Paper Models and Original Castings

In an effort to complete my armies as inexpensively as possible, I have begun to look at card models for some of my vehicles. To that end, I began my internet search for free card models. I found a number that I think I can use. The first was labeled "Antique Truck". This was a black and white line drawing which I colored using a very old software (Photo Studio from the mid-1990's). I used acetate for the windscreen and rear window.

In this color scheme, this truck is for Army Red. I have painted the driver to be part of the Engineer Corps. The driver's body is one of my original sculptures, cast in resin. The arms and head came from my Prince August Traditional Toy Soldier mold.

The next car came from a Japanese language site with hundreds of card models. The "Old Time" cars were designed to fit on a single sheet of paper, and were, therefore not to  scale.

Using my trusty CAD program, I traced over the original model, broke up the pieces to make it easier to assemble, and designed new wheels. I then saved the line drawing as a JPEG and colored it with "Paint". The car below is based on an 1908 Opel Doctor's Car.

The passengers are castings of my own original sitting body with my german dragoon head added. The arms came from my Prince August molds. I see this little two seater as my Army Black Scout Car.

Looking around, I haven't seen any figures for riding/driving in the vehicles used in the game. I've had about as much luck looking for support and command staff. I have made some original sculptures of figures for this purpose and also aquired a mold making kit for reproducing these figures.

The figures below are my first castings. Most did not come out of the mold in the condition pictured. Air bubbles had to be filled and missing parts had to be replaced.

These first three are Staff members for my Army Black. The left figure is wearing a Jeagers Shako, the center figure has a field cap, and the right figure has the grenadier's mitre. The body is my generic Staff Officer. The center figure has the original head (turned slightly from the original pose). The other two heads come from a set of 4 I did for different Army Black troop types.

This final figure is the "Grand Duchess of Gerolstein". She is based on a painting of the actress that portrayed the duchess in Offenbach's time. Unfortunately, I could not do that lovely lady's face justice with my meager talents.  However, I think she'll make a respectable "hanger on" for my Army Black.

The drivers pictured above round out the first four molds I was able to produce with this mold making kit. I am currently refining my casting techniques to produce better castings. With the next kit, I hope to produce my three army commanders; Army Red, Army Black, and Army Horizon Blue.