| Lord Lovat and Piper Millin D-Day Landing |
| Battlefields June 2008 |
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| Making
these two figures have been on my "to-do" list for some time now.
The reason for the delay is the confusion as to what they
actually wore during the D-Day landings. It seems that the more I
research the more conflicting information I acquire. I finally
settled with an amalgamation of the information. That is, I
picked what ever I fancy and dressed and equipped them with what I feel
most visually appealling. For this reason they may not be
absolutely correct. But, who knows? |
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There are a few photogrpahs of Lovat on the internet. None of which give good detail for doing the head scultpure.
This sculpture is a compilation of the features I can discern from
these photographs. This is the closest I can get with the references I
have. |
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| There
were some references that describes Lovat in a white jumper on D-Day
. I gather that this was probably not true as interviews
with those who were there did not support it. I decided to
put Lovat in a white sweater (dollar store pair of white socks) anyway
as I think it give a good visual contrast to the usterity
pattern wool battle serge. The uniforms for Lovat and
Millin was made with custom dyed wool. Finding wool of a
very light weight and correct texture is a tough task. As mention
many times before I have the most success at the thrift store
aften at the trousers section. The weight (thickness) of the wool
is more important than the colour. One can fine tune the colour
with dyes but there is nothing one can do about the weight. |
| The webbing I used for Lovat is a mixture of Dragon and custom made. The braces and the belt are from Dragon but the hand gun holster, binocular case and ammunition pouch are custom made. The officer's haversack is custom made. The bergen sack is a Dragon product. As usual, the shoulder insignia was printed on June Taylors ' fabric for ink jet printers. Another controversy is what weapon did Lovat carry. Some say he carried a winchester rifle of somekind while others say an M1 garand rifle. I chose to give him an M1 garand (Dragon)as it is easy to find to complete this figure but also it is more likely that he would carry this excellent rifle as his choice to go into battle. The green beret was made with a wool felt , trimmed with black leather and apparently Lovat's commandos did not wear any beret badges on D-Day. |
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I had the same difficulties
with Millin with respect to good references. I was
surprised to find out that Millin did not play himself in the movie
"The Longest Day". From the photographs I had viewed, this sculpture is what I think Millin looked like at the time. The bag pipes was a tedious project. I made all the pieces separately and cast them in resin of the correct colour. Brass tubing was fitted on before all the pieces were assembled. Another problem was what tartan was on the bagpipes. I gather it was likely "Fraser" tartan. I cheated here and used what very dark tartan I had in my remnant box. |
| Another uncertainty in the kilt that Piper Millin wore. I decided to use the "Cameron of Erracth" tartan for the kilt. Once again I printed the pattern onto June Taylor's ink jet fabric and re-inforced with a cotton backing before I sewed the kilt |
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| You
may notice that the knee joint has been covered up. Many years
ago, I had used the baby finger section of a latex dish-washing glove to cover up
the knee joint. This time I experimented and made flesh tone
silicone sleeve. I still need to work the technique a bit
more. I chose silicone as it is more stable and unlikely to
deteriorate over time. I have used Dragon British boots and gaiters. Thanks to Tony Barton, I used his technique of cutting and lacing up the boots. |
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Finally, a different angle view of Lovat and Millin. The body modificatios for them is as follows: Lovat: Dragon neo body with the chest reduced. and the legs lengthened. Millin: Dragon neo body with the chest and shoulders reduced and the legs shortened.
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