Hi Allan ,




I think that you do not have to worry about the accuracy of the saddlebag. It could be captured and reused by the British army. It sounds a bit ridiculous but those things were real in that period.

Did you paint the horse in acrylics ?? May i say that it needs a little bit more depth between the muscles and highlighting on the muscles , if you know what i mean? You can use the drybrush technique with oilpaint .

Take black and light brown oilpaint and put it on a cardboard. The brown color have to be lighter than the basic brown color on the figure. if most of the moisture is disapeared aply the blak paint in to the skin folds between the muscles and brush it out , do the same thing with the light brown color but this time on the muscles and brush it out. It is a very simple technique but it brings your model to live.

Cheers

Kurt

Hi Kurt,

Thanks, yes it needs a bit more work. I just use acrylics so I'll see what I can do with those.

The stirrups are way to big so I'll have to see if I can make a replacement more in scale.

I might just keep it uncluttered, like this one! I don't really like the mounted figure.



Cheers

Al

Hi folks,

The stirrups were a bit too big in the kit, so I made some new ones form brass wire.



Cheers

Al

Perfect job on the stirrups Alan!!

Love the photo of the officer leading his mount!!

Keep up the good work!!

Cheers

Romain

Thanks Romain, they are not perfect but a better size than the kits ones.

Cheers

Al

Hi Alan,

from the figures forum I see that you are planning to use the Tamiya horse....!!

Anatomy is not really good on that geegee. Maybe you can find a better one!?!??

Presently I'm at a loss to guide you to a better standing horse, but I try to find something suitable!

The only other standing horse in 1/35 could be the Masterbox Napoleonic Lancer to be issued shortly..!!?!!?!!
Not 100% sure it will be 1/35....!!?!

Should I better go and get me coat..??!?? :-)

Cheers

Romain

Hi Romain,

Progress on the conversion is quite far advanced so I'll have to stick with the one I've got. Just sorting out the saddle and fixings took a lot of work. The hind quarters are a bit thin and the neck a fraction to long for my liking but there are a wide variety of horse shapes so it will have to do. They are a challenge to build that's for sure and I'd like to do a few more in the future.

Perhaps the manufactures will come up with a couple of British cavalry troops for WW1 in the future and I'd like to see some pack horses/mules available at some point.

Cheers

Al

Hi folks,

A little more work on 'Traveller' as the beast has been named elsewhere Added the stirrups, there should be a small flap over the top of the stirrup buckles but that may/many not come later. Altered a bundle to sit on the hind quarters.





Cheers

Al

I agree Alan, hopefully some German lancers/ Uhlan cavalry also...!
US Doughboys and some Springfield rifles are on my ICM wish list too.....

Hi Jason,

ICM are doing some great soft-skins and the quality of the recent WW1 releases is terrific. The new German Infantry look good so I'm waiting to see what the British/French figure and equipment sets look like. No doubt the Brits will be last in line, lol.



Cheers

Al

Hi folks,

A bit more work on the horse, less mud it's probably as far as I want to take it. I thought I'd leave the rifle and scabbard off.





Cheers

Al

Hi Alan,
Just wondering which subject in your dio turns up next!
Signal troops, gunners, medic and now cavalery!
Amazing.
Do not worry about the horse! Since the circumstances surrely not allowed the armies to take only the best of breed, also "ugly" horses were drafted! And at the end of the day, there is so much to see on your dio that hardly any horse breeder will notice that your horse is not fullfilling the demands of the Irish Hunter breed book!!!!

Enjoy your weekend, looking forward to see the next surprise!

Hi Paul,

Thanks for looking in and the comments. Yes, not all top stock in the front line.

Next will be to get on with the 6inch gun crew and some personal items in and around the firing position.

I'm looking forward to seeing what ICM produce British wise both the figures and kit. I would like some troops going up to the front so still lots to do.

I quite like the horse although there is a lot of work in the equipment I think it looks pretty good for a first attempt.

Cheers

Al

Hi folks,

Well having made the rifle and scabbard I thought I might as well add it on.



Cheers

Al

Here's another horse option I had considered. Source IWM Archive.



There are quite a few pictures of horses being used to haul the wounded wagons.

Cheers

Al

Hi folks,

Well Traveller didn't prove to popular lol.

Anyway I started work on the gun crew, I'll need about 5 figures around the gun and will use the Bronco Bofors Crew for most of them.



I'd also like a signaller with some flags. I did an RN chap a while back so something along these line is my thinking.



That will leave a couple of Medics to build. I did buy the new AC Models figures who would have been perfect, but after the purchase I discovered they were 1/32 scale not 1/35 scale and would be giants in the close proximity of the others and vehicle. I was a bit miffed about this as they were originally shown as 1/35 scale and when I ordered I specified that is what I was interest in, but they will do as stand alone builds sometime in the future as they are very nice figures in their own right.

Cheers

Al

Well,I personally think the horse pulling the cart is an excellent idea. I know how difficult it is to model horses. You did a great job on Traveler even though,as has been pointed out,he is anatomically challenged(head and neck way too large)but it's nice to see our equine friends being modeled.
J

Hi Jerry,

Many thanks for the feedback. It was an interesting build with good knowledge gained for the future. Overall I'm fairly pleased with the result and the horse is what it is.

Moving along here comes the gun crew. This is my proposed layout, with possibly one more holding a charge for the shell.



The bent over guy gives me another option for the medic as a similar stance would work well with the stretchers on the ground or feeding one into the Ambulance.

Thanks again,

Al

Hi Alan ,

it looks very dynamic , love it !

Cheers

Kurt

Here you go Alan,
Comparison pics of the horses. MB on the left from the new Lancer kit,old Italerie in the middle and the MB kit with the horse cart on the right. Pretty similar in size.

Hi Kurt,

Thanks for looking in and the encouragement.

Hi Jerry,

The Italeri one looks good to me but that many just be because it's painted up. The hind quarters on the Lancer one look to low and small and the neck too long. Can't really decide about the other one. Like people horses come in all shapes and sizes depending on their purpose. lol.

Thanks for the comparison.

I don't really have a problem with the Tamiya kit,it is what it is, and it also depends on what angle I look at it from. I chose the kit as a duel purpose one as I used the top half of the standing figure for a conversion on the chap with the shorts or maybe it was the walking officer. I can't quite remember without checking back.

Cheers

Al

Hi folks,

A little more work on the gun crew.

Al

Hi folks,

A rear view and a bit more work on the crew.

Al

Good looking gun and motly crew.
J

Hi Jerry,

Thanks they are coming along and should work OK with the gun.

Cheers

Al