The Cossack, which my friend Heinz sculpted for me, has arrived!

I had to force myself to take care of it slowly and carefully, in order not to destroy anything or to overlook something and then throw away by mistake - because I can unfortunately quite well ...

And what came to light?

A Donskoj Molodjetz - a splendor of the Don!


Two parts of the lance of brass with connecting pieces, a Cossack's saber, a Mosin-Nagant cavalry rifle, a Nagaika whip, the head of the Cossack and his body - and, of course, the horse bust - already fixed on the base ...:





All parts are already pledged - and have their "counter-holes", so that "craftsmanship" work is no longer necessary.

In addition, Heinz has attached two Resin insignia of the Donkosaks, to pimp the base.

Apropos "fit": The fits are marvellous, there will not be a milligram filling compound to be used.

I put the things together without glue of course...:

There is no right to report transport damage - only the longer part of the lance has suffered a little and must - in moderation! - be straightened again.

This is undoubtedly the masterpiece of my friend Heinz!

For I will give myself the boy for my birthday and which is in October, I have Kusma Krjuchkow, his mare "Moya" and the whole dumplings again carefully packed.
Cheers
P.S. There were also two badges in the package to beautify the base of Admiral Alekseev, whom I am currently working on.

But this is another story and another thread...

A beautiful sculpt which you are going to turn into a wonderfully painted bust.

Oda.

WOW - that went quickly!

The ordered texture paste from Jo Sonja from Australia is there after only seven days - whereby I ordered her over his general representative in England ...:





According to the product description, it is a thick liquid paste, which is used to build up larger texture layers.

The paste can be diluted as desired by adding water and mixed with acrylic paints

The paste dries to a matt white finish, which can be painted over with acrylic paint.

A too thick application is likely to become brittle when dried - where is that not so?

If there are such cracks, they can be easily filled with additional texture paste. With this property the stuff & Also suitable for filling small joints (armrests, etc.).



I think the upcoming workshop in Goslar at the beginning of February is the perfect opportunity to experiment a little bit.

I will try to sculpt my Cossack horse (which is modeled by Heinz) a bit shaggy fur

The horse of Kusma Krjuchkow was a mare called "Moya", a so-called "dark fox", no White horse as in many drawings! No Cossack in mind would ride on a white "target" against the enemy ...:







"Moya" looked like this...:



Cheers

1st Day, November 3, 2017


The painters Meeting at Zinnfigurenmuseum Goslar this weekend was again a good opportunity to start with my current Cossack project.

But first - as usual - some history:


Who was Kuzma Krutschkow?


Kuzma Kryuchkov was born in the cossack village Ust-Chopjorkaja in the Don area in 1890. The exact date of birth is unknown.

Like all Cossacks, after a very rudimentary school education in 1911, he had to do military service in the 3rd Don Cossack Regiment (which bore the name "Yermak Timofeyevich"). This service was typically 20 years for the Cossacks, so he had to go to war in 1914.

Having now been promoted to Prikaznij (Corporal), Kryuchkov was transferred 5th to the Don Regiment, which the 1st Russian army of General Pavel Karlovich Rennenkampf ...



The 1st Russian Army ("Njemen Army") had the mission to occupy East Prussia together with the 2nd Russian Army ("Narew Army") immediately after the beginning of the war, and. to beat the German 8th Army under Colonel-General Maximilian von Prittwitz.

After initial successes of the Russians at Gumbinnen (17/18 August 1914) was recalled by Prittwitz, who wanted to retire. Hindenburg and Ludendorff took over and subsequently beat the so-called "Tannenberg Battle".

After the annihilation of the 2nd Russian Army under General Ssamsonow at Tannenberg (26 to 30 August 1914), the Russian offensive was over.

General Ssamsonov ...



...shot himself on the battlefield.

But back to our hero:

This is how Kusma Kryuchov looked in August 1914 - one of the very few original photos that exist of him:



The story, which made Klyuchkov famous, occurred before the Battle of the Tannenberg.
Already two days after the German declaration of war on Russia (1 August), still during the deployment phase of the armies, took place on 3 August 1914 - still on Russian soil and near the village Kalwaria Aleksandrow in today's Poland near the Vistula - the Incident that Kusma Kryuchkov should make famous:
Together with three other Cossacks, Ivan Shchegolkov, Vasily Astakhov and Mikhail Ivankov, Kryuchkov rode in a patrol a 27 German Uhlans.
His three companions fled, several lancers pursued them, and Kryuchkov suddenly found himself facing twelve lancers all alone, urging him to surrender.
The Cossack used his rifle as a club (the Uhlans surrounded him and he could not shoot) and struck with the Saschka (the Cossack saber) around him. Finally, he fought back with a lance, which he could wrest from a lancer.
During the fight, the Cossack killed 11 lancers and wounded the twelfth, but he was able to flee.
Kryuchkov was wounded 16 times in the fierce fight, his horse "Moya" eleven times.
Kryuchkov was then the first Russian soldier to whom, during the First World War with the award number 5501, the St. George's Cross 4th class (a bravery award, to compare for example with the German "Iron Cross" or the French "Légion d'Honneur ") was given.


Before the Tannenberg Battle, when Russia was still certain of victory, Kryutschkov's deed was profaned by Russian propaganda through postcards, newspaper articles and posters.




The most famous propaganda picture shows Krutschkow on a white horse, which is fictitious! No Cossack of reason would have ridden on a widely visible "target" into combat!
His horse "Moya" was a fox mare, but we'll come back to that ...

Kryuchkov made the whole First World War at the front and rose to the rank of officer. Shortly before Russia retired from the war in 1917 he was promoted to Sotnik (Lieutenant).

In the civil war after the overthrow and murder of the Russian tsar Nikolay Aleksandrovich (Nikolai II), Klyuchkov joined the restorative forces, the so-called "whites". He was elected as the "chairman" (ie commander) of his regiment and fought with his people in the Don area against Lenin's people, the "red" Cossacks under Filip Mironov ...:

(The photo above shows Mironov, by the way, shortly before his execution! He was put on the wall by his own people because of "indiscipline" ...)

Kusma Krutschkow did not live much longer: sometime in the summer of 1919 - the exact date is unknown - he died in the fighting in the Don area.

In some sources it is said that he had fallen in battle, according to another version, he was captured in a skirmish by the "red" wounded - and shot right after.

He was only 29 years old

So - and now we turn to his horse "Moya":

Heinz has sculpted there a wonderful horse, whose - in my eyes - only point to be honored is:

The horse bust is too smooth, because the fur structure is missing!


At the tip of a friend of British figures here in the forum, I bought "Jo Sonja's Stukturpaste" to model the fur...:

This paste is actually meant to model fabric textures such as rough cotton fabrics, etc. But I thought: horse-fur goes too!

The stuff in the can has about the consistency of auto-putty, but you can dilute the paste with water as you need it.
In addition, it is possible to mix with acrylic paints, so to speak, to color.

First of all, I packed the wooden base cleanly in a painter's crepe - good against picking it with dirty fingers...:

Then I spooned a little of this texture paste from the glass and only slightly diluted with water! The stuff was spotted on the neck, cheeks and under the head with a cheap flat brush ...

... and carefully incorporated fur structures with another flat brush.

You have to pay attention to two things:

First, the coat should follow the actual hair-"stroke" of a horse! (I've had so many horses grooved in my life that I know that by heart - otherwise there's pictures in the WWW that show the "stroke" exactly ...)

And second, you should not exaggerate the effect! The scene in question is set in August - in midsummer!
Since horses have a very short summer coat - especially Cossack horses from the Don area, which is indeed in southern Russia.

So with my first coat attempts I was quite satisfied ...:


Cheers

2nd Day, November 4, 2017

Today I have the ears...



... and the "face" of the horse with "fur"!

I have sculpted on the forehead - about in the eye line a small hair roll, which has almost every horse in this place ...:







I also remember the fur trim around the ears that you can see from the front ...


One and a half hours later the paste was dry - I was able to prime ...:










Then I painted the mane of the horse.

"Moya", the horse of our Cossack, was - as already mentioned - a fox mare with a slate white blaze:







The two color images, however, are both too dark for me and the horse color too "red"!

So I searched at the Internet until I found the photo of a "real" Cossack Fox mare, who looks as similar as possible to "Moya" - and I finally found it! THAT is my model!



I will reproduce this horse in color!

The mane got once a very thin primer with these colors ...:








Next step:

With a significantly darker color mixture, the mane is "washed" - this brings in "depth" ...:






Next was the mane - strand by strand! - painted with a much brighter color mixture - unfortunately, the daylight lamp sheds some of the effects back away - but to recognize something is ...:







So far so good (?)


Cheers

3. Day, November 5, 2017

With the same colors I used yesterday for the mane, I painted today the first side of the neck...:



What can I say?
It was really worthwhile to sculpt the fur first ...:









Cheers

Looking good mate

The modifications are working out quite well Martin!

Well done,
Ken

Hi Nap!

I have this Kuska Kjrutschkow bust of "Parade Models" (I think, mine was the last one...) too, but I resculpted it into a Sergeant of the 6th Orenburg Cossack Regiment...:

Original - painted by Mark...:



My Version...:



Even long ago...


Cheers

4. Day, November 6, 2017

Same colors like yesterday...



...and painted with them the other side of the horses neck...:






Whooaa - the sculpted fur looks so realistic...!


Cheers

5. Day, November 7, 2017


Today I painted the ears, cheeks and throat area with "fur".

I omitted the lower lip and chin, because there horses usually have no fur ...:









The only hairs in the chin area are some long bristles, facial hairs ...



... if the stupid horse owners (see photos above!) have not shaved them off just for the sake of "beauty" ...!

This is what "Moya" looks like now ...:














Cheers

6. Day, November 8, 2017


If we take a look at my template horse again, we realize that it has brown eyes and a crooked blaze.



Both are the turn of the day to be painted.

Most horses have brown eyes and the color may vary ...:



Rarer are blue eyes ...



... and most rarely are green ones - but they are!

If you look at such a horse's eye up close, you can see the elongated pupil (for good forward / sideways view!) very well and also that the eyes in the normal state, no white of the eyeballs can be seen ... :



The "white" can only be seen when the horse's eyes are extremely twisted - which my "Moya" does not do!

The expression of the fox mare Heinz has sculpted is "calm and attentive" - as you can see from the ears that are folded forward.

Okay - I just painted both eyes, as well as the upper and lower eyelids. And if you look closely, then you can see that I even painted the upper lashes ...:





The colors used for the eyes ...:



However, the eyes only really "live" with the setting of the two small white reflex points!

Next, I painted the Blaze - just as crooked and uneven as the template!



The hair structure was created with these colors ...:



Here is a picture with the daylight lamp switched on, so in very hard light: Since you can see the coat / hair structure better ...:



So much for today...


Cheers

Looking great Martin and I appreciate all the horse reference material.

Very nice,
Ken

7. Day, November 9, 2017

Well - ready with the fur!












Nostrils, mouth and chin I have reserved for tomorrow ...


Cheers

8. Day, November 10, 2017


At my "Moya" is still missing the area Nostrils, tilting and chin!

Let's take a closer look at my example and you will see: There are no hairs, but two skin tones, pink and gray ...:



This is the case with all horses that have white hair! Of course I picked out foxes for the example pictures ...:







If you were to shave the head of a horse (don't do it!), pink skin would appear under the white hair of the blaze - and everywhere the dark hair grows, the skin would be gray.

This gray can vary! In relatively light horses (such as the foxes, for example) is the tone rather a light gray, with black horses - like my favorite horses, the Frisians ( the most beautiful horses ever!) - it is an anthracite ...:





And as "sharp" the transition from the white blaze to the reddish hair on the head is, so sharp is the transition from pink to gray skin ...:



Good for me, because I do not have to dazzle pink and gray!

And the pink area ends just above the upper lip.

As far as the theory - and now a second look at my model horse:



There, the pink area is clearly asymmetrical - and goes on one side also still in the nostrils. One nostril is pink, the other gray.

And that's exactly how I painted it!

Sorry that two photos are out of focus, but I have only a 60 watt ceiling lamp and turned off the daylight lamp. And I do not want to flash.

The pink was created from these colors ...



...the gray from these ones...:



And that's how it became ...:












Next week I will continue with the bridle - and I will also take my oil colors again ...


Cheers