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Col.Gravis
07-21-2011, 04:29 AM
Before I start, and on about something which granted is'nt exactly wargaming related (other then the fact its got something to do with how I got into it, and these will end up in the gaming room) a little background.

These busts are not my own work, the original pieces were sculpted by my grandfather at least a decade before I was born. He used to sculpt, mold, cast and paint these for his own enjoyment, though he also sold them alongside oil paintings and wood carvings. I've always been very close to my grandparents, and particularly my grandfather, indeed I think its fair to say that its from him that I gained an early interest in military history, sculpting and painting, so I've got quite a strong attachment to his work. Though it has only been relatively recently that these interests, and especially the creative ones, have combined in my hobby and works.

I was recently horrified to discover that my grandfather as part of a clear out of 'rubbish', for reasons I won't go into, was disposing of a number of old molds and other odds and ends. After convincing him how important it was to me that these were preserved, I ended up rooting through the bins and was able to recover a single salvagable mold. After a few days cleaning off all the accumilated mould and gunk of a couple of decades in damp storeage conditions I had this 40cm bust of a ECW Parlimentarian Infantryman.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x160/gravisblog/Forum%20Pictures/RoundHead1.jpg

Yesterday I had a go at casting from the mold for the first time. As I was a little worried if the mold would survive casting intact I decided to use a higher quality more robust plaster for the first attempt, with the hope that it would give me a suitable master should the worst happen and the mold distingerate as the cast was pulled.

As it turned out I need'nt of worried, and with a great deal of satisfaction, and a little emotion I must confess I've pulled this 'new' master of the bust.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x160/gravisblog/Forum%20Pictures/RoundHead3.jpg

My plan next is to store this one in the best possible conditions in case the mold fails in the future, and do a second cast with standard plaster of paris. This next version I'll fit with a hook and paint up for display.

Once thats done, the next stage will be some mold making. I was also fortunate to recover original plaster casts of a Royalist counterpart to this Roundhead, and of a British Napleonic Infantryman of the 88th Foot, both in remarkable condition all things considered. I'll make new molds of these, and similarly cast up copies to paint and display.

Denzark
08-07-2011, 11:50 AM
When then...?

Col.Gravis
08-11-2011, 02:45 PM
As it happens, today.

I spent today working with another mold which I found still in the bins a little after posting this.

Napoleonic British Guardsman, not quite sure which regiment, need to look that up still. The mold was in far worse a state though, holes in it, bad deformation, as well as the gunk. I cleaned it up, and managed to fill the holes, the warping I've not yet been able to do anything about however. You can probably see how bad it is in the picture.

The first pull did'nt work out, the mix cured far too quickly despite following the suggested quantities, so I did a second adding more water, which worked far better.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x160/gravisblog/Forum%20Pictures/Nap001.jpg

The piece still suffers a little deformation, the right cheek is to prominent, the busby on the same side above the ear, and the left cheek meanwhile are both sunken - the nose also needs some work. My plan for this one is to re-sculpt it a little, before creating a new mold from this master. Hopefully I'll get to this next week.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x160/gravisblog/Forum%20Pictures/Nap002.jpg