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Review Lt Col Cc "mad Mitch" Mitchell From Mitches Military Models

Discussion in 'Reviews , Video Reviews and Open Book' started by Nap, Feb 4, 2013.

  1. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi to all on PF ,

    Sculpting of a known person is I am told by my "sculpy type friends" one of the hardest things to capture in putty so it was a brave deciaion to commision and release this subject ....What have we on the review bench :

    Title:"Mad Mitch" Mitchell
    Sculptor:Fex (our very own on PF)
    Box Art:none available
    Scale: 200mm
    Material:Gray Resin
    No of pieces:2

    As always lets have Lt Col. Mitchells story:

    Colin Campbell Mitchell (17 November 1925 – 20 July 1996) He became famous in July 1967 when he led the A & S Hldrs in the British reoccupation of the Crater district of Aden. At that time, Aden was a British colony and the Crater district had briefly been taken over by nationalist insurgents. Campbell became widely known as “Mad Mitch”.
    Although born and raised in a South London suburb, Mitchell always considered himself to be Scottish and exhibited a romanticised view of Scotland.
    Mitchell was educated at the Whitgift School in Croydon. In May 1943 was enlisted as a private in the Royal West Kent Regiment. He soon became a lance-corporal and instructed newcomers in physical training.

    He was commissioned into the A & S Hldrs in 1944 and fought in the final battles of the Italian campaign. Although he was lightly wounded at the Battle of Monte Cassino, his wartime experience inclined him to take up a career in the British Army.

    He subsequently served in various campaigns inPalestine (wounded again in a ‘friendly fire’ incident), Korea(where he commanded his first company), Cyprus,Borneo and the Aden Emergency

    He also served on attachment in the UK with the Territorial Armyand in East Africa with the King's African Rifles. Throughout all this time Mitchell was making a reputation as a bold and efficient officer, passing through the Staff College and serving as GSO1 on the staff of the CDS (Lord Mountbatten) Mitchell’s success in a wide range of appointments won him brevet rank as a lieutenant-colonel.

    Mitchell was made Officer Commanding 1st Battalion, The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (the ‘Argylls’) on 12 Jan 1967. He achieved fame in the Aden Emergency, which was acted out in the final few years of British rule in Aden. He became known as "Mad Mitch" (not his choice) and was Mentioned in Despatches (MID) , he was not awarded the DSO which caused a public outcry.

    On 5 July 1967 Mitchell led a force that reoccupied the Crater district accompanied by 15 regimental bagpipers of the Argylls playing "Scotland the Brave". Mitchell subsequently used what were described as “strong arm methods” to keep control of the Crater in the remaining months before British withdrawal. The reoccupation was almost bloodless. Mitchell subsequently used an integrated system of observation posts, patrols, checkpoints and intelligence gathering to maintain the Crater as a tranquil area while security elsewhere in Aden began to deteriorate. The imposition of "Argyll law" (as Mitchell described it) on the Crater endeared Mitchell to the media and to the British public. But it did not endear him to certain of his superiors in both the Army and the High Commission
    In July 1968, Mitchell gave notice of his intention to resign from the Army at the end of the year. Although Mitchell had not given the customary 7 months’ notice required of senior officers, his resignation was accepted immediately.

    Once he was a civilian, Mitchell assumed a prominent role in the “Save the Argylls” campaign. He wrote his memoirs (“Having Been a Soldier”) th.jpg

    He undertook some freelance journalism and briefly took a job as management trainee with Beaverbrook Newspapers. However, he had become a popular public figure and turned this to his advantage when he started a new career in politics.

    Continued in next post:

    Nap

    mitch8.gif th 1.jpg a.jpg aa.jpg
    Silversurfer likes this.
  2. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Lets look at what we have :

    The model was received with MMM's usual efficiency of service , packed in the distinctive stout black cardboard box , with the contents which consisit of only 2 piece's (the actual model and the glengarry ribbons) being in a sealed bag wrapped all around by bubble wrap . k 022.jpg k 005.jpg

    The box has no art on it but a black and white photo of the contents ...some might want box art but its not essential and like everything would probably increase cost . k 002.jpg

    The piece's are cast in a gray resin and on opening the bag Mad Mitch seemed to come alive ...this is unpainted so when painted he will look even better .

    Fex has sculpted him in his full dress uniform in "archer green" (a very dark green) wearing distinctive shouldercords and a chest full of medals .

    Has Fex captured the features of the Colonel ...very much so....... his distinctive squared chin , tight features abound.

    Preparation is minimal with casting remanants to remove from the undersides together with a fine casting line on the collar ....nothing else cold be found using my trusty optivisor!!! k 027.jpg

    There is a small base cast on the undersides but some might prefer to use a brass rod or make a more substantial display stand .


    Continued in next post:

    Nap

    k 023.jpg k 026.jpg k 024.jpg k 025.jpg
    Steve, Joe55 and Silversurfer like this.
  3. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi Guys ,

    As this is a one piece casting with the torso and head cast together lets work our way down starting at the top with the glengarry he wears (as per the reference picture) , he was immensley proud of his Regt and quite rightly so IMO .
    B1.jpg
    The glengarry sits well and looks like he is wearing it , the centre is central to his nose , the top has a torrie on it nicely detailed sitting in the central position of the "envelope" k 029.jpg

    The dicing is nicely done as well perhaps a little too proud ...easily to sand back carefully k 033.jpg

    The badge is a really good piece of work with the rosette cockade behind it . k 035.jpg B.jpg

    There are ribbons to attach , these are cast in a thing resin , a little siff perhaps , but you can use hot water to shape them , prep is a quick swipe with the sanding pads ..... another option is to use metal foil to create your own (take the cast ones as a template) ...whichever you use it will look good . k 036.jpg

    Facial features are as I said spot on , the strong features of Mad Mitch are faithfully worked , eyes are piercing , ears are finely done as well . k 030.jpg

    Hair is again well done , as per pictures , this will be easily brought out by washes .

    The collar has a small casting line to remove from the back , the badges on either side at the front are very fine indeed ..a challenge to get right ...Fex has . B2.jpg k 031.jpg

    Epaulettes are the gold full dress ones used on this style of uniform , the rank badges are well done with the cording of the epaulette also nicely done. k 034.jpg

    The torso ends halfway doen the chest ...showing 4 buttons and an amazing array of medals k 032.jpg

    This bust allows the modeller to paint a great subject , simple in colour schemes ...Scottish but no Tartan !!! , the opportunity to do NMM on the badges and the epaulettes are there .....

    What will you have at the end of your work ....a lot of enjoyment painting a nicely sculpted piece showing fine details .

    For more information or to order go to MMM website www.mitchesmilitarymodels.co.uk ........

    or contact Gordon direct either by e mail: gordonmi@hotmail.com.......
    or pm him on PF


    Highly recommended ..lets hope we have more characters like this ...how about Anders Lassen another soldiers soldier.

    Thanks for looking in

    Nap
    Mike S., ChaosCossack, Helm and 5 others like this.
  4. Don Well-Known Member

    Lovely bust of a superb soldier. Sadly not to the taste of the then government.
    The bust is so like the real soldier amazong piece of work by Fex.

    Don
  5. Jimbo A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    Cracking good likeness to the man,
    Good review as always Kev
    Cheers
    Jim
  6. Funky50 Guest

    Good likeness
  7. DEL A Fixture

    Country:
    Scotland
    Another great review Kev. Much appreciated, it'll be interesting to see him painted up as many of the photos of him show that really dark shadow under his nose and brows that kind of define his look.
    Cheers
    Derek
  8. Wings5797 A Fixture

    Country:
    France
    Brilliant review as always Kev, well done Mate.
    I have one of these castings and totally agree, "a nicely sculpted piece showing fine details" .
    There is just one thing that is beating me at the moment and I have tried everything, does anyone know exactly what the seven medals were awarded to Mad Mitch. In the pictures I have found they are not clear enough to determin the exact colours to research the awards.
    Any help in this matter will be rewarded with limitless praise and gratitude.
    Cheers,
    Keith
  9. DEL A Fixture

    Country:
    Scotland
    Instant Deification for someone ;)
    Wings5797 likes this.
  10. Don Well-Known Member

    Keith I am sure an email to the Argylls museum in Stirling would get you the answer.

    Don
  11. Wings5797 A Fixture

    Country:
    France
    I've narrowed it down to three or four candidates. :p
  12. Wings5797 A Fixture

    Country:
    France
    Hi Don,
    I know that you are right, I have tried them before and they charge £12 for every 5 minutes of research....ouch! So I thought I would try my friends here first.
    Cheers and thank you Mate.
    Keith
  13. DEL A Fixture

    Country:
    Scotland
    What do you expect....Scottish Regiments have always been good at charging ;)
    Seriously though that's helluva steep. I'm sure someone here will come good.
    Helm and Wings5797 like this.
  14. Scotty A Fixture

    Country:
    Scotland
    Hi keith his medals are; italy star, defence medal, war medal, gsm pre 1962,british korea, un korea, and gsm post 1962 with MID. if you want to know what the bars are on the gsms I could find out for you probably. A great review of a great bust, keep in mind the collar badges were a pair with the boars heads facing in and officers were silver and gilt.
    [IMG]
    Steve Ward, napoleonpeart and DEL like this.
  15. Scotty A Fixture

    Country:
    Scotland
    Just re-read the post, can I point out that the jacket is a very dark "archer green" not blues as stated. for anyone brave enough I think the bars are 'Palestine' and 'Cyprus' on the first gsm and 'Borneo' and 'South Arabia' on the second. Now I'll just sit back and await that "limitless praise and gratitude".
    Thanks,
    Scotty.
    napoleonpeart, Wings5797 and DEL like this.
  16. Wings5797 A Fixture

    Country:
    France
    Hi Scotty,
    Top man, many thanks for the information and the extra pointer on the collar badges and pictures.
    Cheers,
    Keith
  17. diamond cutter Active Member

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    It's a good likeness. :)
    Wings5797 and Helm like this.
  18. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Scotty ,

    Top stuff on the medals ....its 3am in morning , back from work , will get pics of medals posted and I have amended the uniform colour .....typing error ...my notes say "archer green" ..be good to get an actual colour swatch as well !!!

    Here is a picture of a highland jacket in Archer Green...gives you some idea .

    ARCHER GREEN.jpg
    Nap
  19. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi Guys,

    Can't sleep so here's the medal information :

    Top Row Left to Right: Italy Star, Defence and War medal, Pre 62 GSM (front and rear)

    Lower row: Left to Right: British Korea and UN Korea medals, Post 62 GSM

    Italy Star.jpg Defence and War Medal.jpg GSM pre 62.jpg British Korea and UN Korea Medal.jpg GSM post 62.jpg

    Clasps now :

    Top: Borneo , South Arabia (both on post GSM's)

    Borneo.jpg South Arabia.jpg

    Lower:Cyprus and Palestine (on Pre 62 GSM)
    cyprus.jpg Palestine.jpg

    Finally : Mention in Despatches

    MID.jpg

    Off to bed

    Nap

    Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

    Attached Files:

  20. Gellso A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Great stuff mate.

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