Miniatures Confederate 1/9th Bust

[rebel brit]

After visiting the National Infantry Museum in Columbia GA and seeing this particular figure below I was inspired to build a Bust.
Not to replicate it exactly, it was more that I just liked the stance and particularily the way he was holding the rifle .

Using Super Sculpey ( a Clay which to harden you need to Bake) and Magic Sculpt (a 2 part epoxy) I started on the face and body.
The arms are wire rods covered with Magic Sculpt. For the torso I scrunched up Aluminium- foil covered it with the Super Sculpey clay then baked.
The head was made from Super Sculpey Clay with the collar added using Magic Sculpt.

Mainly using the Magic Sculpt I built up the body and arms adding the blanket roll and straps with the Belt buckle made using brass wire .
Also the silver buttons are simply pin heads.

The next stage was to build the headgear and equipment ( Rifle sling, end of blanket roll, Canteeen, Cartridge box and Cap pouch).
I decided to give a choice of a Slouch Hat or a Forage Cap.

The Enfield rifle was purchased from a friend at Reedees Miniatures.

After a coat of Grey Primer here's the final result.

Hope you like it and now onto my next build.

 

[alan polk]

Amazing!!

 

[gary]

Are you 3D printing or sculpting? That's AMAZING work. Stuff like that should be casted in bronze.

William Edwards (Civil War Guns) could also sculpt and somewhere I have a bust of George Washington that he made. His wife gave it to me after he crossed the Styx. Touch Some Arse (TSA) opened my luggage to see what I had and the woman agent scolded the male agent, "Don't you recognize George Washington?" He looked at it and only then did he recognize it. A triumph for publik edge-u-kay-shun (OK, it's 50-50 with that pair).

 

[rebel brit]

Are you 3D printing or sculpting?

Old school . Not very techie and don't feel I have the time to learn 3D printing.
Thx for the TSA joke, I won't use it but I'll remember it the next time I'm visiting.

 

[gary]

You are an awesome artist! Do you work for a model making firm?

 

[rebel brit]

You are an awesome artist! Do you work for a model making firm?

No, although I have in the past. I have now retired and am enjoying creating one of a kind and custom figures. I enjoy the sculpting much more than painting.

 

[7thWisconsin]

That's beautiful. I do like that pose. That's not a drill book pose but the way somebody who is bored or moving between other positions might stand. Freezes a very human moment.

 

[rebel brit]

That's beautiful. I do like that pose. That's not a drill book pose but the way somebody who is bored or moving between other positions might stand. Freezes a very human moment.

Thanks, that's the perfect description of that pose.

 

[R. Porter]

Which hat finally won?

 

[rebel brit]

Which hat finally won?

Personally I perfer the Slouch Hat even though for me it was the hardest one to make.

 

[7thWisconsin]

On the Museum figure, I like the kepi, but the slouch hat on your figure gives it a more lived in veteran feel.

 

[R. Porter]

On the Museum figure, I like the kept, but the slouch hat on your figure gives it a more lived in veteran feel.

The museum guy looks like he hasn't been campaigning long, no facial hair. The bust looks like someone who has been around for a while.

 

[DixieRifles]

That's beautiful. I do like that pose. That's not a drill book pose but the way somebody who is bored or moving between other positions might stand. Freezes a very human moment.

That way of holding a rifle doesn't seem natural nor comfortable. It appears as if he was caught in the act of picking up a rifle or moving it. Yet the museum full figure stance seems quite natural and balanced.
The museum soldier seems to be skinnier in the body and yet his coat sleeves are baggy.
I still wonder where you get your nice bases. Is that real stone or plastic with realistic paint job?
I want to see another of your painted figures.

 

[7thWisconsin]

That way of holding a rifle doesn't seem natural nor comfortable. It appears as if he was caught in the act of picking up a rifle or moving it. Yet the museum full figure stance seems quite natural and balanced.
The museum soldier seems to be skinnier in the body and yet his coat sleeves are baggy.
I still wonder where you get your nice bases. Is that real stone or plastic with realistic paint job?
I want to see another of your painted figures.

That's what I find interesting about that rifle pose. It's not in the drill book. It's not a formal pose. It's not even necessarily how you'd pick up a gun. It has an absent-mindedness about it that's intriguing. It feels different, like it's a pass through motion that's frozen in time. For me, that's what gives it a feeling of reality.

 

[rebel brit]

I still wonder where you get your nice bases. Is that real stone or plastic with realistic paint job?

I think I've spent more money on Bases than Model figures... in fact I know I have.
I used to attend Model Shows not neccesarily to buy models more to meet friends and get inspired to make more figures, hence the need for more and more bases.
The base shown above with the Bust is made of coldcast resin, the speckled effect created during the pour.
I bought it many years ago for £6.50 ( $8 ), unfortunately the company is no longer trading.