johnnybach
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More Cowboys and Native Americans (2 Viewers)
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johnnybach
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I had some lucky Britains Mounted Cowboy finds on e-bay recently - when three slightly damaged cowpokes came up for sale. As usual, I put them on watch - and was lucky enough to get them for the ONLY bid - so got 'em cheap!
Here's what they looked like when they turned up inj the post, just a few days later.
You can see that there's a few missing parts to all three figures.
Here's what they looked like when they turned up inj the post, just a few days later.
You can see that there's a few missing parts to all three figures.
johnnybach
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I had some lucky Britains Mounted Cowboy finds on e-bay recently - when three slightly damaged cowpokes came up for sale. As usual, I put them on watch - and was lucky enough to get them for the ONLY bid - so got 'em cheap!
Here's what they looked like when they turned up inj the post, just a few days later.
You can see that there's a few missing parts to all three figures.
I posted more - but inadvertantly clicked the wrong button - there's more on this - but I was timed out!! I have asked admin to replace the missing parts jb
johnnybach
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Well, things were not recoverable - so I'll try again.
Here's a pic of how my three amigos look now that repairs have been done.
All three figures are Britains. The figure firing backwards is one of the so-called second grade figures - which always pose a challenge, due to the thin horse legs - and two of this figure's are broken off. The other two figures were originally Mounted cowboys with rifle and lasoo. I decided to restore the figures somewhat differently - giving the rearing horse cowboy the rifle carried in right hand - and the other a pistol in hand.
Repairs consisted of restoring all missing horse legs. I used spares from Dorset for two of them - but repaired the very thin legs of the other second grade figure with cut pins and milliput modelled legs/hooves. All three were pinned to a new fabricated stand ( as usual).
The cowboy firing backwards also had his pistol barrel restored ( cut piece of paper-clip into a drilled out chamber of the pistol).
The rearing horse cowboy required a new arm to replace the one which once held a lassoo - and I chose a Dorset spare holding a rifle. His horse was also missing his tail - so that was also replaced - and he's now good to paint.
The third figure required two new legs for the horse, whilst the cowboy needed a head and arm. I chose a drawn pistol arm - and dipped into my stash of old heads for another Britains version of what was once a foot cowboy that was beyond repair. I grafted this head on with a small piece of metal rod which glued into the head and down through the neck into the hollow body of the figure. Epoxy glue will mean it never comes away again. Note that I gave it a slight twist to the right - and his pistol arm was also tweaked to follow suit.
All are now ready for paint - which will be in Glossy Toy Soldier style. jb
Here's a pic of how my three amigos look now that repairs have been done.
All three figures are Britains. The figure firing backwards is one of the so-called second grade figures - which always pose a challenge, due to the thin horse legs - and two of this figure's are broken off. The other two figures were originally Mounted cowboys with rifle and lasoo. I decided to restore the figures somewhat differently - giving the rearing horse cowboy the rifle carried in right hand - and the other a pistol in hand.
Repairs consisted of restoring all missing horse legs. I used spares from Dorset for two of them - but repaired the very thin legs of the other second grade figure with cut pins and milliput modelled legs/hooves. All three were pinned to a new fabricated stand ( as usual).
The cowboy firing backwards also had his pistol barrel restored ( cut piece of paper-clip into a drilled out chamber of the pistol).
The rearing horse cowboy required a new arm to replace the one which once held a lassoo - and I chose a Dorset spare holding a rifle. His horse was also missing his tail - so that was also replaced - and he's now good to paint.
The third figure required two new legs for the horse, whilst the cowboy needed a head and arm. I chose a drawn pistol arm - and dipped into my stash of old heads for another Britains version of what was once a foot cowboy that was beyond repair. I grafted this head on with a small piece of metal rod which glued into the head and down through the neck into the hollow body of the figure. Epoxy glue will mean it never comes away again. Note that I gave it a slight twist to the right - and his pistol arm was also tweaked to follow suit.
All are now ready for paint - which will be in Glossy Toy Soldier style. jb
johnnybach
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thebritfarmer
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Great poses, my favourite is the rearing cowboy. Looking forward to seeing you work your magic yet again.
johnnybach
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It was that figure in particular, that made me stop and look at these three on offer on e-bay, in the first place Scott. I thought they would fly - but with 5 mins to go, they had no offer at all - so...............on the off-chance..........I went in at the offer bid...................and the rest is history.......I won!
All of the old Britains "rearing" poses are exceptionally good - in my opinion. Whether it's one of the old Cavalry Regiments - or Cowboys and Native Americans - I just love to get my hands on them.
This one was particularly good - as it was just missing a tail from the horse - and the right arm. Both parts are easy fixes - and cost me just 80 pence from Dorset.
Bargain! - jb
johnnybach
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Here's a little update on progress with these three Britains cowboys.
One figure is almost complete - whilst the others are also well underway too.
One figure is almost complete - whilst the others are also well underway too.
Ivanhoe
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The guy in the center, on the brown horse is going to be a "classic" !
Great work jb.
johnnybach
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Glad you like him amigo - and now that I have completed all three - I hope you like them too.
As you can see - all have now been put together and re-painted. I've been a bit more adventurous with the painting - than when they were done originally - and also altered the poses somewhat of two of these old Britains hollowcasts. I have left the cowboy firing backwards in his original pose - but repainted his horse as a grey. My red shirted hombre would have had a rifle in his right hand, originally - but as the arm was missing I gave him a drawn pistol instead. His head is also non-standard, but came from my spare bits and pieces box - and note that I've turned it slightly to the side, following his pistol hand. My third figure in the yellow shirt would have had a lassoo in his right hand originally - but as that was broken, I replaced it with a rifle holding arm - just because I like it that way.
Results are below - which can now join my ever-growing band of cowboys - shortly to be packed away - 'cos I will be moving home again!! So.....if I'm off the scene for a while, as I will be packing up my collection once again - fear not...............I'll be back......sometime....!!
jb
johnnybach
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As this thread makes no sense at all without pics - I'm attempting to retrieve the finished project pics from my dear old pals at Photobucket - and post them via the TF method.
Just an experiment. jb
Just an experiment. jb
johnnybach
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Here's a repaired figure of a Native American that I have been wanting in my collection for some considerable time. He's a Medicine Man - originally made by Crescent Toys back around the 1950's.
Note the dancing pose - and the snake curled around his leg. I've attemted to paint this as an American Coral snake - which is aquatic.
This is how he turned up originally.
And after repair and re-painting ( note the separate parts to the stand - as originally).
Note the dancing pose - and the snake curled around his leg. I've attemted to paint this as an American Coral snake - which is aquatic.
This is how he turned up originally.
And after repair and re-painting ( note the separate parts to the stand - as originally).
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theBaron
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Re: More Cowboys and Native Americans--Medicine man
Brilliant piece, John, and a delightful surprise! I first thought, "It'll be another mounted figure..." This is a great piece to add to your collection, and an excellent repair, as usual.
Prost!
Brad
Brilliant piece, John, and a delightful surprise! I first thought, "It'll be another mounted figure..." This is a great piece to add to your collection, and an excellent repair, as usual.
Prost!
Brad
johnnybach
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Re: More Cowboys and Native Americans--Medicine man
I got him in a "job-lot" - as usual, and I actually hadn't spotted him when I bought the lot - because the e-bay photo was a bit of a jumble. I must have been looking for him for about 5 years - so I was determined to give him a good finish.
His leg was snapped off - and was slightly short - so I had to pin him back together using a photo as a guide - and then re-build his leg with some epoxy putty. Then - it was just use the old imagination for something a bit more colourful than the original, rather bland finish that Crescent originally gave him, Brad. I particularly enjoyed painting the snake!^&grin
Glad you approve jb
I got him in a "job-lot" - as usual, and I actually hadn't spotted him when I bought the lot - because the e-bay photo was a bit of a jumble. I must have been looking for him for about 5 years - so I was determined to give him a good finish.
His leg was snapped off - and was slightly short - so I had to pin him back together using a photo as a guide - and then re-build his leg with some epoxy putty. Then - it was just use the old imagination for something a bit more colourful than the original, rather bland finish that Crescent originally gave him, Brad. I particularly enjoyed painting the snake!^&grin
Glad you approve
jb
johnnybach
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Here's a pic of two Native Americans - literally hopping mad!
And I don't blame 'em! Well..............how would you like to be snapped off from your base in the prime of life?
These two are Harveys - and date from the 1950's. ( A UK maker who branched out from the Crescent Toy Co.) I completed the figure on the larger base today. His brother is another I repaired a couple of years ago.
my latest figure had his one supporting leg snapped off below the knee - the other had merely lost a foot. I've shown them together - to show how the two figures were repaired quite differently.
The larger based one - had his knee attached to a fabricated base by means of a pin - and the leg and foot was then sculpted using putty ( I use milliput). The rest of him - including his tomahawk is original.
The older figure - actually has a recast britains base with a foot cast in, that I picked up somewhere along the way? This was simply glued into his intact drilled out leg. (You may note that he had also lost his Tomahawk - so I made one from a paper-clip for the handle - and a bit of scrap lead for the business end!). As the base has the Britains trade name still cast in - this American is going to cause a bit of identity head scratching in future years by any new owner - after I'm not around!!!{sm4}
I made the new guy a tad taller than his bro' - but like 'em both though - as they aren't getting any easier to find, nowadays. jb
And I don't blame 'em! Well..............how would you like to be snapped off from your base in the prime of life?
These two are Harveys - and date from the 1950's. ( A UK maker who branched out from the Crescent Toy Co.) I completed the figure on the larger base today. His brother is another I repaired a couple of years ago.
my latest figure had his one supporting leg snapped off below the knee - the other had merely lost a foot. I've shown them together - to show how the two figures were repaired quite differently.
The larger based one - had his knee attached to a fabricated base by means of a pin - and the leg and foot was then sculpted using putty ( I use milliput). The rest of him - including his tomahawk is original.
The older figure - actually has a recast britains base with a foot cast in, that I picked up somewhere along the way? This was simply glued into his intact drilled out leg. (You may note that he had also lost his Tomahawk - so I made one from a paper-clip for the handle - and a bit of scrap lead for the business end!). As the base has the Britains trade name still cast in - this American is going to cause a bit of identity head scratching in future years by any new owner - after I'm not around!!!{sm4}
I made the new guy a tad taller than his bro' - but like 'em both though - as they aren't getting any easier to find, nowadays. jb
johnnybach
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My next two items are more in the Cowboy line. Both are on the small side - being around the 45mm size.
Here are a John Hill Co. (JoHillco) mounted cowboy firing rifle ahead. He was more or less intact when found - except for the tail of his horse which was missing - as well as a hole in the neck of the horse. Both faults were easy fixes with putty for the hole - and a spare tail for the horse from Dorset Spares Department.
The Stagecoach is by Morestone - another short lived old British toy maker who specialised in die-cast toys - and this coach dates from around 1949. It was in a bit of a poor state when found - and came in several pieces. The horses are very delicate - so I mounted both on a base plate - and repaired some broken legs - replacing one completely ( see if you can find which leg was replaced). The undercarriage was also repaired - using strengthening plates to fix it again - in places. The top shell was in two parts - which had spread somewhat ( it's diecast), so I worked on it by filing - and made it fit back together again, with the help of some more putty in places. The driver was missing - so this is a non-original small scale cowboy driver from Dorset again.
Here's a couple of pics below. jb
Here are a John Hill Co. (JoHillco) mounted cowboy firing rifle ahead. He was more or less intact when found - except for the tail of his horse which was missing - as well as a hole in the neck of the horse. Both faults were easy fixes with putty for the hole - and a spare tail for the horse from Dorset Spares Department.
The Stagecoach is by Morestone - another short lived old British toy maker who specialised in die-cast toys - and this coach dates from around 1949. It was in a bit of a poor state when found - and came in several pieces. The horses are very delicate - so I mounted both on a base plate - and repaired some broken legs - replacing one completely ( see if you can find which leg was replaced). The undercarriage was also repaired - using strengthening plates to fix it again - in places. The top shell was in two parts - which had spread somewhat ( it's diecast), so I worked on it by filing - and made it fit back together again, with the help of some more putty in places. The driver was missing - so this is a non-original small scale cowboy driver from Dorset again.
Here's a couple of pics below. jb
johnnybach
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Thanks Brad - much appreciated.
This is my second Stagecoach - as my first was a Crescent - which is at a slightly larger scale of around 50mm. Morestone coaches are a bit scarcer to come by - and so I was lucky to be able to find this one in bits, that I was able to repair. (NB: Morris and Stone were the partners who marketed "Morestone" products, though there remains a bit of a mystery who actually manufactured their products).
I underpainted this one with a lighter colour first - in order to give it a more weathered look - so glad you picked up on that.
You don't miss much compadre, do you!
Glad you like it too Brad. :salute::