FEMbruary progress so far
Two or more weeks already into February, how am I doing on the three or four targets that I have set for myself to celebrate the female figures in my toy soldier and gaming collection?
https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2018/02/09/fembruary-hobby-challenge-conversions/
#FEMbruary Challenges 2018
#FEMbruary 1: look through my toy soldier collection and pick out some of my favourite female figures for this blog
#FEMbruary 2: do a tissue paper and PVA Featherstone conversion on one of my childhood 1:32 Airfix Footballers into a high stepping saloon girl (with or without rifle?) for 54mm Wild West games
#FEMbruary 3: convert one of my Steve Weston Mexican Civilian women into a handy Votes for Women Suffragette?
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Then we had slight “challenge creep” into Challenge 4: choose a figure from Annie Norman’s range at Bad Squiddo Games
and one more challenge over on my Pound Store Plastic Warrior sister blog.
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My Fourth FEMBruary challenge: The lovely Land Army women from Annie Norman at Bad Squiddo Games have been on the painting table this weekend.
Some quick “pewtering” (a quick coat of paint and then wiped off before dry) brought out how much detail these figures have. It also usefully fills in some dark and shadowy places before the colour coat.
Rather then try and fail to emulate the superb matt realist painting on the packaging by Andrew Taylor, I thought I would use Gloss Acrylic (as I don’t have or normally use Matt paint anyway). I wanted a more gloss Toy Soldier style look which is a bit more difficult at 28mm, rather than at 54mm toy soldier size. Still some tidying up to do on the Land Girl figures including smoothing out the gloss / flesh Acrylic mix, which is a bit lumpy still.
I was trying to second guess what figures from Bad Squiddo Games that Marvin at Suburban Militarism would choose, having incidentally introduced me to FEMbruary. I chose Land Girls, he chose Catherine The Great
https://suburbanmilitarism.wordpress.com/2018/02/15/the-fembruary-challenge/
Aim high and aspire for the top jobs, why not? Empress of Russia, or the Queens shown as my first part of the FEMbruary challenge, photographing some of the female figures in my collection.
https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2018/02/11/fembruary-challenge-1-two-queens-and-one-vc/
More photograph blog posts in preparation.
High kicking! Work has begun on FEMbruary No. 2 the Donald Featherstone suggested Airfix footballer to Wild West saloon girl conversion. First out comes the PVA and tissue paper to add some feminine attributes, hair and then flowing big flouncy showgirl dress.
At this early stage, the big hair still looks like a 70s footballer Kevin Keegan, albeit in a dress. Some more work required here! Once the frills, chokers, flounces and real tiny feathers are added, hopefully ‘she’ will look more like a 1880s saloon girl.
Pound Store Plastic Warriors FEMbruary challenge.
The Pound Store Plastic Warriors challenge to convert these Poundland 32-36mm plastic soldier figures into tribal African style Amazon female warriors is underway. These should be colourful, more red and yellow and bling, than the white robed male desert warriors that I have worked on recently.
To be fair, we started late, not on FEMbruary the First. There are still nine days left of the FEMbruary challenge 2018 and there are plenty of topics and figures left for FEMbruary 2019. There is always MOREFEMber too!
What might you do you for FEMbruary this year or 2019?
Blogposted by Mark Man of TIN, FEMBruary 18th 2018.
Man of Tin blog 
Wow – those Land Girls look as good as I hoped they would! Great poses and scene. Definitely still interested in the shotgun versions too, though that would certainly miss FEMbruary.
Loving the Kevin Keegan gender reassignment too. It’s definitely getting there, with the frills added I can see all and any sign of the figure’s former life extinguished.
As for me, I’ve got Catherine’s horse about there now (see blog latest). More work needed on Her Imperial Majesty though, but she’s looking 2/3rds done.
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The Land Girls were a joy to paint – Lovely figures from Bad Squiddo. Well worth getting some.
The Featherstone Airfix footballer to saloon girl conversion is coming along slowly, I think I might have made her a little on the heavy side but then quick research on Pinterest suggests that many of these ‘dancing girls’ were stockier than you might expect today. Maybe I should have cinched the waist more?
I look forward to seeing Catherine the Great finished and mounted.
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You’re really cracking on with the conversions Mark! The Amazons are very good. I think the transgender footballer needs to work on her stance!
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Thanks Jack – it’s a fun challenge. I’m happy with the Amazons, less happy with the stocky footballing saloon girl. As no scalpel or green stuff has been used (!) only PVA and tissue paper, it’s a reversible process.
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Please please please do not destroy airfix footballers just to please the gender. CT
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Fear not Clive, I only used a damaged or part painted Airfix footballer figure of the few that I have kept since childhood.
No footballers were permanently harmed.
No scalpel had been used or green stuff / Milliput, only tissue paper and PVA, so is thoroughly and easily reversible.
This first attempt on an Airfix footballer is looking a little bit heavy for a saloon girl and may be a FEMbruary challenge too far.
If I’m not happy, she / he may well end up back as before and repainted proudly in 1950s / 1960s red and white striped Southampton FC strip as a small tribute to the club Donald Featherstone worked for as a physiotherapist, as it’s also he who issued the saloon Girl challenge in Skirmish Wargames.
https://manoftinblog.wordpress.com/2017/12/11/donald-featherstones-unusual-take-on-casualties-and-campaigns/
To be fair Don was also a sports physiotherapist, writing an early book about dance injuries. There are enough ballerina figures out there already (a fine ballet range from Britain’s in the 80s for example) to need no conversions.
Next year maybe I shall try this with Fimo and a spare multipose or female head.
Best wishes, Mark, Man of TIN
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