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Seaforth Highlander Cobbler, 1916

Discussion in 'vBench (Works in Progress)' started by Dan Morton, Jan 13, 2008.

  1. Dan Morton A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    These are some work in progress photos of one of the next two figures for The Old Contemptibles. The figure is based on the 1916 Seaforth cobbler in the photo. The cobbler is an excerpt of a larger group of about 7 cobblers repairing boots. I'm not exactly trying to recreate the photo so much as using it for inspiration. The complete 1/16th scale figure will have a small set of cobbler's tools, a large tool bag like the one in the photo, some boots, and the usual field gear and rifle. The figure has one foot up in the air now but I'll fix that later.

    The tartan for the Seaforths is the Mackenzie, one of my favorites. I plan to use the head from the other figure, a Middlesex infantryman, 1914, change to a balmoral or possibly the other Scottish hat (sorry I forget what that one is called!). The alternate head will have a Black Watch cap badge, etc. The tartan for the Black Watch is the "government" green and black one.

    Totally unrelated and not included with this figure - I wanted to show you a couple of Lewis gun ammo holders. I noticed nobody offered these in 1/16th scale, so... The larger one has already been cast by John McNenney, but the smaller one is newly sculpted. The smaller one was designed to hold two flat 47 round ammo containers for the Lewis light machine gun, one of the most successful weapons of the Great War. This one was designed to be attached to a belt and the machine gunner carried two normally. The larger one held six ammo containers and was designed to be worn over the shoulder. John couldn't cast the strap, so that needs to be added.

    Comments and critique welcome!

    All the best,
    Dan

    Attached Files:

  2. amcairns A Fixture

    Country:
    New_Zealand
    Re Dan

    I like the work your doing,its original stuff somethind in which you have the knack.
    Look forward to more progress.
    Thanks for the Gor blimey pics and the stinker.
    Andy
  3. blaster A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Hello Dan,

    Another interesting vignette. Perhaps the torso and waist could be thickened.

    Rgds Victor
  4. Christos Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Greece
    Very nice so far,keep us posted Dan!
  5. vergilius New Member

    Country:
    Belgium
    awesome !!!
    now don't mess it up with the colours!
  6. megroot A Fixture

    Country:
    Netherlands
    Good work Dan,
    I like it.

    marc
  7. Dan Morton A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Many thanks Andy, Victor, Vergilius and Marc! Victor - I've concluded I need to have the torso bent forward a bit and will rework it. I intended to make him fairly skinny, but I'll look at thickening the waist a bit also.

    All the best,
    Dan
  8. Roc Active Member

    Country:
    United-States
    Very nice Dan, keep up the good work.

    Cheers
    Roc
  9. Guy A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Looking good so far Dan. Keep at it and I look forward to seeing your next step.
  10. Marcel Active Member

    Country:
    Spain
    Looking very good already!
  11. Bluesking Active Member

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Very good Dan, excellent subject expertly executed.
  12. elanlane13 A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    Dan,
    Again great subject choice, it will make an interesting and different figure. Leaning him forward will help with the balance, but he does need thickening up even if he is to be scrawny! How are you going to break this down for casting? Will the legs be separate, or will you fill in most of the undercut from the kilt?
  13. tonydawe A Fixture

    Country:
    Australia
    Dan,

    Well done mate. That's a beautiful sculpt and a welcome addition to the growing range of WW1 figures available in 1/16th scale.

    Cheers
  14. rafaelega Active Member

    Country:
    Spain
    Looks good my friend!

    Rafa
  15. John Bowery A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Dan,
    Very nice and another original idea.
    Cheers
    John
  16. Dan Morton A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Many thanks Roc, Guy, Marcel, Stephen, Robert, Tony, Rafa and John! Much appreciated! It's amazing how helpful just looking at the photos on this forum is in helping me SEE what is needed. I need to cut the bottom part of the waist / torso and remove about 1 or 2 mm. I also need to cut a wedge out of the waist / torso & change the fit of the upper and lower torso a bit. Not entirely certain how the kit parts will go. I have to correct these problems first. The head, the upper torso, and the lower torso, legs and boots are three separate pieces now. The bit 'under the kilt' is filled in pretty much and I plan to maybe fill a little more to enable casting. I plan another head with either another Balmoral or the other hat. You guys can help me decide. The cap badge for the other head & hat will probably be for the Black Watch - sound OK? That way the painters get two tartans for the price of one. :)

    All the best,
    Dan
  17. yeo_64 Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Singapore
    GOOD JOB, Dan !!!!

    Hi Dan :D !
    AWESOME subject choices, my friend; it'll certainly fill-in the void in the 1/16 scale WW1 figure market :p :p :p !!! I'm certain once the final product is in production, you'll soon have the thrill of seeing your work on the competition tables ;) ! Looking forward to the final sculpts, my friend. Cheers !
    Kenneth :) .
  18. Dan Morton A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Tools for the cobbler

    Thought I'd show you some tools for the cobbler.

    The thingie holding the boot upside down is a bar mounted on a foot plate. The cobbler rests his foot on the foot plate (logical, huh?) and holds the bar between his knees. A wooden shoe last would have been put inside the boot and the last fits on the end of the bar. A last is like a wooden 3-D die in the shape of a shoe or boot. There's a hammer, pliers, a couple knives, a crimping tool, a file with a saw blade and a small ruler. The two thingies at the top right are to hold a shoe sole allowing it to be cut to size and fitted. The gimmick with the needle is for making holes and gimmick next to the hammer is for making indentations in sole leather and similar things. The tool at the bottom center sits upright and is used to hold shoe leather and stretch it to fit or put it into a specific shape. A wood shoe last might also be fitted to it, altho, frankly, I got no idea how, I just know that's what it is supposed to be able to do. I even managed a few "shoe nails" from thin wire and putty circles. Forgot to put 'em in the picture.

    All the best,
    Dan

    All the best,
    Dan

    Attached Files:

  19. amcairns A Fixture

    Country:
    New_Zealand
    Re Dan

    These tools look great,they are just the thing to add to your figure.Will it be a vignette?.
    Andy
  20. Dan Morton A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Andy - Thanks for the comment and encouragement! Not a vignette. The cobbler is planned for release as a single figure with two heads - a Seaforth Highlander and a Black Watch soldier. He'll be doing exactly what the photo shows, fixing a boot. The tools and a tool bag, a wooden crate that he's sitting on and various other bits will be included. A lot of stuff!~ :) A bit of whimsy adding to the authenticity, shall we say? They were a lot of fun to make!

    I like the idea of showing soldiers, sailors, and airmen doing what they do 95% of the time. Most of the The Old Contemptibles figures will be in that vein. A British Middlesex regular 1914 cleaning his rifle is underway now and I'll probably finish both the cobbler and the regular at the same time. Originally I'd planned to do 1914 leather field gear with just one of these, but I've changed my mind and have made that for both.

    After that probably - just probably, I'm still not certain -
    a German Landsturm (1915 eastern front?) eating from his mess tin - "the hungry Landsturm", and,
    a very relaxed French Fusilier Marin, Yser 1914, smoking a pipe and leaning on some hay bales.

    All of these will come with weapons and field gear, of course and maybe some extras - second heads, different rifles, etc.

    Again, many thanks, Andy!

    All the best,
    Dan

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