Old trick

[Luc Klinkers]

Dear friends,
what I am about to show you now is an old trick. It is not mine. I read it over twenty years ago in an old Military Modelling issue. There was this guy, I forgot his name, who turned some old multipose Airfix figures into great ww1 US infantrymen. You probably saw this many times before, but I can show you some nice step by step pictures.

So what's this all about? Like I mentioned in my former topic, when in comes to sculpting your own figures, the "getting the pose right" stage is one of the most difficult things. So if you want to get into the sculpting and do your own figures, start with plastic figures as a basis. Some might call it cheating, I call it skipping a difficult stage.

For this project I took an old Tamiya figure. It is the officer from the artillery set, that comes with the old 88 flak. The figure is absolutely no longer up todays standards. The details are very lumpy. In fact it is an ugly looking guy. But it was designed in the late sixties and the guy that made the master, definitely knew what he was doing. The injection moulding limited the final result, but in fact the figure is correct and has a very fine pose. Take a closer look!

 

[Luc Klinkers]

With a motor tool I scraped off the surface. Underneath the ugly details a perfect body with an interesting pose is hidden.
This is a simple job. It took me less then twenty minutes.

 

[Luc Klinkers]

Now I need to chop off the head and replace it with a resin one from the Hornet range. I like Hornet. Every once in a while I switch to other brands, but Roger Saunders gives us the proper, constant quality, we actually need. The helmet is from Dragon (Gen2).
The original feet are from Frankenstein, so I replaced them also (plastic, Dragon).

 

[Luc Klinkers]

From here on, the sculpting is much easier. The plastic figure is a solid basis.
I use Magic sculp and start with one leg of the trousers.

 

[Luc Klinkers]

Let's add some folds and creases.

 

[moon puppy]

Oh wow!

 

[Bagge]

That's something i could try, have a lot of the old tamiya figure kits in the shelf....

I've done a resculpt of that officer myself he became the grim reaper with some green stuff wrapped around him :geek

//Mats

 

[Luc Klinkers]

Right leg

 

[Luc Klinkers]

The belt, important anchor point for the sculpting of the upper part.

 

[Luc Klinkers]

Cool!!

 

[Luc Klinkers]

Now the parts "below the belt"
This is a ss camouflage smock. The map case and the pistol holster are plastic items. The small straps are little strips of lead foil.
It is important to attach these parts while the putty is still soft. That will give a sort of natural set.

 

[Luc Klinkers]

Upwards

 

[chukw]

Brilliant work, Luc- your drapery is so natural in appearance!

 

[Luc Klinkers]

Towards the head.
The details on the smock are added while the putty was nearly set. So, it was still a little soft. When he collar and the scarf was added, the smock was fully set.

 

[Bagge]

 

[AndyFettes]

Luc, I am so glad you have joined modelersalliance, I am watching intently to improve my skills I am ok at painting but not so good at sculpting

Qu,.... Do you let each part set before moving onto the next stage ?

Do you have a preferred putty ?

 

[Luc Klinkers]

Between stages I leave the putty to set completely, unless otherwise indicated.
I prefer magic sculp and Aves apoxie putty.

 

[Luc Klinkers]

I removed the right hand. This was absolutely below level. I made my own, by carving it from a piece of resin. This is an advanced technique. I am going to leave this. Maybe that is subject for another topic. The left hand is OK.
The sleeves are done the same way. The left one first.

 

[Luc Klinkers]

I think we are done here. Let's prime and make a small base.
The base is a plaster casting, with some wall filler and bits from the spares box.

 

[Luc Klinkers]

That's it folks. I painted using Vallejo acrylics.
Keep modeling and most important: have fun!!!

Luc