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54mm Charge of the Scots Greys

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Well I needed a break after that tartan, but I didn’t expect it to be 7 months!
I haven't been posting lately due to work and life, and I wasn't really going to bother blogging this part, but I decided to in the end. I'm still quite busy with work so who knows when the next installment will be, but here goes. I DO want to get the damn thing finished, though!
Part of the reason for the delay was uncertainty about the base. I want to protect it from household dust (I don’t have a cabinet- yet…), so I was looking for a suitable receptacle. I finally found a glass dome on Amazonia for a sensible price, so that was a step nearer completion.
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I didn't like the nasty wooden cheeseboard type of pedestal, so the first thing I did was to create and 3D print a better one in a nice shiny black plastic. I thought I had taken a pic of it before working on it, but I can’t have done, so here’s an image of the file
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Waterloo took place in fields of rye after a night of very heavy rain, and I learnt how to do rye from the Stan Catchpol Bible when I did my Imperial Guardsman a while back, so I won’t go into it again here. Briefly, it is made from raffia and bristles, with fine sand for the seed heads.
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I have been making stock of it on and off since July.IMG_20210218_175509627_HDR.jpg
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I have refined Stan’s technique a bit. If you’re interested you can find it HERE
I also confirmed that it would definitely be green, as per these re-enactors at a Waterloo anniversary
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The next step was to create a ploughed earth effect using Sculptamold. I mixed it with brown acrylic to avoid the white showing through. I wanted to show puddles so I took the furrows right down to the flat base. I’ve been walking a lot in the local woods during lockdown and lately it’s been incredibly muddy, so I have made good use of my time and researched mud in great depth…. I was surprised to find that there can be many different colours close together and the water is a different colour again! I also realised I would need hoof prints and lots of them, so I made a little hoof stamp with a horse shoe and pressed it all over the place randomly. These would also become puddles. I painted the puddles with a much lighter shade ink and made the water from successive applications of Klear. There are probably better products out there, but I got impatient and Klear is what I have to hand. I kept the rest of the mud slightly less glossy by using a brown ink wash.

As I wasn’t planning to blog this I didn’t take any WIP shots, but here it is ready for the trampled rye.
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This is as far as I have got.
Thanks for following

Neil
 

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Cracking work Neil, really liking the rye ( ready for the base ) and the hoof prints in the wet mud.
 
Very nicely done, Neil. This will look magnificent when finished. Can't wait.
John.
 
Patience of a Saint doing that Rye Neil! Love the colours of the muddy base.
 
Ohh... the sound of hoof beats cross the glade... ;)
Sorry... couldn't resist.
Baldrick! My coat and hat!
 
Most interesting Neil, I had a look at your link, and sorry to say I didn't see that build when you did it so apologies.
Love the base and the hoof prints, will make sure I see the rest.
 
Thread owner
Thanks everyone for your kind comments, very encouraging.

Just a quick update- I have 'planted' and pre-trampled the rye
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Not long to go now!
thanks for looking
Neil
 
Thread owner
Looking the part Neil, how long did that take ?
Cheers John
Bearing in mind that the rye was already made, the planting only took about an hour.
It's hard to figure out because I did it in stages and spread it out over a couple of months, but each strip of about 20 stalks probably takes about 20 minutes to make.
I stuck them to the earth with Evo Stik as it is brown and grabs immediately so they don't fall over.
 
Most interesting Neil, I had a look at your link, and sorry to say I didn't see that build when you did it so apologies.
Love the base and the hoof prints, will make sure I see the rest.
AN same for me Neil ive been havin a look as there is so much ativaity on this forum its easy to miss things but that how a forum should be anyway Niel i'll be havin a look now
chris
 
Thread owner
Thanks again for the kind comments everyone.
I want to have a bit more detritus on the battlefield, other than the Cuirassier's helmet I have already done, so I had a look through the spares box for French stuff, and I found a French Infantry backpack. It wasn’t furry so I dug out the heated knife and rectified the situation.
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I seem to remember someone pointing out that it was the 45th Line Infantry who the Greys really charged, so in a nod to historical accuracy I think the debris left behind ought to be theirs.
I don’t have any Line Infantry shakos in the spares box, so I thought I would see if I could create one digitally and 3D print one.?
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I used a peak from something plastic in the spares box, probably a highlander’s bonnet. But it does look a bit too pristine so I decided to fabricate one, and if I make it properly then I can crush it realistically too. I took a pattern from the 3D printed one by wrapping insulation tape around it, trimming it and then sticking that to toothpaste tube foil, as a template.

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The eagle is from Historex, but I had to make the cockade and Shako plate from lead sheet. I used the heated knife to ginger up the feathers on the plume too.
I found a few other bits to chuck around
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The half musket will have to be buried by the horse (it’s the only French one I have).
By this time I am on a roll, and I have always fancied making a discarded uniform coat, so I went for it with the Duro green stuff.
I pressed it into the base over clingfilm
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Turnback grenades and cuff detail are from Historex again, the epaulette is Airfix I think (like anybody cares…).
So the next step is paint.
many thanks for watching
Cheers
Neil
 
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