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Question regarding the legs bending on the old horse kits

Discussion in 'General Figure Talk' started by Kevin D., Jun 20, 2020.

  1. Kevin D. Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-States
    Shep Paine showed in one of his books to use piano wire to fill in a groove in the horse legs for better support.

    Does anyone have experience with the Almond Prussian Hussar? It has two legs pinned to the base but the right back leg also touches the base for a three point support. With two back legs and the right front on the base (right front is spindly and easily bent) is his sufficient to avoid Shep's preventive work? I've done two horses in the past and its a pain (no pun intended).

    Thanks as always Y'all,

    Kevin D.
  2. Tom W. Well-Known Member

    Country:
    Germany
    I paint the 90 mm Andrea Miniature French hussar 1812 in full gallop with only one leg on the ground many moons ago.It has a metal pin included in the leg,but it´s not a steel one.Some years later he is to be listing.Bent back is very tricky,so he stands in the left,dark Corner of the Cabinet with some wood cubes under the socle!!!:confused:
    That´s one of the better sides of resin horses or standing poses…..:cool:
    Kevin D. likes this.
  3. Cannonball A Fixture

    Hi Kevin. I’m in the process of doing mine at the moment. Unfortunately my kit didn’t have the base with it so I was forced to pin the two legs which had the moulded metal plugs in situ for the pre-cast base. I encountered some difficulties with the front right and ended up wearing through the metal so will need to do a bit of remedial filling. As you say, the metal is quite soft and due to the thickness of the legs around the ankle joints(know it’s not the correct terminology) it’s difficult to get a sufficiently strong enough length of wire far enough into the leg to provide the necessary support. I’m cannibalising a base I was going to use for another project so I’ve got mine positioned as if it’s about to go down a small incline-as a result the other rear leg is not touching the base and I’d need to hide the metal rod if I was to pin that one as well. B4628274-7740-4BF9-BF73-17E4B5431609.jpeg Neal. 4153323F-5176-4278-9707-5AEE2E2F5E44.jpeg
    MCPWilk and Nap like this.
  4. Kevin D. Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-States
    Hi Tom,

    Yes, that's what I am hoping to avoid. Unfortunately the front leg of this horse is too weak since it is easily bendable and may be too thin to allow a groove for a steel wire.
  5. Kevin D. Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-States
    Good evening,

    Well, your experience thus far pretty much confirms my suspicions. The leg is too thin to drill into and probably too thin to cut a groove and even with the groove accomplished there may not be enough leg to place a strong enough, thick enough piano wire. Hmmm... would rather not try the old "bush with a support in it under the belly" trick. Ok... thank you for the pics, yours is coming along nicely! Going to have to study this a bit, maybe take it to a club meeting.

    Thanks,

    Kevin
  6. yellowcat A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    I just checked mine. Personally I don't think you need to add any steel wire for the front leg. The kit was carefully designed so that the angle of the rider mounted on the horse where more than half of the weight is distributed to the two rear legs and the three point support should be strong enough to avoid any sagging.

    IMG_0001a.jpg

    IMG_0003.JPG

    IMG_0007a.jpg

    IMG_0005a.jpg

    Felix
    Nap and Blind Pew like this.
  7. yellowcat A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    It looks like your horse front lower leg joint (pastern) to the hoof is curved out too much (may be curved during shipping or from storage). The one on mine is more straight. It will post a problem in the future. The right rear hoof should also be touching the base for support for the weight distribution.

    Felix
    Cannonball and Blind Pew like this.
  8. Kevin D. Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-States

    Felix, Thanks much! I sent a reply to your post and it disappeared so, I did something wrong.... to repeat, Thanks very much! I was looking at the horse position and wondering if the two back legs would be sufficient but was afraid that I would take that chance and find that I did indeed need to wire up the front leg and then it would be too late.

    Excellent! I will proceed as you recommend. I am currently painting the Post Militaire Seated Samurai as we discussed earlier and have quite a ways to go but when I get to this piece I will proceed with confidence!

    Much appreciated,

    Kevin D.
    Nap likes this.
  9. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi Kevin

    As someone who has not painted a horse or legs ..lol ...a good question and interesting replies from all

    A good thread to read through looking at others thoughts

    Hope all goes well with yours

    Happy benchtime

    Nap
    Kevin D. likes this.
  10. yellowcat A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    Hi Kevin,

    One important thing I would like to point out.
    When you mount your finish piece onto the wood base, make sure the kit base is on level to the wood base and when you display your piece in your cabinet, make sure the shelving is also level.

    Some years ago I displayed my Poste Militarie mounted samurai in a wood cabinet with glass doors everything was fine until I moved it to another glass cabinet with glass shelves. Over the year the horse would gradually slant to the left side. I straightened it back and then it would slant again over the year. I finally figure out the problem due to the glass shelf was not level. I use two small level to check on different spots on the shelf and fix the the problem.

    level5.jpg

    Cheers,

    Felix
    dfmoss, Blind Pew, Nap and 2 others like this.
  11. Tecumsea PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    England
    A very important point raised by felix regarding the need to keep metal models on level surface. I have a large collection and use 2 or 3 tier plastic risers to make most use of cabinet space. They have a habit of sagging if too much metal is placed on them. It not only happens on mounted kits, I have had two pegaso 75mm figures fall over because the stands were not level. I have managed to correct the figures but it is something to be aware of.

    I tend to put heavy metal figures in the corners of the cabinets where the shelf supports are and stress on the glass is least. The risers are now used mainly for resin figures.

    Keith
    Blind Pew, Nap, Chrisr and 2 others like this.
  12. Cannonball A Fixture

    Hi Felix. I may try to re-jig the positioning on the base so the rear right touches to help with weight distribution. It was unfortunate mine didn’t have the pre cast base to use hence the need to pin.

    Neal
  13. Kevin D. Well-Known Member

    Country:
    United-States
    Guys! I would have NEVER thought of that!! Very interesting! Thanks for the heads up!

    Cheers,

    Kevin D.
    Nap likes this.
  14. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England

    Absolutely ...going to check my displays !

    Nap
    Kevin D. likes this.
  15. Ray Stout Well-Known Member

    A couple of years ago, I bought a 1st. Legion Kit of a Red Lancer with the horse on just it's rear legs, and their solution was to fix one of the legs pinned through the bottom of the base, with a support wire runing the whole lengh of the base and sheathed in white metal which could be glued to the under side of the base. It's completely secure and has enough flexibility to flex when in transit. Ray

    Attached Files:

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