German Landwehr and Friend on Rations Detail

I want to acknowledge my friend Ulrich Biroth for sending me the photo that started this vignette. He really has been the font of some amazing German Great War photos! Thanks again, Ulrich!

This is a Landwehr in modified M1915 tunic, trousers and feldmutze. The M1915 has had the long cuffs and the epaulettes removed. He is carrying a metal pail of food. The dog is a German short-haired pointer, the "company dog", also doing his bit. I dotted the ground work with just a few of the autumn leaves I'm making. There will be lots more on the final version. I used an autumnal backdrop which I think helped the photos a bit. The figures are MS except for bits of MS and kneadatite. The boots and head come from a casting of one of my figures, but both were re-worked to fit the scene. Pretty simple piece. Hope you like it!

My friends, Charlie Duckworth, an Omaha painter more well known for his WWI aircraft models and model railroad stuff, did a great job painting it and Pat Student, a fellow model railroader and photographer took the terrific photos.

All the best,

Dan

French Foreign Legionnaire, 1880s - Algeria

As the title says, one of the world famous Legionnaires in Algeria in the 1880s. He is equipped with:

- 1874 Gras rifle

- 1872 dark blue capote or over-coat

- 1879 haversack

- the "de Negrier" canvas ammo pouch with six metal buttons

- 1879 de trellis blanc trousers

- 1878 casque coloniaux or French version of the pith helmet

Scale - 1/16th. The wall behind is mostly grey Sculpey. The rifle is metal tube, plastic stock and various bits of MS and metal. The figure is MS or mixes of MS and kneadatite. I started with one of my cast heads and one of the hands is nearly as cast. The boot bottoms were cast from one of my boots and the rest is MS. The photo background is the Algerian desert. This is a commission piece. It will be mounted and sold on one of Ken Thomas superb bases. Victor Wong, a fine painter from Singapore did most of the painting with an assist from my Omaha painter friend, Charlie Duckworth. Photography by Patrick Student.

All the best,

Dan

Man's Best Friend

This is a simple little vignette based on a wartime illustration by Stanley Wood. The dog is a Jack Russell terrier and the soldier is a Royal East Kent regiment (Buffs) private writing home to loved ones far away. This will probably be cast as fourth of The Old Contemptibles kits. It will come with everything pictured, except for rifle slings and perhaps some of the belts. It will be cast by my good friend John McNenney and painted by Tony Dawe, a good friend from Australia, a fine, accomplished painter and now a successful (!) sculptor. Take a look at his bust of General Monash on Planetfigure!

Hope you like it!

All the best,

Dan

Bored Landsturm on Sentry Duty, 1915

This figure is a German Landsturm in 1915 on sentry duty in a quiet part of the front. He's bored, thinking about home. Maybe he's musing about the local beer garden, his little farm and wondering whether his frau is managing to get the crops harvested.

This is the third The Old Contemptibles kit and is available for purchase on the Military Miniatures Warehouse web site. http://www.milminwh.com/theoldcontemptibles.htm

The sentry is wearing the M1813 Landsturm oilcloth visor cap. In 1915, the Landsturm were mostly issued with obsolete equipment and uniforms. The Litewka coat he is wearing is the 1903 version. He's armed with an 1888 Mauser rifle, but he also has a wicked-looking Pionierfaschinenmesser (I hope I'm not butchering the German!) bayonet, one side of which is a blade and the other is a sawtooth. The bayonet can be slide-mounted on and off the rifle. Unlike most bayonets, which fit below the rifle barrel, this one fit sideways and below the barrel. There is one ammunition container, a brotbeutel bag and a water bottle (canteen), a trench head-breaker - wooden with embedded metal studs, and a "potato-masher" grenade. In the trench observation wall, there is an armored metal plate with an observation slit, a piece of cloth used to cover the slit when not in use, and - two apples he picked and brought with him from his last rest period in the rear. Unfortunately for our hero, one of the apples has a little worm in it.

Our good friend, Ulrich Biroth, painted the box art and did a beautiful job, bringing the piece to life!

Hope you like it!

All the best,

Dan

Seaforth Highlander / Black Watch cobbler

And here are the completed figures, painted courtesy of Roger Newsome in Yorkshire. Didn't he do a great job? I've shown the tools unpainted just because this remains the best close-up of them. The model kit should be available at The Old Contemptibles page on the Military Miniatures Warehouse web site by September 6.

All the best,

Dan

Here's the second The Old Contemptibles piece - Hope you like it! 1916 2nd Bn. Seaforth Highlander, 10th Brigade, 4th Division, BEF in Mackenzie tartan cobbler in 120mm or 1/16th scaleAlternate head – 1st Bn. Black Watch, 1st Brigade, 1st Division, BEF with government (black and green) tartan

• Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE) MK III 0.303 caliber rifle

• Small canvas haversack for carrying anti-gas PH helmets

• M1914 leather field harness and ammo pouches and belt

• Canvas musette bag and haversacks

• M1902 khaki putties and brown half boots

• M1908 khaki haversacks and entrenching tool helves

• M1908 entrenching tool head in leather carrier and 2 pint water bottle covered with khaki cloth and leather webbing

• Wooden crate, leather cobbler’s tool satchel, cobbler’s tools

The pink stuff is Super Sculpey just used to hold the head in place. I've included a "colored" photo of a portion of the original photo of Seaforth Highlander cobblers working in a circle. The original bxw photo was posted on the Great War Forum. The main difference in the photo and the figure is that the cobbler in the photo is wearing shorts, not a kilt. I decided to have the cobbler wear a kilt because I always wanted to try my hand at sculpting one, plus I thought the painters might enjoy painting it more than shorts. In this case you can complete the figure with the alternate head and paint the kilt the black and green "Government" tartan or you can use the head shown on the figure and complete the kilt in a Mackenzie plaid.

My Yorkshire friend, Roger Newsome, will be painting the cobbler. John McNenney will be casting everything. The kit will be available from http://www.milminwh.com/theoldcontemptibles.htm

Comments and constructive critique welcome!

All the best,

Dan

Tommy of 1915

John McNenney and I are pleased to announce the availability of Tommy of 1915, the first of The Old Contemptibles line. We wish to express our gratitude to Roger Newsome who painted Tommy.1/16th or 120-mm scale resin figure kit Tommy's uniform details contain: M1902 khaki field service tunic; M1902 khaki field service trousers; M1902 khaki putties wound up from ankle to knee and tucked into trouser bottoms. Hobnailed blackened “ammunition” boots; on left hip, M1908 khaki haversack, bayonet scabbard, entrenching tool helve attached by straps; on right hip, M1908 entrenching tool head in khaki carrier and 2 pint water bottle covered with khaki cloth and hooked to belt; M1908 cotton webbing equipment with two sets each left and right of five cartridge pouches, each carrying three five-round charger clips, total of 150 rounds. The back pack is strapped to the webbing. The broad waist belt would have a brass elongated buckle, but the buckle is covered by the PH satchel.Short Magazine Lee Enfield rifle No. 1, Mark III, 0.303 inch caliber with M1908 cotton webbing sling (Sling not included). Please note this Enfield rifle has been re-cast with expressed written consent from DJ Parkins, British manufacturer of fine military figure subjects under the Firing Line brand.The rest of the equipment with Tommy: Phenate hexamine (or PH) type anti-gas hood in small two button satchel on ragged-looking strap with two buttons (buttons buried under other equipment); furry goat skin vest worn over service tunic and under single-breasted “British Warm” great coat.Head 1 - M1915 trench cap worn with flaps up, known as the ‘Gor Blimey’, cap badge of the Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI)Head 2 – M1915 trench cap worn with flaps down, cap badge of the Grenadier GuardsFor further ordering info: http://www.milminwh.com/theoldcontemptibles.htm or go to the Military Miniatures Warehouse web site and look for The Old Contemptibles pages. Dealer inquiries are welcome!






All the best,
Dan

Goodbye Old Man

Background - this is a little homage to my favorite WWI illustrator, Fortunio Matania, and his best known work by the same title. It's a British artilleryman and a horse. I like to think maybe he's a pre-war professional soldier, who has known this horse since it came to the battery. He's cleaned him, curried him, fed and watered, sneaked apples and carrots from the mess for him. And now the horse has been wounded or maybe broken a leg or....and must be left. So two comrades are saying goodbye...The scale is my usual 1/16th. The horse is from an out of production Verlinden kit, modified to fit the pose, etc. The head of the artilleryman is from the Lost Battalion, hands and one boot from Jaguar, one boot from Model Cellar. The ruined French cooking pot on the ground is from Model Cellar. The rest you can blame on me. The harness is all putty except one piece of lead strip connecting the harness on the ground and that lying in the crook of the artilleryman's arm. The ground is a mix of some resin, some Sculpey and is mostly covered with pumice paste. The yellow stuff you see under one boot and at one shoulder, is phototack. To enable the painter to paint the figure, I had to make one arm separately. In the crouching pose, with one hand on either side of the horse's neck there was no other choice. Even then it is not exactly easy to get the artilleryman into and out of position.These photos were taken in some gauzy afternoon winter sun and they aren't the best. I also see I need to buy a new blue poster board backdrop!! !! Comments and critique - as always - most welcome!

I'm pleased to be able to announce that Rafaelaga Gonzalez Aquayo, a good friend from Planetfigure.com, is painting this vignette. I can't wait to see what he does with it!

All the best,

Dan

British Royal Scots Greys, 1914

This is a mounted figure in 120mm or 1/15th scale. The head is from Michael Roberts, one hand from The Lost Battalion, Boots from Jaguar, Canteen from Model Cellar. All of these kit pieces were modified. The horse is from Dragon. Uniform markings are for a Sergeant of the Royal Scots Greys in France, 1914. His equipment includes:

• M1902 service dress tunic and cavalry breeches in khaki serge

• M1905 service dress cap, badge shows the Eagle of the French 45th Line captured at Waterloo

• Khaki putties wound bottom to top and blackened ‘ammunition boots’, with spurs (no spurs yet!)

• M1903 (I think!) haversack

• Leather strapped canteen

• Cavalry mess tin

• Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE) MK III 0.303 caliber rifle

• 90 round M1903 leather bandoleer

• M1908 sword and holder

• Universal pattern saddle

The horse equipment includes a leather rifle wallet, bit, reins, bridle, two large leather holster type hold-alls, blanket, wooden horse peg and rope, & canvas horse water bucket. He's squinting into the distance at something which might be a target.

This figure will be painted by the very talented Rod Allison of New Zealand. Rod has painted hundreds of museum quality figures and won many awards over the years. I look forward to his dapple grey horse!

Hope you like it!

All the best,

Dan

This figure is not for sale. Rod Allison will be keeping it. :)

The Shoveller, 2nd CMR, 3rd Canadian Division, 1918

2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles (British Columbia Regiment) “The Shoveller”

Single figure in 120mm or 1/15th scale
Somewhat based on the same illustration as the previous post. This figure was intended originally as a fourth for the vignette below, but was removed at the request of the collector that commissioned the piece.
Sculptor: same as always! The head, helmet and shovel is from David Parkins.
Uniform markings are for the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division, 1918.
M1902 khaki field service tunic
M1902 khaki field service trousers
M1902 khaki putties and hobnailed blackened “ammunition” boots

This figure is for Roger Newsome and will be painted by him. Can't wait to see the outcome!

Hope you like it!

All the best,

Dan

"Bunkies" or Three Tommies in the Agony of the Somme

Three Tommies in the Agony of the Somme, 1916 or “Bunkies”
Three figures in 120mm or 1/15th scale
Based on an illustration by an unknown artist published in several books including, “Eye Deep in Hell” by John Ellis, 1946. Martin Fine gave me the illustration and commissioned the piece. He also gave it its' alternate name, "Bunkies".
1st / 6th Durham Light Infantry Rgt., 151st Brigade, 50th (Northumbrian) Division – no division markings (too early in the war)
Sculptor: Dan Morton (torso, legs, arms, rifle sling, belt, leather equipment)
SMLE rifles and shovels, ammo holders, kit bag, & boots from David Parkins, heads from The Lost Battalion, hands from David Parkins and Verlinden
Wounded Tommy –
Goatskin jerkin worn as vests over M1902 khaki field service tunic
M1902 khaki field service trousers
M1914 leather field harness and ammo pouch
Second and Third Tommies
Goatskin jerkins and M1902 uniforms
Three Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE) MK III 0.303 caliber rifles – two wrapped in water-proofing, one being used as a lever to lift the wounded man
Two small canvas haversacks each for carrying anti-gas PH helmets
M1914 leather field harness and ammo pouches
Canvas musette bag and haversacks
M1902 khaki putties and brown half boots
On left hip, M1908 khaki haversacks and entrenching tool helves
On right hip, M1908 entrenching tool heads in khaki carriers and water bottles covered with khaki cloth and hooked to belt
one standing Tommy is a two-stripe corporal; the other has a bombers badge on one sleeve.

This vignette was painted by my good friend and collaborator Roger Newsome!

Hope you like it!

All the best,
Dan

1st/4th Territorial Bn, Hampshire Rgt, Kut, 1915

Two figures from the British 1st of the 4th Territorial Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment at Kut-al-amara, Mesopotamia (now Iraq), 1915 - a stretcher-bearer and a Lewis gunner. These are in 120mm scale and are my usual combination of resin parts and putty. The resin parts came from David Parkins, Verlinden and The Lost Battalion. The Lewis gunner is a commission piece and the unusual pose was specifically requested. The stretcher-bearer is intended as a gift for a physician friend. Both have been painted beautifully in acrylics by my Yorkshire buddy, Roger Newsome. The uniforms of both are typical tropical kit for the British army of the period - pith helmets (called "topis" by the troops), "grey-back" shirts, KD short trousers, either leather or canvas field equipment [the Lewis gunner has leather equipment]. The flat crisscrossed thingies on the topis and backs of each figure were cotton and muslin sunshades probably made in Egypt or India. The crisscrosses are sewn seams. Hope you like them!

Dead Stretcher Bearer

This is a little vignette based on a Gilbert Rogers painting hanging in the Imperial War Museum.
First the painting...


Then the vignette...

I took the liberty of giving his uniform a diamond insignia [yellow] of the British 62nd Division in 1917. I hope I've done him justice.

Kreston Peckham painted the vignette, adding the pools of water, etc. I think he did a phenomenal job. Hope you like it!

All the best,

Dan