While still building the anti-tank gunner I was so impressed with that kit that I decided to buy another from the same company. I was spoilt for choice on the Historex site but eventually settled on this one, which is an individual walking along with a Lewis gun slung across his shoulder. In the kit you get a base, various accoutrements, two different heads (one with a steel helmet, one with a cap), two pairs of glasses and of course the Lewis gun. It seems numerous of these weapons were captured and pressed into service, not least because they were better than anything the German Army was receiving from its own manufacturers.
As you can see the sculpting is, again, exquisite, while I'm also impressed by the generosity of the contents of the box. The provision of wire and lenses for the gunner's glasses is a particular high point, but of course you also get a spare pair too. A photograph of a German Lewis gunner in action is also included, along with a guide to the cockades of the various German states.
I spent quite a long time checking over the parts and then cleaning them up by removing casting blocks, etc. This is a delicate task and it's worth being thorough so that the fit is as good as possible and trouble isn't stored up for later in the build. I also thinned out the area around the bayonet frog, the collar, and the straps for the bread bag, while the epaulettes were hollowed out entirely.
At this stage the legs, arms and hands were fitted to the torso and fixed using CA glue. Fit is very good and the deep indentations under the figure's trunk which receive the tabs for the legs made for a particularly firm hold. As ever I scored the various gluing surfaces with a sharp X-Acto blade in order to provide a key for the glue.
After allowing the glue to set for a day I set about filling the inevitable small gaps. I should make it clear that these are not a reflection of poor moulding or sculpting but rather they are perfectly normal for figures, especially those made with resin. I started with Vallejo Plastic Putty which, as the image above illustrates, can be bought in a tube with a nozzle which allows it to be injected into gaps. The really great thing about this putty is that it is possible to clean it up with water, so there's no risk of excess putty getting onto areas you didn't intend and there's no need to destroy surrounding detail because of sanding back. A word of warning though - use a piece of wire to unblock the nozzle at the start of each usage because it tends to dry in the nozzle and attempting to squeeze the blockage out is not the way to go. I speak from experience: a few years ago I did this and the resulting explosion of putty as the rear of the tube gave way to the pressure sprayed putty all over me and the kitchen. There was much swearing.
I generally smooth the surface of the putty by using a small artist's spatula which I bought in a local art shop. I dip this in water and make sure that the putty is giving the desired coverage. Once it has dried for a few minutes I use cotton buds, again dipped in water, to clean up the area. As the above image of the join between the arms and the torso makes clear, the result is very clean. This was left to dry for a couple of days because putty usually shrinks, leaving gaps, so I wanted to make sure this process had been completed before moving on to the next step.
As you can see in the images above and below, this was a good idea because there were visible gaps in several locations, especially where the legs meet the torso. There were also several bubbles, notably the area around the left elbow and on the right thigh. These are a normal part of the casting process but they need to be dealt with, even the area on the thigh which will be covered by the bread bag, since it's unclear how much will be visible on the finished model.
For this task I used Mr Dissolved Putty, which is marvellous stuff. This is a product I've discussed before and it really is a revelation because it can be fed into gaps and it just seems to dry into contours and gaps. Any excess was cleaned up with Mr Colour Levelling Thinner.
The Gas Mask Holder and Strap:
As you'll see in the first image in this blog post the torso comes with a moulded-on strap for the gas mask holder on the front of the figure. This isn't replicated on the back and it's suggested that cardboard strip should be used to fabricate the remaining elements of the strap. The attachment points for the strap consist of two lines of resin on the rear of the gas mask holder and I felt that these would probably not hold the strap especially well.
As a result the moulded on strap and the attachment points on the holder were removed using a sharp blade. This took time but it was pretty straightforward. Replacement handles were made from copper wire, bent to shape using a small tool made by Griffin Models, as shown below. This was something I bought a few years ago and it was considerably cheaper than some tools made for producing grab handles, etc.
I needed to fit the bread bag to the figure in order to allow the gas mask to sit properly and once this had been done I manufactured straps from copper sheet, with the ends then bent around the handles on the holder. Straps were produced both for the front and the back because the ends feed under the collar.
The process was very fiddly but also very satisfying and the end result has a realistic feel to it. The modeller is helped by the fact that the moulding of the gas mask holder is so convincing, complete with dents in the metal surface.
The Bayonet Frog, Pistol and Water Bottle Attachments:
Various of the accoutrements are attached to the figure's belt and I wasn't convinced that just gluing them onto the completed model would make for a particularly sturdy join so I drilled out holes in the belt, the frog and the bread bag.
Metal rod from Albion Alloys, 1mm in diameter, was glued into these holes using CA glue and while this was setting I drilled corresponding holes in the bayonet, the pistol holster and the water bottle.
Test fitting suggests that the rod makes for a firmer hold so I'll paint these pieces separately and will add them to the figure at the end of the build.
Mr Surfacer 1000:
The final stage was to add Mr Surface in order clean up some rough areas which were left over from the removal of excess resin earlier in the build and to simulate fabric. For instance the strap is supposed to be fabric rather than leather, so I used Mr Surfacer to produce a rough surface by stippling it as it dried.
I did the same thing with the water bottle because although it has a rough surface anyway I wanted to give more of a sense of the cloth coverings which these bottles were generally given.
The Lewis gun:
This is a real highlight, with incredibly delicate and accurate moulding.
Clean-up is limited to the removal of a casting block on the stock, using a sharp blade to remove some resin under the gun sight, and drilling out the muzzle.
Because of it's large jacket the Lewis gun has a rather odd muzzle and I wanted to give a sense of this so drilling out was followed by further thinning with the sharp blade. This was delicate work but the kit flatters the modeller because the artistry is so convincing.
This was followed by the addition of the magazine (it's supposed to rotate but I glued mine in place) and the bipod stands. This was very fiddly and wasn't helped by the end of one stand snapping off (entirely my fault) so my advice is to be very careful with these pieces - they are very convincing but they are really delicate.
The Base:
This is a very nice touch, with footprints, cycle tyre marks and the texture of mud. At the moment I'm trying to come up with a method of adding puddles to part of the base, notably the area to the left, so we'll see what I can do.
That's it for the moment. Next it'll be time to get out the airbrush for the first time in far too long.
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