Down On the Farm (1 Viewer)

I've been a bit busy sorting through two pretty big e-bay purchases of Farm figures and other animals ( all in need of some repair and refurbishment lately - but I thought that I would show at least some sheep for Scott.

Note that I've included three pigs and a goat - as well as some of the human Farm figures I've received from the various lots - all to be worked on.

I have so many Zoo figures ( over 20) - I'll have to start another Repair thread for those - so I'll save further pics of them for that thread.

Here's my flock of sheep - for now - not all of which can stand up - yet. :D jb

 
Dolly the sheep had arthritis...:)

Vic

Isn't Dolly still with us Vic, so maybe should be HAS arthritis?????

For those who didn't understand the reference - Dolly the Sheep is the World's first cloned mammal - and has been reported to be suffering from arthritis - which is quite a common disorder in sheep. She lives quite contentedly with a flock of sheep - and is expected to live to around 10 years old. She is receiving treatment with anti-inflamatories - as, of course you might expect with a celebrity like her, whose health is closely monitored.

I have to report that my sheep, are much older than Dolly though - as some are from Old Britains, at least one is by Cherilea and three are from JoHillco - all of which long since ceased cloning these creatures, and well before Dolly came along. The youngest of my flock are probably in their sixties - and will hopefully become centurions as time passes!

None of mine will ever suffer from arthritis either - and are also completely free of the dreaded Lead Disease. (I know - 'cos I checked 'em out!). As a precaution though, after some have been repaired, they will all soon be receiving a new coat or two of paint, when they will be released into a safe area of the farm - where sheep may safely graze.

All the best Doc! :D jb
 
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Back to the Day Job.

Amongst old Hollowcast collectors, there are some items which almost take on the mantle of the Holy Grail. Among them for JoHillco Farm Collectors, there is one piece that I have long considered to be out of reach for me. Whenever one appears on e-bay, for example, I have always been consistently outbid by people with longer pockets than mine - or are at least willing to pay more than I for the item.

I'm referring of course to the tiny figure of a Fox, carrying a Goose in his mouth - which I had long wanted a version of, for myself.

So........imagine my surprise when in a mixed lot of damaged items I bought on e-bay - there he was!! Admittedly, he was damaged - with two tiny legs missing - one at the front - and one at the rear.......but.......he was fixable!

I soon realised that due to his stretched out running pose, and very thin legs - he would require a small stand to stabilize the repaired figure - but repair him - I did.

Here's a couple of pics showing my glue and pin repairs - with him fixed to the stand by two tiny pins up into his remaining two legs: Side one shows rear leg pin - next shows front leg pin [ I regard these as the bones of the legs).





Once these have set off - I then use an epoxy two-part putty (milliput) to more fully form the legs over the pin. [A dab of super glue on the metal pin helps the tiny rolls of putty stick to the pin].

I used the existing legs as guides to sculpting the new replacement legs - and then left for the whole thing to completely dry out a bit - before finally sanding down to the shape/finish I wanted. He then looks like this - and rather like he's wearing a couple of plaster casts!^&grin



Well, I've just finished painting/varnishing him - and he's still a bit "tacky" - but when he's dry enough - I'll take some more pics and show him again. jb
 
Okay - he's now dry enough to handle - so here he is - my very own brazen fox - pelting across the open field in front of several of the startled inhabitants - with a tasty bit of dinner in his mouth.

Needless to say - I'm so pleased to own him - as I never thought I ever would. But....with nobody else bidding for the job-lot of broken bits and pieces - he came my way - and I fixed him - and now he's mine!{sm4}jb

[P.S. Bet you can't spot the joins in the new bits now]:D



 
Very nice JB, love the updated version.

Here is an original version http://www.thetoybox.4t.com/johillcofoxgoosemouth.html

Thanks for the original pic Scott - which obviously reflects the passage of time. Must say - I prefer mine - but I have the advantage of being able to play around with him - as I'm not on piece-work pay - like the original painters.

I also had a good look at several online images - before choosing how I wanted him to look. A really fun and imaginative piece. Glad you like him too - jb
 
I thought I would show you something a bit different that I've been working on for a while - still in the Farm line.

My first pics are of a Britains Tumbrill Cart. I had the Britains cart-horse previously ( which also required some minor repairs to holes and crushed parts) - and was pleased to find most of the cart in one of my lots. These carts are made up of some die-cast pieces and some of tin. This one below had severe rusting to the tin parts (includes axles) - which I could break easily with a finger.

So.....first job is to remove what's left of any paint - and then replace axles - and in this case, the base of the cart which just fell away when touched. I replaced this base with a metal base made from alloy, cut and filed to shape and then glued in. The rear flap was demountable originally - and they nearly always get lost - like this one. I'll need to make up another one from my sheet alloy stock.



You can see the base better in this angled shot. I also had a Carter with whip in my lot - so he can accompany the horse and cart when painted. He will need a new top-part of his whip ( which is made of wire).



You can also see another Cart below - this time with a Johillco "very close copy" of the Britains horse. This cart is marked underneath "Made In France" - and again seems very close to the original Britains version. I replaced the rusted parts again - and now have the luxury of two sets of wheels to choose from, to reconstruct it. A major snag is that one of the draw arms is missing - so this may rtequire a replacement part (if I can find one), or maybe fabricate one from metal - and attach with pins. We will have to see how this goes. My Carter this time ( from yet another lot) doesn't have an arm with whip yet - so a visit to Dorset for some more spare parts becons. {sm3} jb


 
My flock of sheep - and a couple of pigs are developing nicely. Pic below shows in the foreground, two JoHillco pigs under repair. Both needed legs repairing - and one needed his head attaching to the body again - so required facial and bodywork repairs. Note also curly tail added (bent paper-clip), to both. Note also, that I re-made the rear leg slightly too long on the right porker - which meant his other leg is slightly raised. I quite liked the quirky result - so left it that way!

My sheep are mostly Johillco with two Britains and one Crescent - though all do look very similar. So much so, I've decided to make them all Black Faced Sheep - see the ones at the rear - who are nearing completion. Most of these had legs intact - and had various holes in head/body to fix in the usual way [ Insert tissue paper and super glue inside - then complete the surface repair with epoxy putty). I have more to do - so my flock will be around a dozen or so, eventually.

Note I've decided to put all figures on bases - as many tiny thin legs make all of these figures both unstable and easy to break. They should now have a chance survive the next 100 years or so, far better. jb

 
jb;

Love the sheep - Great Job.

Curly pig's tails are a neat idea.

Thank you.

Glad you're enjoying them chum - here's another pic that you might enjoy too.

You've seen the Johillco Fox with dinner before - but here's another that came my way - that at first caused me a bit of head scratching. He's another smaller Fox that my trusty Great Book of Hollowcast Figures by Joplin - seemed to fail to identify. I couldn't find him under any manufacturer - UNTIL - I checked the Index - and found him under "unidentified " on page 279 (top line - second figure in). Looks like Norman is also unsure of who made him.

So.......looked up Google Images for Vintage Lead Foxes - and found two e-bay sellers had both sold one in the recent past - and had both described him as pre-war Pixieland-Kew. One seller even risked a date as 1932 - which seemed about right - as they started their very successful Farm Figures range, just a few years earlier. So....I think that's a reasonably probable maker for him. They look so good together - and I like to think of him as a juvenile Fox taking a few lessons on hunting from Dad! jb



The rear fence section and harvested sheaves of corn in the background, by the way - were both originally from the same lot - and were both squashed flat. Both were also minus most paint and very grubby. I almost gave up on the fence section - until it emerged from the cleaning bath - and I at last realised what it was. Fortunately it was a very soft metal mix - mostly lead, I think - and bent back to original shape very easily. I small milliput repair to the central upright - and a clean up with a fine file fixed any blemishes - and it painted up easily. The corn repair has been mentioned earlier - and also turned out well.
 
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Meanwhile, my dairy herd continues to grow - as another two ladies join the workforce. Rear left standing cow is a Britains - complete now with a full pair of remade horns - and lying down far right - which is a Crescent lady with repaired pellet hole in her side.

All of these figures cost LESS than £1 each from various damaged e-bay lots - with some of the repairs being almost trivial (e.g my last Britains repair being to add back one broken off horn), and shows what can be done to restore many of these "written off" figures. jb

 
Meanwhile, my dairy herd continues to grow - as another two ladies join the workforce. Rear left standing cow is a Britains - complete now with a full pair of remade horns - and lying down far right - which is a Crescent lady with repaired pellet hole in her side.

All of these figures cost LESS than £1 each from various damaged e-bay lots - with some of the repairs being almost trivial (e.g my last Britains repair being to add back one broken off horn), and shows what can be done to restore many of these "written off" figures. jb

jb;

Really like those colours on the cows...that 'rich' brown provides such a nice highlight.

Thank you.
 
jb;

Really like those colours on the cows...that 'rich' brown provides such a nice highlight.

Thank you.

Thanks chum - glad you like 'em. The "brown" is a mixture of Red-Brown and Matte Black, whilst the white is actually Ivory (all Humbrol) - as I think that Gloss White is a bit too bright for these. The idea of keeping all of my herd in a similar colour scheme - is to disguise the fact that some are really from different manufacturers - but by keeping the colours the same - the eye is deceived into thinking they aren't.

At the moment I have examples from Pixieland-Kew, Britains, Crescent and JoHillco - but you really wouldn't know that - unless you checked them over really carefully. I guesss that I've also subtly changed some of the poses slightly with repairs to legs etc., as I just make a "best fit" of repairs made with steel pins and putty.

Interestingly, I've just found out that a calf I had waiting attention in one of my lots - is actually a Highland Calf ( from JoHillco). The accumulated "grunge" of old paint and dirt covering him, meant that identifying him was not possible before he had been stripped back to a casting. He has the typical "shaggy coat" but also had a bodywork problem - in the shape of a nasty gash around left side of neck, which is currently receiving treatment - though he's responding well to a little TLC - and hopefully my herd will grow yet again, with the inclusion of a rather exotic visitor from Bonnie Scotland. (Norman Joplin categorises these Highland Cattle as (B) "Very Rare". I'll have to keep my eye out for a parent or two for him, if I can find some!

I have a few more pigs - and a herd of sheep nearing completion too - so keep an eye out for a few more posts here soon.
Farmer Johnnybach :D
 
Here's a pic of my growing collection of repaired and restored pigs - being overseen by Farmer Giles (Britains) and The Scarecrow (Timpo).

To left and right of Farmer G - at the rear - are the two larger pigs that I've painted as a pink porker and a black one. Same casting involved by JoHillco. These two required a new rear leg apiece (though different sides) and also a new tail each. The black pig needed his head being replaced as it was hanging off when found.

The smaller pink pig at centre - is also by JoHillco - and just required a repair to a hole in his side.

The other two smaller ones - you've seen before - and are by Timpo - though I've taken some liberties with painting them as two rare British breeds - so different colour schemes to the original pink.

My flock of sheep are almost complete - just drying off - and may make an appearance later. I'm currently trying to find my shepherds - maybe they're in the Public Bar of The Spotted Cow? :Djb

 
Excellent work, John! The foxes are particularly nice, and I love your herd of cattle. The farmer figure is also a very attractive addition to your collection, with his herd.

I've seen a number of additional farm figures up on eBay right now, Britains and other makers, and both male farmhands and milkmaids, etc. They'd all make excellent raw material for just your sort of refurbishment.

Keep 'em coming, prosit!
Brad
 
I'm on a roll tonite!

Finally completed my dozen sheep - so that's a flock!^&grin



Farmer Giles has been joined by his Head Shepherd ( with lamb tucked under his arm) and another of the Shepherds (Britains again) for a chat about.....well...er...um......sheep!

My flock are made up from damaged sheep from a variety of sources - but mostly job-lots collected up from e-bay once again. There are six feeding sheep and one with head up from JohnHillco. These can be readily identified from a small lozenge shaped tab on their sides bearing words like "Copyrt" - "England" or "J.Hill&Co"

Three upright head sheep are from Taylor &Barrett (marked under as T&B) - and two I think from Crescent ( unmarked except for a rather unhelpful England underneath. As one was a lamb - I made up a base to hold these two together as Ewe and lamb - which I think works rather well.

The picture is a bit dark - so may take another few shots tomorrow in daylight. jb
 

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