Westerners (1 Viewer)

[johnnybach]

Howdy Pardners. I'm starting a new thread - for my painted Westerners. I began painting (and collecting) Cowboys and Native Americans - by picking up older figures, usually previously owned - and usually in need of care and attention. After repairs and restoration, they therefore went into the "Repair" section of the forum.

Having whetted my appetite for the genre there - I have cast my eye further afield lately, and often found more that would suit me - as castings - to paint myself - so expect some more, from time to time - as and when I find them. As they aren't broken - I can't really show them there - hence the new thread.

Here's a casting that I found recently - which was prompted by a lovely "Bronco Buster" figure by Trophy, that Martyn (GICOP) showed in one of his posts. This one (below), in a similar style, came from Matthew Thair - at Whitetower Miniatures, as a casting kit of parts - and is just as lively a figure - and was great fun to paint. Find them in his Wild West section here: http://www.whitetowerminiatures.co.uk/

Hope you like him. jb

 

[trooper]

JB, Sarum have an extensive range of Western figures, many based on well known movies, which are available as castings including the death of Wild Bill Hickok, a bank holdup, saloon fight, hoe down, cattle drive etc. and ATS have a range of Indians showing village life, a father teaching his son to fire a bow, mounted medicine man, mountain man and mountie trading for furs, Indians playing stick and ball (lacrosse), woman scraping hide and many others also available as castings. Suggest you check them out. Trooper

 

[johnnybach]

JB, Sarum have an extensive range of Western figures, many based on well known movies, which are available as castings including the death of Wild Bill Hickok, a bank holdup, saloon fight, hoe down, cattle drive etc. and ATS have a range of Indians showing village life, a father teaching his son to fire a bow, mounted medicine man, mountain man and mountie trading for furs, Indians playing stick and ball (lacrosse), woman scraping hide and many others also available as castings. Suggest you check them out. Trooper

Hi chum - yes, I realise that Patrick is back - and have had a look at some of his growing Western range. I hadn't checked out the ATS site for a while - so will give them a look too, thanks for the suggestion.

[Just had a quick look at ATS - and only just found them. They aren't easy to get to - so I have missed them. The word Westerners is half hidden - and when clicking on the area - they don't come up immediately. Then there aren't many pictures of all of them , right after a lot of other figures - so no wonder I missed them. I like some of these - so when I've made a bit of room - I might well have a go at a few. Like the Gold Prospector very much!].

My favourites though, in this area, are still the old Hollowcast figures from Britains, Crescent, Timpo et al, which I usually like to buy as restoration projects - and as they are generally in need of some attention - can often pick them up for far less than the cost of some castings. For the price of ONE £7 foot figure casting, for example - I can frequently get SEVEN of these. And as I get so much pleasure from rescuing them from the melting pot - then restoring, modifying and painting them - I usually get the most pleasure from doing that too.

The pic below is an example of some restorations I did quite recently. I paid £2 for each mounted figure - and just £1 for the foot figures - although they didn't look like this when found. (Indeed, some are an eclectic mixture - as the horse and rider are not always necessarily from the same maker.) Maybe another £5 for bits and pieces of castings for repair - or often from a donor figure too far gone for repair, ( horse legs, weapons, arms, heads etc) and then paint - and for say, £25 in total , I have eleven new figures (to me) - and a whole lot of fun ,making them up along the way.



However, when I see a "Cracker" that I would like - such as the Trophy Bronco Buster - ( which aren't usually available broken - or at low cost), I have a good look around for something similar - which CAN be made to look something like what I want. In this case - at was from Whitetower Miniatures. This one wasn't signed - but others I have from this source bear the signature of a Mr A Stadden.

Great to see that more of this genre are becoming available fro our British cottage suppliers. Thanks for the tip on both these excellent producers Trooper.

All the best - jb.

 

[johnnybach]

Here's a good example of what I mean.

I went to a local market today - and by chance, spotted a bric-a-brac stall. Just browsing, I came across a small box which contained some Toy Cowboys and Native Americans. Just up my street - I selected six of them - and after a short negotiation - walked off with them fo £1 apiece. Here they are - as found.



After getting back home - they had a bath - of oven cleaner - and out they came. (Top two are Britains - and bottom four are Crescent: all hollowcasts - so date before 1966). The two Britains figures will require tiny repairs - and I will try to pick up a missing hand with a pistol for one cowboy - and an arm with a knife for another figure - both of which COULD be fixed with an armature and putty job - but I prefer wherever possible to use metal spare parts.



Note that I fixed one or two little defects straightaway ( barrel on rifle, head on tomahawk) - so these really are very minor repairs - but three of my six were absolutely perfect specimens. Note also how much better they look after stripping off the old paintwork - just new castings again, really.

Just coincidental - but makes the case for how easy it is to pick these up - and very economically too.

I'll show how I get on with refurbishing them - in due course. jb

 

[johnnybach]

Back to my latest castings - my next figure is a dismounted Cowboy calming his horse, whilst a wilder one is being broken in. Another from Whitetower Miniatures. In the foreground this time, Hoot Gibson is depicted - who was first a rodeo rider - and then an early movie-star/stunt rider, around the same time that Tom Mix was a popular pre-war movie star. If you ever saw an old black and white movie - with riders being "shot" from a horse - chances are - it was Hoot, who made a speciality of this type of stunt. ^&grin

As is my usual practice, I made the base for this horse from some metal alloy sheet. I think most horses stand better with a base. jb

 

[johnnybach]

After a few hours of very pleasant painting - all but one of my six "market" finds have now been re-painted, with a couple of tiny repairs and modifications along the way. Here's how they look now.





The above two views show front and rear of the pieces. The bottom pic left shows two additional painted figures from Irregular Miniatures - the rest are the Crescent and Britains finds. jb

 

[johnnybach]

Howdy once again pardners. Thought you might like to see the results of around six months of collecting various old Cowboys and Native Americans - which I've been buying via e-bay, from time to time.

Mostly old hollowcasts - they are in varied condition - as you may see - from broken to mostly okay - though all in need of a repaint at the very least. Here's my first pic - to introduce them. Mostly to the left are my various new (to me) Native Americans, (though if you look very closely, you may see a Buffalo near the corner of my saloon (another work in progress!).^&grin

You can see three mounted Britains figures ( one nearly completed - with repaired arms to the rider - and legs to the horse - with another awaiting some paint to the left. Several interesting foot figures - with a new figure to me holding hatchet and knife near the centre. This Chief is from B&T. Front left are a selection of Crescent braves - as yet unstripped of paint - but they will also get a bath of oven cleaner shortly - to make them castings once again.

Finally - you may see front centre two Fylde braves - minus their horses. I plan to modify two mares and foals - and make them both Indian ponies - and add the two braves to each figure. (One is a Britains - the other a Crescent - BUT - will keep the foals with them. Should make for two interesting conversions.



Here's a closer look at the Native American contingent. Note a REKA figure with hatchet - minus a base and one lower leg!! He should be fun to put right again. There will eventually be 15 figures - five of which will be mounted.



Now over to the Cowboy section - which is composed of around 30 figures:




Near the saloon doors is a Timpo Cowboy tied to a tree - which the rest of the cowboys seem to be blaming on the Native contingent. Note there are three mounted figures - a Britains and Johillco near the back - and another rider near front right - who is another "made up" figure. The rider is a Fylde - whilst his horse is from Benbros. He has no right arm yet - and I have given him a holstered pistol (milliput) and some saddle-bags from Whitetower Miniatures. He may yet get a rifle too. The cowboys on foot are a varied bunch, ranging from Britains to Crescent (mostly).

There are a few that I have begun painting here - after receiving a few repairs. Mostly small parts get broken off first - so many will require pistols. You may be able to see two bad guys ( with masks and black hats). Both of these had lost pistols - so I repaired them by drilling into the arm stump - and replacing barrels with cut paper clips, and chambers with milliput. Once completed, you will never know they were once missing. The two crouching Britains cowboys are a good case in point. One with pink shirt has a complete arm with pistol - the other less developed guy has the start of a new pistol.

The two cowboys at the draw with two pistols were found complete - so I have nearly finished painting these two (Crescent). You may also be able to see a slight rarity just behind them. SHE is my Cowgirl - soon to have her original whip arm restored - so watch out for her progressing too - as I will show how all of these progress - before adding some to my to my collection. Not all of them though - as there are several that I have enough of already - so I'll just repair and restore - and then move them on ( note no fewer than 9 Britains cowboys with drawn pistols - near top right) Too many - I think!!

Here's a final pic - showing all of my latest finds - which will become my latest Cowboy project. Hope you like them - and maybe look in from time to time - to see how they will develop, pardners. jb

 

[theBaron]

Thanks for the update, John! Your collection is really developing in style, as well as growing in number. This would make a great display under the Christmas tree.

Prost!
Brad

 

[johnnybach]

Yo Brad - glad you like 'em. And what a good idea that is - under the Xmas tree eh?? I'll see how far I can get with 'em. ^&grin

Here's another little update on progress on one of them - with a Britains "Mare & Foal" conversion. I'm pinning these to a base - before adapting the mare to take an Indian Chief of a different make, on her back (Fylde), who was waiting for a mount. I seem to recall recently sombody asking how to go about "pinning"??? Well, here's an example below. There are some tools used alongside - which are probably self explanatory - but to someone who has never done it before - here goes.

First decide on what base you want. I've used some 1.5mm alloy sheet metal - and cut and filed to the shape I want. Then, drill into the legs of the horses - and glue in some cut lengths of steel pins. I've used some paper clips. Use the stronger ones wherever possible - but fine ones for tiny legs of the foal were used - as the legs are so thin - the thicker pins can't be used. Note the various thicknesses of the pin-vices I use ( fine hand drills).

Then - position your horses and mark where the pins go on the base - and drill corresponding holes in the base ( see next pic down). Go gently - as the metal is old with these - and they are thin anyway. Go in as far as you dare - but at least 3mm.





You will need a cutter for the pins - and some fine files to smooth everything off after inserting the pins ( attached to the horse legs) down through the base - and then glue using either Super-Glue or one of the epoxy resin glues (which should give a stronger bond). Once they are set - the joint will be stronger than the original metal.

I prefer to paint my horses first - before fixing - as it's easier to get brushes around the figures - but not impossible to fix first and then paint. Note the oblong base on my mounting board ( off-cut of wood) - which is intended for the Indian Chief below. Same process involved. jb

 

[Go for Broke]

Yo Brad - glad you like 'em. And what a good idea that is - under the Xmas tree eh?? I'll see how far I can get with 'em. ^&grin

JB, you better ask the commandant first.:tongue: By the way, Hawaii, has I think, the largest cattle ranch in the USA. Also good job as always JB.

 

[johnnybach]

Yo Brad - glad you like 'em. And what a good idea that is - under the Xmas tree eh?? I'll see how far I can get with 'em. ^&grin

JB, you better ask the commandant first.:tongue: By the way, Hawaii, has I think, the largest cattle ranch in the USA. Also good job as always JB.

As always - suggest first - before action!!

Hmmm................bigger than Texas??? and does that mean my cowboys need hawaiian shirts???? Next thing, they'll have surf-boards!!

Have a good one - and.................keeeep watching ...........jb

 

[Ivanhoe]

Thank you !

Always have trouble finding a good base for the horses...your method is a good one.

 

[johnnybach]

Thank you !

Always have trouble finding a good base for the horses...your method is a good one.

Here are some more. Note the Britains Mounted Native American Chief on the right. This figure was found with two broken rear legs to the horse - and no base. Tricky - as this pose only had two legs fixed to the base originally - and is often found broken. Always fix as many legs to the base as possible - but in this case - it's going to be two.



I needed to replace the broken legs on this one - so fixed longer pins to the stumps of the legs left. I went in as far as possible - so at least 5mm into the thick part of the leg. The pins were shaped to mimmic the eventual shape of leg and hoof - then cemented in with epoxy glue (strongest there is). Leave to set overnight - with legs and base up in the air. I then modelled some milliput around the legs - leaving the hooves for later. Have a close look - it's now as solid as before. I'll model in the hooves tomorrow.

Note also the mare and Foal - now with rider ( I will pin him to the horses as well - eventually), taking shape. I changed my mind with these - and they will become Apaloosa Indian horses eventually. I've just given the mare a milliput blanket for her rider to sit on

Note also I've just pinned the other Britains figure on the oblong base seen earlier. Here I've left one hoof in the air - pinning the other three. He will look like the nearly completed one behind - though note that I pinned all four hooves to the base with that one - as the legs were originally VERY bent - and the metal probably weakened whilst straightening - so I pinned all four to it's slightly longer base.

Pinning and glueing is a very versatile repair method - for lots of joints - and very strong.

 

[Imperial Miniatures]

I've been thinking for a while that I'd like to pick up some old Britain's and redo them for gaming with and I think this thread has pushed me into the direction I want to go.

I like the figures you've done - I'll be hunting for some western figures at the April show....

Mike

 

[Ivanhoe]

Thank you !

Those bases look perfect for those horses.
Many years ago I had a knight on horseback that I pinned the horses legs to the base, must have used too weak pins...over time the figure slowly leaned, and leaned...until it gave up the ghost and let go.

 

[johnnybach]

I've been thinking for a while that I'd like to pick up some old Britain's and redo them for gaming with and I think this thread has pushed me into the direction I want to go.

I like the figures you've done - I'll be hunting for some western figures at the April show....

Mike

Excellent idea Mike. Here's a quick and messy pic of some underway at the moment ( the rest are still in a box). and represent 3-4 months of e-bay purchases. You can often pick these up - slightly damaged - or maybe just in need of a new paint job. I've been cleaning them all off first - the better to judge just what is required with each figure. I like good solid bases on horses - as they are often found with broken off leg parts - and I think often it's because they didn't have a base in the first place. Other repairs are easy enough - and I'll be off to Dorset Soldiers next week - to get many of the spares I'll need for some of these. Giles has a very good stock of spare parts that will fit MOST of the old hollowcast figures - like Britains, Crescent and Timpo - and NOT JUST Cowboys either.

Then there's the possibility of adding guns, knives, other arms with different weapons etc, - and a blank canvas to work on with paint too, once they are cleaned off. And the bonus is - they usually cost just a pound or two for common figures that were originally made in their thousands back in the 1950's.

Great fun to do - they are very rewarding figures to repair, refurbish and repaint. Best of luck with them - keep looking in - to see how they develop. jb

 

[johnnybach]

Thank you !

Those bases look perfect for those horses.
Many years ago I had a knight on horseback that I pinned the horses legs to the base, must have used too weak pins...over time the figure slowly leaned, and leaned...until it gave up the ghost and let go.

I've done LOTS of mounted knights - and put many of these on bases too - but that's never happened to any of mine. (Check out my Knights of Agincourt posts). Some old castings may have been made with a lot of lead in the mix - and maybe they were just too heavy to support the weight???

These are mostly old hollowcasts - and as the name suggests - are hollow - and very light in weight - so should have no such problems.

I have read that some of Freddy Ping's work can suffer from this fate - as he used a lot of lead in his figures. Reliable modern castings are usually fine, in my experience. jb

 

[johnnybach]

I'm rather pleased with how my Apaloosa Indian Horses ( Britains Mare & Foal) are coming along - and alongside them - another version underway (this time by Crescent).

These really came about by a happy accident. I bought my Britains pair - in a job lot - which included them along with some figures that I was really after. I thought that I would move them on - and then..........found a picture online of a Native American on a mare - with a foal!!

Then it hit me................why not try and make this trio up on one base - and THEN.....the Crescent mare & foal came up on e-bay.

So................I bid on them too - and won, so ending up with both. This suited me just fine - as I had two Charbens Native Americans looking for mounts - and that's how this pair of figures came about. I'll probably start off my Crescent pair tomorrow in another "Indian Pony" style. I must also remember to look for some spare arms in Dorset - as one of my Chiefs is missing one. jb

 

[johnnybach]

Here's a couple of pics of how some of my Native Americans are developing. I've been really concentrating on my two Chiefs in the centre - who will be mounted with spear and shield - and sitting on their mare with foal. Never seen any Glossy Toy Soldier in that pose before - so hope these two will be unique!

Note that the left hand mare and foal were originally Britains farm animals - whilst the the other pair were the same offering the - but from the Crescent factory. The Chiefs were from Charbens - so quite a mixture. One of the Chiefs (left), came minus a left arm (originally fixed on by a rivet - so often found with it missing). I have used a spare arm from another broken Britains cavalry TS - who originally carried a sword in this hand/arm which was snapped off. A bit of work with a scalpel removed the sword stub - and a hole drilled through the hand will provide a fixing point for a spear (yet to fabricate from a straightened paper-clip and some milliput).

The bases for all of my figures this time, were made - as usual - from a piece of alloy sheeting - which I purchase from a local engineering firm - as offcuts, for a pound or two at most. The number of bases this makes the cost for each figure pennies - so very economical to use. The piece I used this time - had been used by the firm to repair the bodywork of an Aston-Martin ( so I was told), - so quite a pedigree there!!^&grin

I've very much enjoyed converting these two figures - so far - and make no apologies for all of the two-tone Idian Ponies I've been painting. I just think that they look so much better in this colourful Glossy Toy Soldier style - I can't get enough of 'em. Here's the pics - dismounted shows off the Indian blankets (made from milliput). These help pad out the thinner horses than originally used by these two Charbens Indian Chiefs - and will help them "sit" better on their new mounts - shown in the second pic. jb



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[johnnybach]

Here's a few completed - with more to come, as lots of the others are nearly there.

I'm particularly pleased with my Indian Chiefs - with Mare and foals. These turned out to be almost a small project on their own - as I hadn't realised quite how much work would be involved. I had to make a base for both the Britains pair - and the Crescent pair. Then - after repairing a few broken legs - I painted and mounted them. Then the Chiefs (Charbens) had to be persuaded to fit - with the help of a milliput Indian Blanket for each ridden horse. I had to make up an arm (from a Britains figure) to fit one Chief - as he forgot to bring his with him - then make up a shield and spear for each figure. A new paint job - and finally fitted - they were both complete. (Phew!).:smile2:

Here's two views below - which also shows some gunslingers (Crescent) - and my first Cowgirl (JoHillco) - now complete with a new whip-arm (courtesy of Dorset Soldiers, who make a spare!^&grin). My method is to paint bits and pieces of other figures, whilst the paint tin of an appropriate colour is open. At the rear - are also two more mounted Britains Chiefs. You may notice that they don't have their original arms ( as they were missing when found) - but I have replaced them with different arms/weapons. The Galloping horse figure now totes a captured rifle - whilst the other cantering horse figure has a tomahwak fitted to a spare and modified Cavalry arm - drilled to accept a tomahawk from Whitetower Miniatures. Also note that I frequently give figures additional knives and ammo pouch - (just because I can!^&grin) - and I like them.

I must also warn you - that whilst I was at the Dorset shop - I found some more recruits - including a trio that I've been after for a few years - but more on that next time - could be tomorrow!!

See you later - yee-ha!{sm0} jb