The Trooper

[Chaoswolf]

You'll take my life, but I'll take yours too
You'll fire your musket, but I'll run you through
So when you're waiting for the next attack
You'd better stand, there's no turning back

 

 

I'm going to be building/converting/sculpting my own copy of Eddie from this artwork. I'm just going to do the central figure, not the battlefield around him.

 

For those who don't know, the song 'The Trooper' is based on the Charge of the Light Brigade, an action during the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War.

 

So, before I get started, a question:

 

The artist who did this piece (Derek Riggs) applied a little creative license to the flag that Eddie is carrying. It is not historically accurate to the best of my knowledge and research. If you know differently, please enlighten me.

 

When I get to that point, do I try to recreate the flag as seen in the artwork, or go with something a little more accurate? Or is that a detail that most people will not notice?

[haldir]

I'd try to replicate it as much as the artwork, but again it's your creation, you choose.

 

Didn't Wizkids awhile back come out with a Eddie Set? Now that I ask I may have to do some searchin.....

[Chaoswolf]

Yes, they did, and I stupidly didn't grab 'em when I had the chance. They're crazy expensive now, if you can even find them.

[Glitterwolf]

I would go for the artwork flag, especially since it will be tattered.

Cool idea!

 

 

[BLZeebub]

Cool idea.  The song was the first thing I thought of when I read the title.  I agree a little vignette would be cool--even if Eddie is removable.  Either way, this sounds like a blast of a project (From research to execution).

[Chaoswolf]

Here's the base figure that I'm starting with, it's a German bomb zombie or some such thing from the Dust Tactics game. It's got sort of the right-ish pose, but there will be a lot of amputations and re-posing of limbs (obviously the arms are useless for my purposes) as well as sculpting of uniform bits to get it to the end result.

 

 

Edited May 12, 2021 by Chaoswolf

[TaleSpinner]

I've wanted to sculpt Eddie for years.  Will be watching with great interest.

[Chaoswolf]

On 5/12/2021 at 6:36 AM, TaleSpinner said:

I've wanted to sculpt Eddie for years.  Will be watching with great interest.

Oh wow, no pressure then. 

 

So, I've been doing some work, but most of it wasn't exactly super interesting.

 

Here, I've cut off the head and arms. I've also shaved off the breast pockets.

 

I used some green stuff to smooth out his chest after removing the pockets. I also rebuilt the left (right side as you're looking at it) shoulder where I took off a little too much material.

 

Completely dismembered in preparation for reposing.

 

Working on reposing the legs. Of note here is the boot gaiter/legging/whatever it's called on the right leg.

 

Basic pose. I think I need to bend the left leg ( the one without any GS on it yet ) some more.

 

[Chaoswolf]

Ok, I think I've got the legs more or less how I want them.

 

 

 

I also did the legging on the other leg.

 

[Chaoswolf]

Made some more progress:

These first two show the basic pose is set, with some rough GS, mostly for gap filling.

 

 

And in the rest of these, I did some carving and sanding, as well as starting to add some details; in this case the bottom part of the uniform jacket.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ratmaster2000]

On 5/12/2021 at 4:36 AM, TaleSpinner said:

I've wanted to sculpt Eddie for years.  Will be watching with great interest.

That could end up being a whole series, seeing how much Eddie has changed over the years and all the different album covers. That would make a great patreon run maybe:)

[Chaoswolf]

I've actually been making steady progress on this for a while, but a lot of it didn't seem interesting/particularly picture worthy, so I haven't been updating very often.

 

Here's where he stands currently:

Attached his head and started working on some of the belts and equipment straps that he's got on.

 

 

This is some of the not as interesting stuff that I've been up to:

Taking these bits (GW zombie arm and old GW skeleton arm) and combining them to make his right arm.

 

The right arm. 

I shaved down some the detail on the zombie arm and used green stuff to fill in all of the holes in the sleeve. I also cut the arm at the elbow, filed off some plastic from the inside of it, and used gs to fill the gap. I cut off the lower arm at the spot where it comes out of the sleeve and then drilled out the arm. I cut off the skeleton arm a little below the elbow, and trimmed/sanded it until it fit in the hole I'd drilled in the zombie arm. I used more green stuff to build up the flesh/skin on the skeleton arm to get the emaciated look of his arm in the artwork.

 

The left arm.

This one I've just been slowly adding layers of green stuff to another old GW skeleton arm to get both arms to be the same size. The last layer I did (this one) I've tried to start adding wrinkles to the sleeve. I haven't added any 'flesh' to this hand yet.

 

 

 

Edited July 4, 2021 by Chaoswolf

[Glitterwolf]

I like where this is going!

 

[Chaoswolf]

Thank you!

 

What's this? Another update within 24 hours? Inconceivable! 

 

Here's what I did last night: 

 

Added the belt buckle, another strap on his left side, a pouch, and what google tells me is called the 'frame' on the strap going diagonally across his chest. (It's the metal 'u' shaped thing on the strap; I tried it with green stuff and wasn't satisfied with any of the results, so I used some really fine gauge wire I happened to have.)

[Glitterwolf]

Good call on the frame!