Spanish Royal Guard Music Unit

[Santi Pérez]

...I was thinking SEK and wrote € . A little small difference...

Don't worry, Gunnar. In Spanish we have a saying: ‘Hasta el mejor escribano echa un borrón’ (Even the best scribe throws a blot). By the way, in my collection I have some SEK coins and banknotes from my now distant and brief visit to Stockholm in 2010.

At the same time as I'm shortening the top end of the drum major's staff, I have also started the following figure. This is the band's officer conductor.

Santi.

[Ben90]

Yes, the staff is too long, compared to the photo. But overall it is a wonderful conversion!

[Santi Pérez]

Yes, the staff is too long, compared to the photo. But overall it is a wonderful conversion!

Thank you, Ben.

I think it looks much better now:




Santi.

[Peter]

You're doing nice on these figures! Very nice conversions and I'm looking forward to see them painted in your own special style!

I could have helped you with some of those first version Africa Corps figures. I believe I had some damaged ones (not the head of course) that you could have used.

[Santi Pérez]

You're doing nice on these figures! Very nice conversions and I'm looking forward to see them painted in your own special style!...

Well, considering that the whole unit will have 24 figures and I'm still on the fifth one, I think you'll have to be patient to see the whole set painted.

Besides, I'm not forgetting that I still have to finish the diorama of the Swiss Guard, Pope and Cardinals. As soon as we can solve the problems of our new house and go to live in it, I will try to make progress in the painting of the figures I still have pending.

...I could have helped you with some of those first version Africa Corps figures. I believe I had some damaged ones (not the head of course) that you could have used...

Thank you very much for such a generous offer, Peter. However, as I love conversions, I'm enjoying these immensely, including the making of the ros kepis on the heads.

Santi.

[Challenger77]

Very nice and different Project Santi !

[Santi Pérez]

Thanks so much, Challenger77.

Santi.

[Chris]

Great conversions ! Santi, could you give us more informations about the way you're using wood glue for headgears ?

[Santi Pérez]

Great conversions ! Santi, could you give us more informations about the way you're using wood glue for headgears ?

Thank you, Chris.

In addition to other conversion techniques (repositioning parts on a figure, ‘transplanting’ parts from one figure to another, carving parts, creating new parts from paper, wood or plastic, etc.), my favourite is to use white wood glue as a modelling material, similar to different commercial putties sold for the same purpose.

The way I work with it is by using a toothpick, with the tip of which I take a small amount of glue, apply it to the right place and give it the desired shape while it's still wet.

The two main uses of this technique are to fill gaps in the figure (e.g. the space between the body and a head, arm or leg that has been added) and to create new, not too large, parts missing in the original figure, such as ears, buttons, straps, etc.

Why can't the pieces modelled with white glue be very large? Because the main problem with this technique is that the thickness of each layer of glue applied, once dry, is very small, so to obtain a large structure, many superimposed layers are necessary to achieve the desired thickness. This takes a lot of time and patience. However, the final result is totally worth it from my humble point of view, due to its consistency and ease of painting.

In case you haven't seen them in the corresponding thread, I leave you a couple of examples of converted figures, so you can compare and evaluate the results.

Swiss Guard Sergeant: the separate pieces and the figure before and after white glue application:




And the same for a Swiss Guard halberdier:




I hope you find my explanation useful. Thank you.

Santi.

[Ochoin]

Do you pin as well, Santi? I use cut-up staples, driven into the plastic using pliers. Then I wood glue.

Whilst it gives considerable strength, I'm not sure your dio figures need this as much as 'rough & tumble' wargames' figures.

donald

[C M Dodson]

Very good work indeed.

What white do you use please.

I have been using superglue but even that has proved fragile on occasion, depending on the plastic .

Best wishes,

Chris

[Santi Pérez]

Thanks so much, Donald and Chris.

The first thing I have to clarify, in case I have been misunderstood, is that I never use the white wood glue to join the pieces of the figures, only to model on them. For the former I always use contact glue, usually Ceys brand.

Do you pin as well, Santi? I use cut-up staples, driven into the plastic using pliers. Then I wood glue.
Whilst it gives considerable strength, I'm not sure your dio figures need this as much as 'rough & tumble' wargames' figures.
donald

No, Donald, I don't use any kind of pins to join the different pieces of the figures together. One of the reasons is that they are usually so small and narrow that pinning them together would be quite difficult. The other is that with the contact glue I use, they are held together well, plus, as you point out, the figures in a diorama are not exposed to such dangerous manipulations as those in wargames.

Very good work indeed.
What white do you use please.
I have been using superglue but even that has proved fragile on occasion, depending on the plastic.
Best wishes,
Chris

Chris, I understand you are asking about the contact glue I use to join the different pieces of the figures together.

The truth is that, depending on the type of plastic, I use two different ones. With relatively compact plastics, Ceys ‘Ultra Unick’ works quite well.

However, for softer plastics (as Caesar Miniatures figures, my favourite for dioramas) I use another glue also from Ceys, ‘special for difficult plastics’, which consists of two elements: a primer that is applied first on the two surfaces to be joined and the adhesive itself, which is applied afterwards and ensures a very strong fixation.

I hope I have answered your questions satisfactorily.

Santi.

[Santi Pérez]

The next figure in the band is now ready. It's its officer conductor.

As this figure is missing in the Airfix set, I had to use one of the available ones. I chose one of the trumpeters, as there are many of them and his pose is similar to the one I wanted to get. The only thing I had to do was to remove his right arm together with the trumpet and replace it with another one I got from the drum major figure.



I made the sabre sheath with a broom bristle. Once the new pieces were glued in place, the rest of the elements were modelled, as usual, with white wood glue. And this was the result:



I hope you like it. Thanks for watching.

Santi.

[Santi Pérez]

A new member has joined the band. It's the cymbal player. The original starting figure has been the same as the one included in the Airfix set:



However, as you would expect from me, I have included some modifications. In addition to changing the headdress from the fur cap to a ros, I have changed the position of the arms and replaced the original cymbals (too small) with new ones made of thin cardboard reinforced with white wood glue.

And this has been the result:



Best regards.

Santi.

[Susofrick]

And now he is really playing his instrument! Great update!

[Santi Pérez]

Thank you Gunnar, that's always one of the intentions of all my projects, that what I represent in them should be as close to reality as possible.

Santi.

[Santi Pérez]

The latest addition to the band is one of the trumpeters.

To make him as realistic as possible, I started from the original Airfix figure, although I removed his left arm and added another one obtained from one of the saxophone players so that he can hold the trumpet with both hands.



To that, as usual, I had to add the modelling of the ros on the head, and this is the resulting figure:




Have a great day.

Santi.

[Ochoin]

Nice point - the original figure does look odd only using one arm to hold the trumpet.
I believe they're relatively heavy instruments (a kilo or more) & to manipulate the keys & support the weight one handed, whilst possible, is not ideal for playing.

It's these 'little" points that make your work exceptional.

donald

[sberry]

Although these conversions require a lot of work and patience (probably more patience than I could afford...), you seem to proceed pretty quickly. Above you mentioned 24 figures altogether for the band - so how many are complete right now?

[Santi Pérez]

...It's these 'little" points that make your work exceptional...

Thank you very much, Donald. As I have said in other occasions, the taste for realism and perfection is one of my obsessions in the hobby (although sometimes it can also be a curse). That's the reason why almost none of the figures I paint is the same as it was right out of the box, but must go through a process of conversion and improvement, however small.

Although these conversions require a lot of work and patience (probably more patience than I could afford...), you seem to proceed pretty quickly. Above you mentioned 24 figures altogether for the band - so how many are complete right now?

Thanks for the encouragement, sberry, although my personal impression is that I'm going desperately slow. Especially considering that the process of preparing the figures is only the beginning, as the painting process, more laborious for me, is still to come.

You are right, my intention is for the whole band to consist of 24 members. I have already selected them all and I know which final figure each of them should become.

This will be the composition of the band:

- 1 band conductor.
- 1 drum major.
- 3 drummers.
- 3 buglers.
- 2 trombone players.
- 2 tuba players (although one will actually carry a slightly larger variant called a euphonium).
- 2 trumpeters.
- 1 French horn player.
- 1 bassoon player.
- 1 bass drummer.
- 1 cymbal player.
- 1 box drummer (small drum).
- 1 flute player.
- 2 saxophone players.
- 2 clarinet players.

So far I have only finished 8 of the figures (the last one was one of the buglers, which I will post here as soon as I can photograph it), 7 of which I have already shown.

My intention is to make first all the figures in different poses (16 in total) and leave for the end the ones that are repeated once or twice.

Best regards!

Santi.