French Hussar 1790's- Part 6

Here's the finished sculpt. Note that I angled the base to help give that sense of movement to the charging horse. I also "dimpled" the bottom of the base with the end of a paint brush to make it a little more visually appealing. You'll see bits from Historex here and there. Searching my little drawers for odds and ends is one of the few pleasures I get when at the workbench.

Here's a better image of the rider showing the twist to the upper torso in relation to the head and lower torso.

French Hussar 1790's- Part 5

In my previous post showed the rider's armature set and ready for work. Well, after scultping the legs and postitioned on the horse, I felt the legs still didn't look right. While I wanted a rider with an action pose, the legs didn't "hug" the horse like it should. My intention was sound but not realistic. I've never ridden a horse at full gallop, so I can imagine a rider practically squeezing the flanks of the animal with his legs and trying to hang on for dear life! As you can see, a new armature was built and ready to go. This time the legs are closer to the horse body, knees bent a bit more on the rider and the upper torso crouched a tad lower. I'm trying the "elevated" base thing again. I kinda like this style for mounted subjects. I did this with my Thirty Years War French cavalier and was impressed. With the horse in action, the elevation should, atleast in my eyes, add a bit more sense of movement to the subject.

French Hussar 1790's- Part 4

The horse is starting to take shape. Keep an eye on the rider.

French Hussar 1790's- Part 3

French Hussar 1790's- Part 2

Historex horses can be a tad thin so a shim will help give it more girth. Now, instead of shimming the top half, I double shimmed the bottom. I did this to seperate the standard spread (right half/left half) of the legs to add a little more action or enhance the movement of the pose.

French Hussar 1790's- Part 1

This will be the most work I've put into a horse to date. Historex spare horse parts really shine when creating your own original piece. The conversion possibilities are almost endless. Being offered in "halves" and making them in hard plastic, makes the modeling much easier. I want to put a lot of action into the pose so there is some surgery that's required.

The Battle of Gettysburg started on this date 149 years ago. Next year is the biggie! Hopefully, I can participate in some way and be part of that milestone. The picture is looking towards the 14th Brooklyn monument and the McPherson barn. A popular photographic angle. I must must snapped a shot from this spot a half dozen times over the years. The composition of that scene just makes you grab the camera.