Here's a nice mold, SCAD's Napoleonic Prussian cuirassier. Maybe the best deal I've gotten yet on eBay. French eBay in fact, the new mold going for 10 euros with free shipping to the US. Putting myself in the seller's shoes, the transaction can barely have been worth the trouble to pack the mold and drive to the post office.
Here's the mold design.
It casts nicely except for a couple of trouble spots, the scabbard casting short and the reins designed somewhat overly ambitiously in attempting to capture the full detail in thin channels out front of the horse. The scabbard problem I belatedly fixed by cutting a channel down to the base, the reins I'm not bothering to salvage so long as the main portion casts okay.
These molds all come with a painting guide.
And as completed and painted.
I neglected to post a head on view, but the casting is quite thin. For all practical purposes it's a flat although not engraved, but made from a sculpted master. Stylistically it's closer to a fine miniature than a toy soldier and perhaps that's where SCAD missed the target a bit.
I'd rather the rider had been sculpted in a more warlike pose with the sword drawn and shouldered, but at least the elegant horse is in motion, and the figure still of some use on account of the style of helmet and uniform being common enough in the early 19th Century. So I'm pleased with it and plan to paint more in time.
These look great! Nothing wrong with a few heavies in reserve. I still mourn the Scad Franco Prussian molds I paid for and never received.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much, Ross. Sorry to hear about your SCAD's. Let me check my Franco-Prussian Scads. I sent some to a fellow wargamer in Canada but I may have something left if you're interested.
DeleteVery kind of you Steve. That was over a decade ago, before I bought my Zinnbrigade molds. I wonder if Scad would be a similar height? or more like old PA molds?
DeleteAnother triumph. I just admire your old-style and divergent approach to our hobby. On that subject, it's like your blog front page photo - those ships are magnificent.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much, Unlucky General. A fine handle that is too. And I assure you, more old-style to follow.
DeleteI've been following your blog and relized you did home casting. I've just obtained some molds and was wondering what kind of metal you used. I ordered some model metal from Dunkens to start but was wondering if there was something else that you knew off. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHi Dan.
ReplyDeleteI use the metal with the lot melting point. The most expensive unfortunately. Dunkens works, I have used
http://miniaturemolds.com/ more recently and Dutkins is another option.
Happy casting,
Steve