Hi All,
I did a version of this on my vbench sometime back, called Dear Mother. Since then I have bought the master off Steve Leadley (Valiant) which was a Boer war drummer boy, Colesberg 1900. Thanks Steve for letting him go mate and a chance to breathe new life into him.

The original body and base was a one piece construction, with only the head, drum and left hand separate. This resulted in mould lines which was understandable, but some in awkward place to clean, so I have re-engineered the master and started to re-sculpt the drummer boy to a 24th drummer boy.

As you can see from the photo's I have removed the upper torso and feet, I have started to re-sculpt the trousers and gaiters. I have also done two heads, one with a Glengarry and one with a foreign service helmet.

Still early days, but while I had the putty out on "Steady Lad", I thought I would crack on with him. The colour drum photo is a drum recovered from Isandlwana battlefield, a great reference for painting. All comments welcome.
cheers
Richie

Original Boer war drummer

This is great, Richie...I can just imagine this young lad,far from home,struggling to write something legible, tongue sticking out the side of his mouth[ I used to do that!]

Cheers, Alan

Tell you what Ritchie ....... you deserve to have your work exhibited somewhere significant.
You should also consider a dedicated blog
Cheers
Derek

That's some sharp work Richie! I look forward to seeing him painted up!

Joe

Love it Ritchie - if fact when can I buy one!

Splendid work.

marc

Hi Alan,
Thanks mate, no tongue sticking out on this one as the original was modelled from the attached photo.

Hi Del,
Thanks mate, I think a dedicated blog would be a lot of work for me to keep updated and fresh, but I never say never!

Hi Joe,
I did paint a version some time back, but I rushed it and did not get the helmet right, so I will do another in the future.
http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/dear-mother-just-crossed-the-buffalo-river.55348/

Hi DaddyO,
Thanks, I'm glad you like him, I will get him cast in the near future and I will let you know when he is available.

Hi Marc,
Thanks for looking mate and the thumbs up.

cheers
Richie

What a great photo! You've captured it very well

Alan

Hi Alan,
The original was sculpted by Steve Leadley, valiant on here. I just bought the master to convert him.
cheers
Richie

He really looks good Richie. Looking forward to seeing the end product.

Cheers

Huw

Richie,
That's a neat conversion, and updated a bit. Superb.
Bob