Devilry Afoot: Edge of Reason - Headless Horseman

After a bit of an epic process I have now finished up a Headless Horseman for Devilry Afoot: Edge of Reason. 

What started as a lovely gesture from JB, gifting me a Dragon Trappers Lodge 3D sculpt, ended in tragedy when, several hours into the paintjob, I dropped it and it exploded. One of the pitfalls of buying 3D sculpts off the likes of Etsy is that you can never be sure of the quality of the resin used, and this one was particularly fragile.

In a bit of a downer I looked about for a metal headless horseman, assuring myself that the old ways would prove more robust. My first port of call was the Westwind Headless Horseman range. The photo on the Westwind website is a bit small and pixelated, but I gave it a shot and placed an order.

Sadly, what turned up could never have been checked for quality control. The rider lacked detail generally, and the head carried in his left hand ended in a detailess blob with a flash line. The horse seems to have been cast with completely misaligned moulds leaving the two sides completely out of step. Its rather disappointing that anyone would have posted it out to a paying customer.

So back to square one I decided to make my own. I placed an order for an American War of Independence horseman with Front Rank/Gripping beast which turned up very quickly and set to work. 

What we have here is a bit of a fantasy Hessian. Starting with a British dragoon officer (I think), I cut off the head, filed away any remaining neck and then built up the collar with greenstuff. I cut the handle away from the sword blade (which should be in the right hand), realigned the angle of the sword knot, and glued it to the top of the empty scabbard. The pumpkin was salvaged from the original resin miniature, but needed to have the thumb and hand filed away (it was originally a left hand), and attached to the right arm, with a new hand and thumb built up with greenstuff.

The end result is not flawless by any means, but he's headless, he's a horeseman, and he's mine. 😁