Saturday 14 August 2021

Commissioning Figures

A project of this kind requires a wide variety of action figures, often not found in the slightly stilted poses usually required in Napoleonic scenes, primarily because of the drill movements necessary to bring lethal force to bear. But these stilted poses don't work in urban environments.

Conversions are one way to overcome this, and I love adapting plastic figures to suit my needs.  Metal figures are harder, but perfectly possible.  I like it when supporters of the project point out a figure converted from another source.

Another major challenge is casualties. Too many of the obvious figures (say, the Airfix dead Frenchman) would create repetitions that the human eye quickly picks up.  So variety is needed.

The arrival of the age of computer scanning and 3D printing allows a new range of opportunities.  Here's how the project is taking advantage of this:

JW is a talented sculptor and is home casting his designs for the project.  Here are some French Guard, French Line and Prussians.  The results are amazing:




AD and I had this idea that it would be great to downsize favourite figures from 1/32 to 1/72.  These Airfix figures were never available in 1/72 but with the assistance of one UK firm, they have achieved amazing results.  Sadly, copyright prevents these being commercially available, but they will be an excellent addition to the project:



JG was introduced to the project by Waterloo Uncovered.  He has volunteered to take on horse casualties.  Here is a generic pose, the trick will be to add appropriate horse furniture:


Speira are a fantastic firm.  Their customer relations are excellent.  When I asked them to design a battalion of Lutzow Freikorps they did it with speed, imagination and attention to detail:



 



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6 comments:

  1. 'Lee.14 August 2021 at 09:37

    Absolutely amazing what can be achieved now by digital sculpting and 3d printing. The technology is coming on in leaps and bounds. I had some 40mm RHA sculpts commissioned and printed a couple of years back, but some of these in 1/72nd look even better!

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  2. CPN14 August 2021 at 23:51

    Hello, I agree about how great is this initiative on top of your project already fantastic. I was a bit surprised by the copyright comment as I thought I read on one of the forum (maybe Bennos) that historical figures and poses can't be copyrighted because history doesn't belong to Airfix in that case. Therefore even a slight difference in the pose or even on the uniform or equipment should make you safe. Thank you for sharing g this great initiative with us again. Kind regards. CPN

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  3. generalpicton15 August 2021 at 01:01

    Thanks to both of you! CPN, you may be right, and I have decided to err on the side of caution. It certainly would be great to have these 1/32 favourites available in 1/72.

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  4. Roger Whittaker15 August 2021 at 02:22

    I agree, having those 1/32 British Infantry figures available in 1/72 would be amazing. They are really nice figures. Surprised Airfix haven't decided to do just that. I can imagine sales would be good. Perhaps we all need to hammer on their door & ask them to do just that!! If they don't well, I think CPN has a point, so long as there is a slight alteration, I can't see how copyright applies. Don't blame you for being cautious though.

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  5. Uwe19 August 2021 at 05:27

    I am glad to see, the downscaling works without loss on the quality of the figures. I tried it in the past too, but with a 800 Euro scanner it wasn't possible. Which kind of scanner did your mates use?

    The Life Guard is perfect, how many parts does the figure have?

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  6. generalpicton20 August 2021 at 11:54

    Hi Uwe - the Life Guard has turned out well, I agree. It's only two parts - the horse and the man. Not sure what machine was used.

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