Marie Antoinette (1 Viewer)

[blaster]

I picked up this dreary looking piece and decided that I could do something else with it. I do have another more detailed Historex figure of Marie Lezinksa awaiting refurbishment.

This piece had a missing head and broken right arm. I've been reading up about the dress of these Parisian women and really like the dresses worn by Marie Antoinette (MA). As she was such a famous woman and I don't have a figure of her, why not convert this to MA?

As can be seen, this figure is not much use as it is. As Iwant to depict MA in one of her dresses without a cloak, I decided to cut up this figure and start to reshape it to one of those pannier dresses worn by MA. The front details are worth salvaging, including the corset. The arms and cloak were trimmed off.

 

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So I then added some putty to the dress, to start the ball rolling.

 

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To make the piece more palatable, I scoured around for a head. Best that I could find was a discarded homemade casting (but then I never throw anything away). This was attached with a wire to the figure. More putty was added to balance out the shape of the dress.

 

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Neck and the hairdo being sculpted. I created lips for this lady.

 

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I spent some time working on this figure.

The hairstyles and dresses were quite different in details in the various paintings on MA. I finally decided on a painting of her in her wedding dress.

The hairdo with hat was sculpted. I shaped the bulk of the dress and will add details later.

 

[blaster]

More of the face and hairdo was sculpted. The front of the dress is being reshaped.

 

[Ivanhoe]

More of the face and hairdo was sculpted. The front of the dress is being reshaped.

Love the job you did on the back of her hair !

Well Done.

Thank you.

 

[blaster]

Hello Matt,

thanks. The hair was surprisingly easy to do. There was sufficient amount on putty added to sculpt in details.

The resculpt of the face is a bit of a bother. Putty requires sufficient depth to adhere to any surface. Thus to add minor details. the addition of putty does not quite stick unless there is sufficient depth. As I am using part of a basic head, I would have to sculpt off most of the existing features to start afresh but am loath to do so. So I continue to plod on.

I readjusted the position of the head by redrilling it.

 

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Resculpted the mouth.

 

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I made some good progress on the dress. Here are some WIP shots.

 

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Most of the dress is almost done. It is starting to look like a wedding cake... I still have to add the trimmings.

 

[Ivanhoe]

Most of the dress is almost done. It is starting to look like a wedding cake... I still have to add the trimmings.

Quite a bit of work !

Your reference to "cake" on Marie Antoinette gave me a smile.

Thank you.

 

[blaster]

Hello Matt,

I've just realized the joke - Let them eat cake... Thanks for that....

The figure was inspired by this painting. Now doesn't that dress take the cake? (Sorry, been watching too many old and campy Carry On films recently).

I've cut through the torso and elevated the upper part by a few mm and added hands to the figure. I've had to build up the dress layer by layer. Will be adding the decorations later.

Rgds Victor

 

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I have more or less completed the sculpting of the dress. Here are some WIP shots. Needs some cleaning up before painting. Details are quite rough but the overall structure looks correct.

 

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Did some more sculpting and then started to paint the face.

 

[Ivanhoe]

Did some more sculpting and then started to paint the face.

She is coming along quite nicely !
Quite different from where you began.

Thank you.

 

[blaster]

Hi Matt,

Thanks. I will probably add more to the back of the figure as there is a voluminous robe attached to the back.

Rgds Victor

 

[Markster]

great job !

 

[blaster]

Hi Markster,

Thanks for your nice comment. Will be getting back to this piece soon.

Rgds Victor

 

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I finally created a robe at the back for this figure.