Here's some pics of the finished piece. I'm pretty pleased on how it turned out. I plan in taking more with my regular camera.

A fellow modeler asked me what colors I used for the bay/chestnut colored horse. I primed the piece black and used the colors pictured.

One down and two to go. A little over half way finished with second mounted figure.

At the remote workbench cleaning up and shiming horses. I have an idea for a large mounted vignette down the road. The good thing about having a workbench away from my current projects, is that I can walk away any time, leaving a mess and manageable clutter.

Coat skirts

Cart before the horse! Before posting the armor video, I should have posted these SBS's on doing coat skirts. Most coat lengths for this period were very long, usually falling about the knee cap. What I do to make these "skirts", is make a pattern, much like the shape of an actual clothing pattern from that time. I will let the putty cure for a while before rolling out. Coat the plastic lightly with baby/talcum powder. What I use for a rolling pin is an old baby food jar. Roll out the putty to desired thickness and place the pattern on the putty. Use a hobby knife to cut out your pattern and then adhere to figure, usually a couple dabs of super glue will do the trick. Once in place, I placed the figure back on the horse, allowing the skirts to drape over the saddle/equipment. Some manipulating is required to make the folds and creases look convincing. Let the figure cure on the horse before moving on.

I've added the boots tops. When sculpting them, I had to be aware of where the legs have already made contact with saddle and to avoid adding fresh putty to those areas. This will ensure the rider will "snap" into same spot.

Finally adding some clothes. The breeches for this period were still loose and baggy. The unique boot tops will be added later when the putty is cured. The putty is still soft when putting the rider back on the horse. Just a light dusting of talcum powder to help prevent any sticking. The soft putty will contour around the saddle and it's equipment thus making a tight and natural fit.

Working on final composition. I may have to tackle sculpting the fallen horse and rider as one sculpture...Fingers crossed.

Adding straps and saddles

Aside from the horses, I'll be utilizing other parts from these Arifix kits. The Scots Grey's kit has a neat saddle that makes a great foundation for the rider.

Cutting straps and drilling holes.

The straps for the saddle, bridle, etc are cut at various widths from thin plastic. The holes are being drilled for anchoring pins for the horse bit and to the legs for mounting to base.

New putty and sculpting a horses neck

Nothing like a new batch of putty. I prefer Aves white epoxy putty. The natural color is too hard blend noticably. Using the white, it's much easier to see the making of a smooth transition. For smoothing, I use Mike Blank's recommdation of using saliva with a wide paint brush. Saliva has the right consistency while water will tend to break up the putty.

Fehrbellin Vignette -Composing Scene

The composing is pretty straight forward. Since it's a close copy of the illustration, there will be however, some minor tweaks here and there.

Fehrbellin Vignette

I'm seperating two halves of the horses body to add more animation. The inside upper body, where the two halves meet, I will apply epoxy glue for added strength. I won't be filling the entire body cavity with putty but using just enough to fill the gap and spread over both sides.

Fehrbellin vignette -Cleaning castings

After cleaning up the flashing I will be cutting off limbs of one of the horses for reposition. Two of the three horses will get new necks.

New project: Fehrbellin 1675

Dettingen Vignette painted!

I finished it just before the Chicago Show. This piece seemed to drag on throughout the summer. Not my usual pace. Now I'm feeling rejuvenated and newly inspired. To bad we can't bottle this motivation, it would be great to Crack it open during the dog days. These pics were taken with my phone. I'll load more in the next couple days.

Battle of Dettingen Vignette

It's been a very unproductive summer... Well, compared with others. Not much motivation to stay at the workbench. Really starting to feel burn out. Not so much for the hobby overall, but perhaps what type of modeling. Original work has taken a huge bite out of my enthusiasm for creating. It's not for lack of subjects, I'm still very inspired. However, sitting at the sculpting workbench is becoming a grind, and sometimes I even dread it. Hopefully, I get out of this slump soon and find that "high" again. This vignette, that I'm slowly picking at, depicts Cornet Henry Richardson of Ligonier's Horse (7th Dragoon Guards), protecting the colors as he fights off elite French cavalry during the 1743 battle of Dettingen.

Officer, 17th Light Dragoons AWI- PAINTED!

Here he is...Finally painted. I have to admit, the embroidery thread/floss mane and tail is getting easier to do. Still a lot of manipulation, but I know now what, and what not to do in regards to application and the like. I guess it's all in repetition. Painted all in acrylics.

Officer, 17th Light Dragoons AWI

I'm really pleased at how the posture worked out on this particular figure. I'm no horseback rider, but he looks comfortable and natural for being in a mounted pose, not straight and stiff. As with all my mounted pieces, I completely modeled the entire horse before sculpting and posing the figure, this ensures a tight fit of man and horse.