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Old favourites Revisited "Enemies of the Blood" Crow and Blackfoot Warriors By Post Militaire

By Stephen Jamison

Old favourites Revisited "Enemies of the Blood" Crow and Blackfoot Warriors By Post Militaire

Introduction

The "Red Indian Craze" in figure modelling burst forth some 8/10 years ago and suddenly everyone was producing kits and modellers had to have an Indian in their collection. Well, nearly everyone as I came a bit late to the fad, about 3 years late, by which time several manufacturers had gone to the wall, dropped Indian figures from their lists to pursue the next fad etc. On a visit to London I visited "Under Two Flags" a specialist figure shop, with a view to buying something a little different than the usual WW2 Germans; nestled amongst their large stock I noticed the familiar Post Militaire "Crow Warrior" and decided to buy it. A few hours later I convinced my wife that only having one half of the intended vignette was like fish without chips, and so I returned the next day to purchase the "Blackfoot Warrior". I had never even considered Native American subjects before so I quickly bought a couple of reference books to research my subject a little - I have been hooked on Indians ever since.

The Kits

The two figures are produced in white metal to the exceptional standard Post Militaire are renowned for, and posed very dramatically by sculptor Julian Hullis. At the time of purchase I had never seen anything so beautifully made, but now reassessing them 8 years later, they look a bit too European in appearance although in every other way they remain top class figures. The Crow is posed balancing low to the ground on one foot, the Blackfoot is posed at a run stretching with his arm behind his head ready to bring his club down with all the force he can muster. I will not go into a blow by blow assembly guide, nor will I discuss colour mixes.

The Diorama

I had built and based these figures some 8 years ago and actually won second place in a local competition with them. I had orginally painted them in Humbrol enamels and at the time I thought they were damned good. Oh, how you can be wrong. About 9 months ago I was planning my building programme for the rest of 2001 through to May 2002 with one eye on potential entries for the Irish Model Soldier Show in May. I decided on a couple of mounted Indians for one class and two vignettes - one was the "Sundance" previously reviewed in Internet Modeler, the other was my Crow vs Blackfoot vignette.

I brought them out of my display case to assess what needed revising and with a view to rebasing them. I was quite shocked to see just how much my technique had changed over the intervening period (hopefully for the better), so both figures were broken down into their original constituent parts for repainting and reassembly. Undercoated in Humbrol No.62 Matt Leather, the flesh areas were painted in oils with my normal mix of Titanium White, Gold Ochre and Burnt Sienna. When it comes to clothing and beadwork the Indians have always been fond of strong bright colours and geometric designs. This allows the modeller free rein in painting the figure anyway you wish, within certain loose guidelines picked up from any decent reference book.

I decided to increase the drama, so the excellent kit shield was replaced by one scratch built using Magic Scuplt incorporating streamers to add to the movement. I was always curious as to why the Crow would adopt the pose he had during a combat- it looked as though he was inviting disaster. So I decided on basing it in such a way that his pose would be perfectly natural. I would have him falling into a stream, but to explain his unpreparedness, the bank would be giving away below his feet.

A grass bank was built using wood covered in Plaster of Paris, painted in a wash of Burnt Sienna with Burnt Umber and Sepia brush into it at intervals. once dry the bank was covered in static grass, I used a product from the Busch company from Germany made for model railways called "Wild Grass" this is a good colour but more importantly it is longer than most static grass I have seen which is a boon when working in larger scales. Three irregular pieces of plaster were painted and topped on one side with static grass, these would be my pieces of bank which had given way. These were glued at precarious angles to the stream bed.

An American friend had asked me previously if I had ever tried to model splashing water, and though I hadn't at that time, I suggested a solution which I was able to try out on this diorama. Reproducing the splashing water was done by looping several strands of dressmakers "Invisible Thread" securing them in the middle and cutting the loops slightly flattening the bunch into a starburst, this was then glued to the stream bed. and repeated a few more times to get the desired effect.

I bought some EZ Water by Woodland Scenics to try out the product but to be honest in this instance good old PVA would have done just as well and proved a lot cheaper; EZ Water is an excellent product but not for use in large areas of water. EZ Water seems to be some sort of clear acrylic resin which is heated to 130 degrees C and poured onto the base. It sets almost immediately though it remains quite hot for some time. It is best used for still water but adding a few PVA peaks and flurries here and there also give a good effect. EZ Water is extremely transparent but if over heated discolours slightly. The one effect I did not allow for but which proved to be one of those happy accidents was that the heat partially melted the Invisible thread and solid droplets of EZ Water formed on some of the threads. Intially thought to be a major disaster, on examination I decided that it was more realistic than I could have hoped for. The figures were fixed to the base with the Crow half way down the stream bank, the Blackfoot running towards him to deliver the coup-de-grace.

Conclusion

All in all this was a worthwhile project. I had a few weeks modelling pleasure without the pain of splashing out on new kits. I learned new techniques and on the whole ended up with a decent vignette (until the next time I decide to re-examine it) The Post Militaire Crow and Blackfoot are available from Historex Agents, Busch "Wild Grass" is available through hobby and model railway shops although I can supply the address in Germany if necessary. EZ Water and other Woodland Scenics products are also available from hobby/model railway stores.