The Rebel

Originally published in February, 2009

“What a guy!! He might be on the losing side but he’s still a winner in my book! Standing at 23” including the base and flag, he’s quite an impressive figure…certainly one to be noticed on the judging table. I can’t wait to get the viewers reactions at the next show.
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As I mentioned in Part 2, the rifle is based on an 1863 British Enfield. The bayonet was made from metal and while I made it to be removed I decided to go ahead and install it permanently as the paint on the rifle barrel would be damaged over time. The firing mechanism was also made from metal as was the trigger guard and trigger. The strap is leather.
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The kit bag, canteen, cartridge & bullet cases were carved and attached and the tin cup made from tin. I like to make these cups from this material as it just looks terrific on the figure instead of the usual clunky piece of carved wood. Sure, some say this is cheating but as usual, I could care less! If you look close you’ll note that his boot laces are actually laces! I made them from wire and inserted them into the boot.
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The flag was also made from tin. I took the square of metal to my anvil and gave it a good pounding on the surface with a ballpeen hammer hoping it would give it some nice texture. Unfortunately, it was all lost once it was painted but it still looks good. After a coat of acid-etching primer I sprayed it white. Using painters tape I masked off the white border areas and then sprayed the red. Once that was dry I went to WalMart and bought some little stick-on stars and stuck them to the white border area then masked everything except for the blue center stripes. Once that was dry I carefully pealled everything off and bingo….it worked!! The flag is held on the pole by some soldered metal strips and three little decorative nails. As a final touch I thought I would add some gold tassels made from twisted wire. To get the wavy look I put a piece of 1-1/2″ PVC pipe into a sock and carefully use it to bend the flag.
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The figure, flag and rifle are all mounted to the base using 3/8″ and 1/8″ wooden dowels, inserted from the figure down through both wooden bases. The larger base is a nice piece of Cherry I’ve had laying around for the past 15 years for just such a figure.
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This has really been a fun project, exasperating at times but fun none-the-less. “

Comments welcome.