Britains Cowboy Repair & Conversion (1 Viewer)

[johnnybach]

I would like to begin this short thread, somewhat unusually, with a pic of a completed figure. It's quite a commonly found old hollowcast figure of a cowboy, turned in the saddle and firing backwards - presumably at someone chasing him - and here's one I finished earlier!^&grin



As you can see - I have put a base on his horse - and yes - I did a repair on one leg. BUT...........the pose is the same as any other you might find.

Well......as luck would have it - I found another example recently - but in a far worse state of disrepair. My newest candidate was missing most of all four legs and tail on his horse - and in addition the cowboy had lost his head and hand with pistol. A total of 7 missing parts.

Now, I've always had a fancy to see this figure on a rearing horse - with two front legs pawing the air. So.........I risked £1 on buying my stump of a figure - and bought all seven pieces I thought I might need to make him up into a decent ( but somewhat changed) figure again.

As usual, I forgot to take a pic of my original broken figure - but the two pics below will show what I've done so far.

As you may be able to make out - I first made up a base for my legless figure - and cut and fitted the two rear legs of the horse (look closely to see the joint - visible now, only before painting). All joints were drilled, pinned and glued. I then pinned/glued my figure to the base and left to set again, overnight. The remaining two front legs were then added ( they don't bear any weight - so pinning wasn't required as deeply as the rear feet). The head and pistol were then fitted - see next pic down for the last piece fitted (pistol).




And here he is - before painting begins. First job will be a priming undercoat - which will show whether joints need more work before continuing. jb

 

[Ivanhoe]

You are a true craftsman John !

Thank you.

 

[johnnybach]

Thank-you. Here's a quick update on how he's progressing. As you may see - I have modified the base a little, to include a support for the raised front hoof. I'm never altogether happy with a mounted figure balanced on two rear legs - and this one has two repaired rear legs - so I changed my mind, and I'm erring on the side of caution - and supporting the elevated front part - this way.



The big rock - is a real small stone - found in the garden - whilst the other smaller ones are lentils. I'll make it look like a desert scrubland.

He's being painted in bits and pieces - whilst I'm working around other little projects - but coming along quite nicely, I think. Glad you like him. jb

 

[johnnybach]

Well - here he is again - now completed. Amazing what four new legs and a tail - a new head and hand with a pistol - a stand and a lick of paint can do. jb

 

[Ivanhoe]

Well - here he is again - now completed. Amazing what four new legs and a tail - a new head and hand with a pistol - a stand and a lick of paint can do. jb

If it wasn't for your progress reports, it would appear this was a new figure.

Just amazing what you are able to accomplish.

Love the horse !

Thanks John.

 

[johnnybach]

If it wasn't for your progress reports, it would appear this was a new figure.

Just amazing what you are able to accomplish.

Love the horse !

Thanks John.

Thankyou - glad you like him too. I'm not really surprised that he looks new - as quite a few of his parts ARE new!^&grin

I think you learn something from each figure repaired/repainted. I repaired the earlier figure I showed some time back, and I repaired him back into the same pose as he was originally. I remember thinking vaguely, at that time - that it would maybe have been nice for this figure to be on a rearing horse - but was quite happy with the figure as produced, as it would have meant altering the horse legs by removing the remaining good ones. I always like to keep as much of a repaired figure as possible - so didn't alter him too much.

Fast forward a few years - and - I found another such damaged figure - but this time with all four legs missing from the horse ( or at least, most of the leg parts were gone).

The strange thing is - I immediately thought back to the possibility of a rearing pose for a repair, that I had thought of a few years before. The cowboy's head was also missing - which was a GOOD thing for me - as a replacement head would have to be tipped back a bit - as his horse would be rearing up.

So - in that moment of finding a much beaten-up figure - the idea of that new pose was born. Fortunately for me - I was in the Dorset Soldier shop - so my idea could almost instantly supplied with the spare parts to repair him, from Giles ( the owner).

So.... bought him for a song.........and spent a little more on the spares.

I like him very much too - he worked out well - so am pleased you like him too. Here's a couple more views from different angles. Here are a couple more pics from different angles. jb

 

[nmrocks]

Another really well painted addition to an already outstanding collection.
Ray

 

[theBaron]

Excellent piece, John! And I like your old-school use of lentils for the smaller desert rocks. Lentils can be used for cobblestoned surfaces, too.

Prost!
Brad

 

[johnnybach]

Excellent piece, John! And I like your old-school use of lentils for the smaller desert rocks. Lentils can be used for cobblestoned surfaces, too.

Prost!
Brad

And if you're desperate - and I mean REALLY desperate Brad...............you can eat 'em!:salute::

Cheers - jb

 

[theBaron]

Only in a lentil and kielbasi soup

Prost!
Brad

 

[johnnybach]

Ayhoo - I seem to have been accumulating lots of different spare parts recently - which when fixed up, suggest different uses. One such piece I repaired was a Britains Farm horse (Cob N.550). As soon as I saw him - I thought Cowboy pony. Here he is - already fitted up with my Dorset Soldier spare saddle - and looking for a rider - with missing front leg replaced - and suggesting movement - unlike his original pose where he is standing!



BUT...........therin lies a problem - as you then have to find a bandy cowboy that will fit into the saddle - and - you guessed it, I didn't have one that fitted.

However...........I did have about half a dozen spare cowboys walking. This one, in fact



He's another Britains figure - so...........a bit tatty - but I have plenty more .............so good choice for possibly converting to a rider for the horse.

Okay decision made - first job is to cut him up! First task is to gently release his arms which are lightly fixed to his sides - and then dismember arms and legs - he now looks like this:



Note that I have cemented a steel pin (paper clip part) right up through his hollow body - and left to dry overnight.
This pin will fix into a hole drilled into the saddle (now fixed to the horse) and hold him slightly leaning forward - now like this.



Legs will come next - and as he;'s wearing those thick wooly chaps favoured in the snowy North West USA Rocky Mountain foothills ( nicknamed "Woolies" I believe) - these will need a bit of slimming down. This was done by slitting up the hollow leg on the inside - and compressing each leg in a little. Then..........just glue and pin in place into the horse body...............like so...............



Continued on next page - as too many pics for one................

 

[johnnybach]

Continuing with other leg.



Next view now shows infilling the missing top leg part with epoxy putty ( I use milliput).



Another couple of views above and below, showing milliput sculpt completed - and impatient me wanting to see how it turned out by slapping on some paint. Sorry about missing out a pictorial explanation of fitting the arms - but these were inadvertantly deleted from camera memory by "La Commandant" whilst using the camera. They were just pinned and glued in place ( as they were - no bending or cutting required) - and the joint infilled with more putty until they looked natural.



My last pic below, shows how he is looking so far - with many little additions made. Head harness and reins - saddlebags - bed-roll - rolled poncho at front of saddle - and rifle in scabbard. All mostly milliput, though the rifle butt was carved from a piece of soft metal sprue, and the reins were cut from a pill blister pack.

I'm leaving him to "cure" a bit now - before aditional work on the paint job takes him forward. jb

 

[thebritfarmer]

Only you could take a figure, chop it up and repurpose it ! What a great job JB

 

[johnnybach]

Only you could take a figure, chop it up and repurpose it ! What a great job JB

Nah! You've been mixing with the wrong folks, Scott. Plenty of my chums do this sort of conversion of quite commonly found old figures. This cowboy came in a batch - and so did my broken Farm Cob - and both were very reasonably priced - so no great value risked. It is the first foot cowboy I've tried the technique on though - and I'm still not 100% sure that I got his legs right?

Learned a lot from the experience though - and I'm pretty sure if I try it again, my next attempt would be better.

Nice to know that both pieces are Britains too - so he will be an almost totally Britains figure at the end - though one they never actually made! - which sounds a wee bit strange!

All good fun - glad you like him - jb

 

[johnnybach]

Here's my converted walking Cowboy, now mounted on a former Farm horse. Both originally Britains hollowcast figures from a bygone age - now united forever in pursuit of.........whatever ????? jb