1/6 figures for my 1890's steam launch

working on  US navy figures for a steam launch I am building, trying to figure out how to post photos to this forum.." />" />" />" />

Welcome aboard.  Check out this link:

https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t169-recommended-image-posting-procedures

sorted the photo hosting thing thanks, four purchased heads, glass eyes added, facial hair and hats added with epoxy sculpt, working on a crazy plan that the engineman figure will have servos inside and his arms will work the trottle and shift lever, to this I made plaster molds from a torso and forms fiberglass shells,, (hollow torso) most of the figures will be dressed with light-weight and regular scultp epoxy,, the LT's wife will be a little more complex but when the cloth is fitted it will be epoxy soaked and painted,,[img][/img][img][/img][img][/img]

A 1/6-scale steam launch (boat)? That's an impressive project!
I take it the boat will be powered, and possibly radio controlled?
Electric motors with a simulated steam engine?
Are you constructing this from plans, or is it a completely original design?

Pretty cool, I hope the plans pan out. The dedication is impressive (glass eyes and all).

Looks like your photos are posting, but there is some loose code. See Stryker's link for the insert photo button, and use the image link (preferably direct link) in that. Or, if coding, you need just one [ img ] before and just one [ /img ] after each image link URL (but no spaces anywhere).

What a cool project. I love seeing all the diverse interests here.

A little more back info, I'm a R/C ship modeler who mainly does ships of the Spanish American War era (1/48th and 1/96th scale) I do have a 1/16th scale WWII RAF whaleback rescue launch with crew figures.. researching the ships boats carried on my 1890's ships I found the 1900 book the navy printed to standerize boat constuction,, detailed plans of all and parts, a full scale live guy helped with engine and engineering plans, trying to work as close to the plans as can be done including using the spec'd wood types,(white oak is tough stuff to work with) and yes the boat will be live steam powered.. I'm new to 1/6th scale figures and will take any advice, suggestions and tips. I do read and watch vids (youtube has changed the modeling world) thanks all.. Slim, is my 1/6th scale shop assistant, he shows the size of things and doesn't block the photos to much!!!


https://youtu.be/CkeGimAuAJE?si=o6u65WddrulfN9bf

That's really impressive!

tghsmith wrote:Slim, is my 1/6th scale shop assistant

Cool take on the "skeleton crew" concept

Live steam, even! Okay, that's seriously cool!

took my first shot at sculpting 1890's women hair, once it cures up I'll decide if I'm happy with it, the one factor to consider is that a fairly substancial hat has to added..

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Wow! What a fascinating and unique historical project. I'm eager to see more!

And welcome to the forum!

Impressive work. Love that you’re even sculpting a woman/women for this project. The craft is impressive as well.

davidd wrote:  Live steam, even! Okay, that's seriously cool!

I agree and I applaud your courage in taking on a 1/6 scale ship!  

I'm working on two sailing ships in 1/64 scale, and I stalled out after completing the hulls.  I just don't have the patience for masts and rigging any longer, much less the detailed brass work you're doing here.  Very impressive!

I added a hat to the female head and will be removing it and using a different media on the second attempt.. good news, the light-weight sculpt-epoxy works very well, smooths in with wet fingure tips, sands very nicely after curing.. my coxswain figure is ready via sculpt-epoxy to get cracker-jacked..

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Impressive! Taking modelling to the next...scale level 

I love your assistant. Are you doing moveable eyes with these heads? Or is this just another way of doing eyes?

no, just glass eyes fixed in place, I saw this done in a complete head sculpt vidio and figured it was easier than painting them..

So the figures would be basically statues?

statues yes, they will be fixed in place on the boat, most likely pins or rare earth magnets to hold them in place.. the motorman/engineer hopefully will have working arms via R/C

That's some model, can't wait to see more!

tghsmith wrote:statues yes, they will be fixed in place on the boat, most likely pins or rare earth magnets to hold them in place.. the motorman/engineer hopefully will have working arms via R/C

Personally I think one of the biggest advantages of action figures are...that figures are moveable. I don't know why you would model them into statues, even when they have a fixed position. 
Your assistant is the best example why moving is cool.

Valiarde wrote:

tghsmith wrote:statues yes, they will be fixed in place on the boat, most likely pins or rare earth magnets to hold them in place.. the motorman/engineer hopefully will have working arms via R/C

Personally I think one of the biggest advantages of action figures are...that figures are moveable. I don't know why you would model them into statues, even when they have a fixed position. 
Your assistant is the best example why moving is cool.

I feel the same way and don't see the advantage in immobilizing them, even if one keeps them in a single pose. But perhaps I'm overlooking something. Anyway, to each his own...

Could it be that the figures being static in this case are easier to manage when floating the model boat on water?

once the figures are in thier places on the boat there is not much else to do with them, they will also be exposed to the crap involved in live steam operation and the weather involved in outdoor operation, thinking that the epoxy dressed figures will give a better look than cloth dressed figures, (most cloth even at 1/6th is way out of scale) I did experiment today with the standard epoxy sculpt, using talc as you would use flour while working with dough.. nice thin sheets were rolled out without sticking to the roller or board, this should be very helpful in the coming days.. gave another layer of lighweight to the coxswain, started to get the shirt bloused and the pants bell-bottomed.. also found some very small lace so the LT's wife will be dressed a little finer..

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Since your figures are going to be exposed to the elements, I can understand why you are going about it this way. I'm guessing you can also affix them in place so they don't fall off while the boat is moving.

You are very talented to be able to sculpt everything yourself like this. I admire those willing to experiment in that regard, as sculpting is definitely my weak area, never been very good at it. ;p

the daily layer of sculpt, you can't do to much at a time one misplaced thumb can trash 30 minutes of work.. he's starting to look the fit for the job.. still needs lots of work..

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