I have had a second hand Verlinden's Robert E Lee kit laying around for a while then a few nights back the film Pale Rider came on TV . It was the similarity between the horse in the film and the kits horse that took my eye . So I'm now going to try and convert Lee to Eastwood . here's the first tentative steps



chippy

Braver man than me Chippy I hated that kit with a passion when I did it for Mrs Helm hope yours fits better than mine there's more putty than resin in mine! Looks good very interesting idea mate looking forward to seeing this evolve

Steve

Interesting idea
some courage needed for the horse

Great start mate. That horse has always been the inspiration to all my dappled greys. Look forward to seeing this progress.

Cheers

Ron

I could only wish I had the guts to do such a great conversion.

Marc

A great idea Chip and looking forward to following.

Cheers Ken

Clever idea. Should look very impressive....don't forget the snow on his boots
Will watch with interest
Cheers
Derek

Very cool. Will watch.

Great idea and fantastic realization!
I like it!
will be a single piece or will be produced?
I wish paint this figure...
Ciao by Maco

Great idea for a conversion mate and looks like you are of to a good start with it, looking forward to seeing more of this one.
Is this 120mm ??

All the best

Steve

Thanks to everyone for their replies.
Steve, I have to say I can't comment on the fit of the kit as it was already built and primed when I bought it. The only thing I can tell you is it was so badly glued together I was able to take it apart with no problems
Ron, I have to agree, one of the most beautiful dappled greys I've seen. Thanks for posting the picture, now I don't have to explain why I've done the trouser legs half way up the boots!
Maco, it's purely a conversion from a commercial kit for my own enjoyment.
Here are some more pictures showing a little more progress, but first I must give a big thank you to Jim Evans aka Jimbo, who has helped me along on this project. He has built me a completely new right arm and extended the left arm which was wearing a gauntlet. On the face he has lowered the mouth and given it the Eastwood sneer and added stubble. I've ground out some of the face around the cheek bones and worked in some haggard lines .
Everything I did in the early stages was from memory, now I have the DVD I have scrapped much of the early work and started over.


the coat lapels needed to be wider as the right shoulder needed building out , remade the trouser legs higher up the boot and made the pocket flaps . Now comes the biggie , I knew I would have to alter the saddle but as very little shows that wasn't a major problem, now I discover the horse does not have a saddle blanket! So it looks like I will have to grind out the blanket and rebuild me a hoss! It could be some while before you hear from me again
chippy

Nice one mate. Coming along well. That horse is so 'regal'. I seem to remember reading somewhere that it belonged to Clint for a number of years and was in two of his films. Think the other was 'Hang em High'.

Cheers

Ron

Ermmm!! Chippy you Bugger! ...where's his legs & coat tails gone? Stick at it!
Cheers
Jim

Update , Pale Rider so far .
I've pressed on with this over the weekend , I have removed all the horse furniture and rebuilt the horse , the best way I found was to grind the horses sides flat and build up to what I needed . I have only made enough of the saddle that will show once the figure is in place (sometime in the future I would like to do an unmounted horse, showing all the detail of a western saddle) I've used the canteen that came with the kit, adding putty to achieve the flat sides shown in the film. The lasso is purely string coated in pva glue to stiffen it and keep it in place. I've added about 3 mm to the legs, which I felt was needed to give the figure the height of Clint, these additions hidden under the extensions to the length of the coat. Very little left to do but I've just been informed that I need to clear the table, yes I still use half of the dining table as my work bench, everything needs to be put away as Christmas is just around the corner! So that will be it this side of Christmas.




It might even have some paint on it the next time you see it
chippy

Lee was a big man as well I believe Chippy so should look well proportioned, like Carl pics are broke for me too

Steve

Hi Chippy,
He looks great mate. Are you ok working with resin instead of wood?
Gells.

I Don't know whats happened but the pictures seem to have vanished ?? I'll see if I can post some better ones today Carl and Steve. hi Grant resin is just like wood you start out with a big blob and then carve and sand away for hours until it looks right at least that's my style
chippy

Hi Chippy,
Nice project, I know how much work can go into one of these, especially grinding off saddles and horse tack. Keep at it mate. Looking great so far, that dapple will be a tester. I know where you can get a good quality base
cheers
Richie