2nd Afghan War conversions, UPDATED/painted

[Mad Guru]

Nothing painted yet, just body parts freshly cut-&-pasted à la Frankenstein, including a pair of British drummer-boys that began life as Dystopian Legions, "Britannia Musicians."  I think they are really beautiful sculpts oozing with character and lucky for me their steampunk style did not run too deep to preclude me from using them in a more historical setting.  At some point in the not-too-distant future I hope to use them as the regimental drummer-boys Jakin & "Piggy" Lew in a game based on the battle that serves as the finale in the Kipling short story, "The Drums of the Fore and Aft," which has been a favorite of mine ever since I first read it as a boy...

Before...

After...

I also turned a Foundry 1870 FPW Prussian General into the 1879 Afghan Amir, Yaqub Khan...





And last but not least, I ordered 4 very nice figures from the Reaper Chronoscope range, then -- like a bit of a madman -- carved them up and cobbled parts of them together into a miniature version of the civilian Chaplain pictured on the cover of this Feb. 1880 issue of "THE GRAPHIC" magazine, watching two Afghan prisoners led to their execution by men of the 92nd Highlanders...



Since I first saw it some years ago, this illustration left a big impression on me, and I wanted to find a way to recreate it with my figures.  Unfortunately for me I'm not a sculptor, and despite a somewhat exhaustive search of available Victorian and Old West civilian figures I had no luck, so I turned to the "Frankenstein" approach...







I'm happy with how they turned out, and will return to post more pics after they've been painted.  If you'd like to see some more pics, including a couple other more humble conversions, and/or to read Kipling's, "The Drums of the Fore and Aft," please click on the LINK below to visit my blog, and thanks in advance for your time!

http://maiwandday.blogspot.com/2015/12/some-afghan-british-conversions.html

[Emir of Askaristan]

Excellent work there.
You've done a great job on them all, but perhaps the drummers are something just a little more special because of the painting and poem.

[thequestingvole]

That's wonderful stuff Guru.  I always get a bit of a lump in my throat whenever I read that story.

Really looking forward to seeing them with paint.

[Eclaireur]

Lovely stuff as always MG  Who was this civilian depicted on the cover of the ILN in his long coat?

[Arundel]

They're off to a great start, Guru! Always loved that story.

[Atheling]

Love them all but the stand out is Yaqub Khan for me MG- real metal conversions- cannot beat them!

   

Looking forward with relish to seeing the paint jobs

Darrell.

[von Lucky]

The Frankenstein approach has worked - the miniatures look the part. Looking forward to the final versions.

[Mad Guru]

Great to read all your positive comments, gentlemen, you have my sincere thanks!  And rest assured I will definitely post some pics of the painted finished articles to this thread when the time comes.

@Eclaireur: That is a very good question, Mark!  For a long time I assumed he was a civilian chaplain, as I mentioned above, in which case I think I do have his name somewhere -- the name of a chaplain mentioned by Roberts as accompanying his Kabul Field Force.  But then I started to wonder if it might possibly be the artist's personification of DEATH itself... waiting -- somewhat impatiently (as shown by his watch) --  for the condemned to be executed and delivered up to him.

I know that's an example of me thinking way too much!  But there is something about the composition of the illustration, with the Highland Officer standing so close to the "Man In Black" while appearing to completely ignore his presence, which led me to consider the possibility of the Man In Black being the artist's anthropomorphized embodiment of death.  I guess the way to know for sure would be to get a copy of the Feb. 14, 1880 issue of "The Graphic" and see what, if anything, the article accompanying the illustration says.

 

[Eclaireur]

Extraordinary idea - that the tall man in the coat might represent death! But I guess given that he's clearly doing the time keeping for the execution I guess that's possible. Or maybe he's some curious civil servant or judge advocate type presiding over the whole sorry business. Either way, it's a cool figure,
EC

[Atheling]

Extraordinary idea - that the tall man in the coat might represent death!

Not an uncommon theme in Art History. Right up to some contemporary pieces.

It is a very powerful motif for obvious reasons; Anslem Kiefers Shulamit and Margarete series being pewrhaps the most powerful given the subject matter:

[Romark]

I hadn't read that tale before,it was great,thanks for pointing it out.
The conversions look great and I'm looking forward to your Aar in due course 

[Mad Guru]

I am happily bringing this thread back from the dead -- appropriately enough on HALLOWEEN...

Almost a year after first posting it, the conversions in question are back from the painter, and here are a few pics...

Jakin and Lew from Kipling's, "The Drums of the Fore and Aft":





General Roberts seated in camp en route to Kabul:





And an 1880 cover of "The Graphic":





If you'd like to see more, kindly pop over to my humble blog, and thanks in advance for your time if you do so...

http://maiwandday.blogspot.com/2016/10/october-surprise.html

[von Lucky]

They've all turned out really, really well. Though the British officer's sketch of Cthulhu is a bit ominous.

[Silent Invader]

Well done! 

[commissarmoody]

Splinded