Saturday 27 February 2016

Blowing my own trumpet

Well, sometimes you have to don’t you? This chap isn’t actually blowing his trumpet but has it slung across his back leaving his sword arm free to engage the French.


I’m really pleased with how this conversion of PN.77 Prussian Cuirassier (mounted) charging came out. It took me a ridiculously long time to achieve the result you see here mainly because creating the tiny trumpet was a right faff! I think it was worth it though for a unique figure saved the indignity of losing his sword in the conversion process.


Now I need to turn my attention away from such diversions and back to a bit of mass production if I’m going to produce my fair share of recruits for Vintage Leipzig.

26 comments:

Michael said...

Beautiful conversion Ian, definitely worth the effort.I think this type of unique conversion really adds interest to a unit. Good luck with Vintage Leipzig.
Best Regards, Michael.

Stryker said...

Thanks Michael - it is worth the effort I guess except that I could have painted quite a few troopers in the same time!

Conrad Kinch said...

That is really lovely - well done. I did not realise they made Prussian cuirassiers. Curiouser and curiouser.

tidders said...

Great conversion - nicely painted

Stryker said...

Conrad - the Hinton Hunt range was surprisingly comprehensive much more so than many contemporary ranges!

Allan - thanks for that.

WSTKS-FM Worldwide said...

Lovely conversion and painting work. How did you make the trumpet, and what tools did you use? You might have covered that before, and I simply missed it.

Best Regards,

Stokes

Stryker said...

Stokes - it's made from brass rod and Magic Sculp (similar to Greenstuff but easier to use). The top part is the brass rod and the rest was created with the Magic Sculp. I'm not sure how I did it exactly but there was a lot of fiddling about and cursing involved. It's a bit rough and ready but looks just about ok!

Wellington Man said...

Ian, that is superb!

Doug said...

Beautiful figure. I sometimes make trumpets and horns and I do the stretched sprue thing.
I take a piece of hard plastic from the frame of a plastic model kit and slowly heat it over the stove. Once it gets wobbly I stretch it. A friend showed me this aeons ago. He did it to make whip aerials for model tanks and wires for biplanes. But if you don't heat the plastic too much and slowly pull the ends you can get the basic thin to wide shape of a trumpet. Once cool, a single cut will get you the open end, trim to length.. The loop is just a piece of florist wire glued in place on the figure after the main piece is set.

lewisgunner said...

Delectable Ian, We might well have enough cavalry to do Liebertwolkwitz?
I wonder if we might need some Poles?
R

Stryker said...

Doug - thanks for that I might give it a try.

Roy - more Poles would be good, do you have any castings?

'Lee. said...

Looks great Ian, well worth your obvious effort. Lovely figure all round :)

Phil said...

A great conversion job, he looks splendid!

the Archduke said...

He is magnificent. I have to agree with those who think a good conversion is worth a whole rank of basic figures.

Anonymous said...

Lovely looking figure, will look god with rest of unit, Poles make nice troops, in particular lancers.

Paul

Stryker said...

Thanks for the comments chaps!

Paul said...

Nice work as always

Anonymous said...

Lovely work. A bit off topic but this would make me afraid to convert anything original. Better increase the insurance!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/13-Hinton-Hunt-20mm-Napoleonic-Wargame-Polish-Lancers-/191814635020?hash=item2ca90b0e0c:g:7k8AAOSwx-9W0XjR

Stryker said...

Anon - I've seen some bonkers stuff over the last few years but that really is BONKERS!!! Never mind the insurance I may just sell up and move to the Seychelles...

Stryker said...

Actually Anon, latest news suggests this was not bonkers at all but an astute purchase - and no it wasn't me!

Anonymous said...

For nearly the same money, you could have your own figure sculpted and moulded and have as many as you want (in silver!).

lewisgunner said...

Actually Stryker the Seychelles would be ever so boring...get up...fish for breakfast, sun climbs, Scorchio! then it rains, fish for dinner, go swimming, meet tiger shark, Stryker for dinner.


The point about buying the Polish lancers was that they are elite company and that means they are really really rare.
Auctions need two peopke who desperately want the item and those Poles are one of the few things HH I do not have an example of.
I saw that someone paid a huge amount for marshal Soult and two other command figures which are much more common. As to that revaluing collections, I do not think so. Quite a lot of HH lots have gone recently at not very exceptional amounts. There are very few collectors and they bid high only on what they really need, so its more likely to fund a retirement to Torquay than exotic Indian Ocean islands!

lewisgunner said...

On the sculpting mouldng point. have tried and one can get a reasonable fit by converting an HH figure getting a new sculpt just does not wirk. They end up either too fat or too thin, but almost never Goldilocks.

Stryker said...

Roy - I've already tried Torbay so I guess I'll stay here!

James Fisher said...

Pleased and rightly so Ian. He's a fine addition to your ever-increasing forces!

Stryker said...

Thanks James!