WW1 project, update 2

Hi guys,

I have to admit I did not realise I haven't posted in almost a whole month - this is quite horrifying.

I can only apologise for the lack of presence on the blogosphere, I do actually look at a lot of blogs, but mostly fail to comment - and to write my own.

Interestingly, I was not passive in this time, as I kept sculpting the WW1 dollies. The progress was (and still is) slower than I'd like, as every time I hit an obstacle, I take a few days of 'rest'. I gave up on weapons momentarily, to focus on the dollies. The thing here is, weapons are eating up my nerves as I've must've started working on at least 7-8 rifles and I'm still not satisfied. Secondly, the more I work on the dollies the better I feel, as they start to resemble miniatures I want them to look like.


Some of the rifles below:

 From bottom down: a ruler; two of the early ones; two of the 'these will be it' ones. There should be 4 but I lost 2 somehow (don't ask, I got no idea); lastly one that tries different approach and that proved to be too thick.

It was not all in vain, for I learned that 1:50 is too large and they need to be slightly smaller.

Since last time, I ditched the dollies without the cork and I dressed up the two I had on corks. Should you care - I decided they are not good enough and I am now using them to practice on the jackets.

I started working on a new trio of walking, bracing/semicrouching (?) and standing/firing rifle poses. As it takes time to get them from being a confusing wire to something odd to apparent legs, I didn't really feel like photographing or posting them.

Here they are, 2 out of 6 legs dressed up. They are the ones on the corks, while the older two sculpts are below them. Left, walking is supposedly Austrian and the right one is sorta-kinda-hopefully-eventually an Italian.

 Close up on the two 'test pieces':

The photos below are as advanced as I've gotten so far. The legs are 'done' and after I add some bulk to their shoes, I will probably start working on another 3 poses. The idea is to have these legs cast in resin and use them to build up both Austrian and Italian uniforms out of them. That's why I won't be working on the torso.

 Back photo here. It is amazing how hard it is to make folds look good.

 Here is a close up on Austrian uniform. It lacks some medals (really), ammo pouches and that's about it. It also needs some clean up around the pockets and I will have to find a better way to do the characteristic flaps.

 I've mad another face today, it still appears slightly too narrow. I am a horrible judge of scale and I can't really figure out what could I do to have it appear wider, but not larger.

 Compared to UFM East German sniper. I suppose my miniature is '28mm to the eyes', which is a welcome surprise.

 And again with the Italian uniform that unfortunately doesn't get as much attention as the other one.

That is pretty much it, if I'd really try, I should have another 3 sets of legs finished by mid month. I suppose it does get easier with time.

Lastly, you might have noticed (I know you didn't!), the photos are a lot brighter. That is because I am a proud owner of a new LED white light lamp. Not to brag, but as the luck would have it, the most affordable one (yup, the one I got, naturally) also had a magnifying glass installed. Now I can both not worry light will dry my paints and putty AND work after 6 pm!

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo