200mm Lancashire Fusilier, Somme Bust.

[Guest]

This is my Christmas present to myself, a 200mm bust of a Lancashire Fusilier on the Somme by Maurice Corry for Mitches Military Models. I'm following in illustrious footsteps here, as our friend Ralph painted an excellent version back in 2016, which can be found on Planet Figure - a tough act to follow. The bust was not completely well received by the denizens of PF at the time of its release, as it's a cut down version of a full figure. I however have no objections to Mitches trying to maximise the potential of their sculpts, and anyway, this is being offered at a bargain price of £30.00, which can't be beaten.

This is what's in the box:



Lots of lovely parts showing a fully equipped infantryman ready for the assault on the first day (though he should perhaps also have an extra bandolier of ammunition - the poor blighters were very overloaded with equipment when they went over the top). My inspiration will be the famous set of images of members of the regiment waiting in the Sunken Road to go into action. There is a marvellous sequence of enhanced and colourized film of this moment in Peter Jackson's They Shall Not Grow Old, which vividly shows a whole range of emotions on the faces of the men, from resignation to pure, dumb terror:



The second image is to remind myself to paint the yellow hackle on the helmet and to add the divisional badge to the left sleeve.

[Tim Marlow]

I hope this one comes up to snuff Peter. It’s a great sculpted image and deserves your inimitable touch!

[Neil Merryweather]

looking forward to this as always
N

[Ralph]

Have fun Peter :smiling3:.
I remember doing this one.

[Andy Belsey]

I’ll be watching of course. Have fun while you do it.
Andy

[Jim R]

This is my Christmas present to myself,

Always a wise move. You rarely need more socks or aftershave.
I am sure you'll make your usual fine job of painting this.
Jim

[Guest]

Thanks for looking in chaps. I managed to get the prep on this one done while the family was watching some TV Christmas cheer:



It took a lot of work to clean this up due to there being mould lines everywhere and miscasting on almost every part. The sculpt was also pretty perfunctorily finished in some areas, so some scalpel work was required to finish it off. The rifle sling was too poorly cast to use, but a replacement can easily be made.

[SteveH]

Morning Peter

Brushes down and enjoy the day

Merry Christmas to one and all

Have a great day and catch up after the pudding has finally all been eaten

Regards

Steve & Anna

[Guest]

Oh, I think I may be allowed a couple of hours bench time Steve - it is Christmas after all. The cooks did all their prep yesterday, the presents are all opened, and we have one very happy dog and two year old. My son is also particularly thrilled with his DMs - no originality this generation - the smell of new Docs took me back 35 years.

Have a very happy and peaceful Christmas Day (perhaps not best to tune in to the news today?).

Peter.

[Allen Dewire]

Morn and Merry Christmas Peter,

I can't believe I caught this before you even laid a brush stroke on it.....Yippee!!! Looks like a nice mold to really work your skills on Sir.

BTW, Does your son collect Deutsch Marks or other old currencies??? Just wondering........................

Prost and Ho! Ho! Ho!
Allen

[Guest]

And to you Allen.

Probably won't do any painting today after all - too much activity and merriment in the chateau. Son does not collect old currency, or anything except guitars I'm afraid - thanks for the thought.

Cheers and best wishes,

Peter.

[JR]

Hi Peter, I'll join if possible .
Strangest Christmas ever, don't think anyone will forget this one. No family gathering, face time yes, but not the same is it .

[SteveH]

Strangest Christmas ever, don't think anyone will forget this one. No family gathering, face time yes, but not the same is it .

Me too John!

Morning Peter

Time to walk off the excess calories of too much of absolutely everything, and we seem to have got too much of everything even though there are only 2 Humans and 4 cats and I am sure I didn't order it all?

Hopefully some bench time to start the new head?

New DM's that is definitely a 40 year old memory, though mine were comfy shoes not the 10 hole cherry reds, which were only for a certain gang!

Have a good day and get the family to sort out the wreckage!

Regards

Steve H

[Guest]

John - Welcome. We have the added strangeness here of the road being clogged with Channel traffic - huge vehicles going up and down our road all the time. It's a bit of a rat-run between the A2 and M20 and the drivers are obviously jockeying for position at the end of the queues.

Steve - Well we all slept well after yesterday's blow-out, all excellently cooked by our daughters. We burned off a few calories on a moonlit walk to see Jupiter and Saturn, which was a pretty magical addition to the festivities. Owen's DMs are black and eight-hole, but they still look pretty huge. Definitely some bench time today to work on the head.

[Tim Marlow]

Glad you had a good one Peter. DMs ....now that’s a blast from the past.....
Play Owen this one for me......