.
Jim

 

[Jason Crausby]

That box reminds me of the last Toy Story movie!!!

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Hi Neil
Already you have recognised the issues and are sorting them. Makes a really interesting thread to follow. I'm certain you'll end up with a great figure.
Jim

That's very kind, Jim, thank you

 

[Guest]

Neil.
Brilliant, any more of those Hobnobs, now Steve's arrived they seems to have gone.:smiling3: The front row of Rabble members are getting excited with the surgery me included.:nerd:

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Neil.
Brilliant, any more of those Hobnobs, now Steve's arrived they seems to have gone.:smiling3: The front row of Rabble members are getting excited with the surgery me included.:nerd:

Cheers John.
I'm in the queue at Iceland right now, will see what I can get

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Well, I’ve been beavering away with this baby and now there is a little bit more to show.

First the waist joint

Blimey it looks crude blown up this big!

I’ve added the fall and a bit of button detail to the breeches.

I took the arms off to work on them. Having changed the positions the creases were all wrong, and they were very crude anyway, so out came the dremel. I slimmed down the cuff detail as well. They still need a bit of filling.


A lot of the time has been spent texturing the haversack with a heated knife

Before;


After(but not finished yet)


I’ve had to do it in stages as it’s so tedious-I ‘m going to have to do it with the bearskin too. Ugh!

I took the scalpel to the face and engaged in some literal plastic surgery……

Before;

I think the original sculptor didn’t like doing ears as he avoided them in several of the 54mm figures- I don’t blame him, I struggle with them as well. But not as much as shoes.

The story so far;

I’ve tried to give him a bit of character, as if he’s an old campaigner who’s lived mostly outdoors for most of his life.

He’ll get some eyeballs, hair and ears when the Milliput comes out next.

Anyway, that’s where we currently are.

Thanks for following

Cheers

Neil