Hello Fellow Planeteers.

I would like to give you a brief update of my progress of my first sculpted bust.

The subject is of the larger than life Billy Mott, Garrison Sergeant Major London District. This sculpt has been really poignant in 2012 with Billy Mott organising all of the military ceremonial events for the Queens Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics.

The bust is made from; Milliput, plasticard, copper wire and a painting canvas. The medals proved to be very interesting as every time I checked my research He had been awarded another medal. I started with 5 and called it a day when He reached 9. As with all of the bust they are made from standard milliput. In the photographs the medals are only dry fitted as the latest 3 have not had the details painted on. Once this is done they will all be mounted and highlights and shadows will be painted.

Two parts that I keep putting off painting are the complex lace detail on the collar and peak of His forage cap…..following this post I will have to make a big effort to start.

I hope that you like my efforts as I would like to get into sculpting and this piece will push the balance one way or the other.

Cheers,
Keith

Looks well to me Keith I admire your courage in having a go at sculpting like this I'm still dabbling with filling with Polyfilla and Tetrion

Steve

Very nice indeed! I love the sash and the detailing of the buttons.
John

Many thanks Gentlemen.
Steve, I sometimes think that I should have stuck with polyfiller and tetrion but wanting to do something that is a one off pushed me to sculpt Mr Mott.

Carl, I am please that your keen eye picked out the textures. I mused over several ideas but the two that worked for me; the sergeants sash was layed on with Milliput and then impressed with one of my painting canvases. The cap band is similar but as the surface is not as complex as the sash I just stuck the canvas on. Much easier than it looks.
Thanks as always guys for both your comments here and the general humour that you put in to these forums....I love it.
All the very best ,
Keith

Hi John,
Many thanks for looking in and taking time to comment.
Mmmm those bloody buttons. Only milliput and fine copper wire but the leeks......in all there are twelve that I sculpted!!!
I'm pleased that you like them.
Cheers,
Keith

Beautifully done. You have modelled his medals as being swing mounted, rather than court mounted. I suspect it should be the latter not the former.

Happy modelling,

Mike

Hi Mike.
you are absolutly right about the medal mounting. They are sculpted as single elements and as two of them are new editions they are currently only dry fitted with bluetack until they are detailed. I did this purely for the thread. My hope is to get the detail painted this week and post the finished figure in the next couple of weeks. The main set back to this will be the gold lace on the collar and peak.
Many thanks for taking time to look in and comment it is very much appreciated.
All the very best,
Keith

Hi Keith,
I am very impressed with your sculpting skills! And the paintig is formidable, too! Respect!!

Cheers Thomas

Hi Thomas,
You are too kind but thank you, I do find such comments very uplifting.
Painting wise and medal mounting there is still a way to go. Give me anothe two or three weeks and I should be done.
Thanks again Thomas.
Cheers,
Keith

Nice bust, great character in the modern British Army.

Many thanks Rob.
Glad you like it, thought it would be good to sculpt a living person.
Cheers,
Keith

What a beautiful work you've done Keith.
Best regards!

Keith a great result for your first bust, a great likeness and excellent work on the medals. What scale is it ?

Cheers Ken

Very nice sculpting and painting, especially the former given your first outing. My only suggestion for next time would be to provide a bit more of the chest (lower down) to balance the bulk of the head. That also allows you to show more uniform and decorations.

Colin

Either standards have slipped badly or this was taken the morning after a mess do, look at the state of that 2 Dress

Steve

Hi Gentlemen,
Many thanks for your kind comments. They are very much appreciated.
Nap; The medals are only dry fixed with blue tack to give a better feel for the PF thread. They will be court mounted once the detail has been painted.
The paint work here is all NMM including Cap badge, buttons and medals. the B&S lace and gold bullion will be the same.
I wish that you had said before you could have painted this one for me.

Ken; Cheers Mate, This bust is 1:4 give or take a few mm.
Colin; Praise indeed from someone of your sculpting ability. I do take your point on the depth of the body but when I completed the scale sketch it had the reverse effect that you speak of. The body looked to overbearing. I think on a smaller piece it would have worked well. My next full sculpt will be of a full figure of about the same scale.

Daniel; I like your comment, all encouragement is very welcome. Thank you.

Hi Steve, I think his uniform is so decidedly second hand, my take on it is that he is a cheap Victorian Kiss-a-Gram.

Thanks again to all,
Cheers,
Keith