Three Tommies in the Agony of the Somme

[Dan Morton]

This is continued work in progress on the vignette shown earlier. All the field equipment is now sculpted and mounted on the soldiers except for a few straps and buckles. I'll finish those next weekend as well as the remainder of the putty base for the mud ground work. The mud will be made of 2 part epoxy with a little talc and some grey brown acrylic paint.

I hope to finish my part of this vignette in about 3 weeks.

All the best,

Dan

[Dan Morton]

Another couple photos...

All the best,

Dan

[ianjohnson1@blueyonder]

Dan,

Thats coming on a treat mate, How many man hours are we looking at so far?.

Can't wait to see it all painted up.

Ian.

[SFayers]

Hi Dan,

Looking great! I have to say you're giving me a lot of inspiration to take up sculpting myself!!

Quick question for you (sorry if it's been asked before); I'm guessing the heads, equipment and feet are in resin - did you make the moulds yourself, or can these be bought anywhere online pre-made?

cheers

Steve

[Dan Morton]

Many thanks for your comments, Ian and Steve! How long does it take to make one of these figures? Since I only have weekends and some week nights and holidays to work on them, it takes months. I estimate any given single figure is about 200 man-hours to sculpt. I do only the sculpting. I work with various painters including our good friend and fellow Forum member, Roger Newsome.

Everything you see that is yellowish is cast resin from various kits. DJ Parkin made 2 of the heads. The Lost Battalion (Terry Worster, I believe) made another. Both helmets are DJ Parkin. The SMLE rifles are all Parkin metal casts. Some of the field equipment is from The Model Cellar. If you do Google searches for those firms you should come up with their web sites. If not, please let me know and I'll send them to you. The black putties are made from paper decoration tape or map tape. The putties look pretty ratty in the photos [they attracted dust and dirt for some reason!] and I will replace them. Everything that is grey is 2-part putty which I sculpted. The putty I use is Magic Sculpt, but there are many hobby putties available for this. The right one is more what works for the sculptor vs. the chemical qualities of the stuff. Bill Horan, a master sculptor, has made hundreds of award-winning 54mm figures using Duro, a green colored 2 part putty, which I just hate! The stuff reminds me of wet bubble gum and I can't work with it at all. But it sure works for him!!!!

Moulds - I don't use them much. If I have a part I want to duplicate, then yes, but that doesn't happen as often as you'd think. To the best of my knowledge, nobody manufactures moulds for figures or for parts, but lots of firms sell the cast parts. Many, many more firms sell 54mm scale vs. 120mm scale - the one I work in so far. I've never cared for 54mm. Just too small. I like 75 - 80mm, 90mm and 120mm.

I think lots of people have latent talent in sculpting which with an investment of time and effort yield marvelous results. Try it!!! There are very, very good step by step guides online. Probably the best is on Planetfigure.com. This site is also an excellent focal point for the hobby of making figures.

All the best,

Dan