Another Scratchbuilt/Customised project – Hawkeye, Last of the Mohicans

28 April 2023:

It’s a wrap! Very pleased and satisfied with the turnout. What do you think? Please share any comments in the comments section below. Thanks for viewing.

14 April 2024:

I had always wanted this figure based off this popular movie character but found the challenges quite intimidating. However after the success of my Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy figures from the movie ‘The Revenant,’ I’m tempted to give this a go. Here’s the Work-in-progress sessions if you’re interested to follow. Can you guess who the character will be?

Update: 19 April 2024

Had so many positive responses to my question, and all were correct! The character is of course, Hawkeye or Natty Bumpo or Nathaniel Poe of The Last of the Mohicans (Cue: Soundtrack by Clannad in background).

Session 1

Original headsculpt, this was weird as I had actually planned on using another headsculpt but on examining certain facial features was convinced that I had a 75% chance of pulling it off. Glad I was not wrong.
After paintwork definition. First thing to do was to thicken the eyebrows. Day-Lewis has thick dark blackish-brown coloured eyebrows and I painted these in with a super fine brush.
Further definitions in the areas around the eyes, cheeks and jowls. I’ve also lightened the pupils of the eyes.
So this was supposed to turn black, what a fail it is. Looks like I’ll be looking for black hair dye now.

Session 2

Session 3

Dyed the mohair black and left it overnight to dry out after dampening out the moisture. The morning sun should dry them out thoroughly for whigging.idd a
Did some retouches to the eyebrows again and defined the jowls with light touches of Tamiya Weathering Masters black/ybrown mix.
Dampened hair and an attempt at hairstyling. I see where I have to improve now. Will need to supplement hair at right side temple of the headsculpt. But for the moment, we’ll set it aside to dry out.
Whigging session done. Will see how the hair shapes up after wetting it.
The dampened hair has dried out and it’s easier to see the ‘shape’ of the hair on the headsculpt. Added the hair supplements to the side of the temple and also to the top front (left and right of image) with fabric glue. Will let this dry the whole day through. Oh, noticed the scar on his lower cheek? That was some filing work done.
Had a quick retouch on the eyebrows and jowls, also darkened the 5 o’clock shadow.

Session 4

Hair tied at back, then moussed down. I think he looks good!
Planned to work on the native leggings but realised that I had to have the moccasin shoes done first. Will sculpt the shoes out of epoxy putty. At this stage, they look like Chinese dumplings in the process of being made!
Sculpting done and now the moccasins are set out to cure.
Painting session with acrylics. Began with a dark base colour mix of black + burnt umber for the lower and shadow areas. This was followed by a mix of tan mixed with black + burnt umber.
Time to work in the mid-tones! I used Tamiya’s Weathering Masters Sand and Light Mud.

Reference image

Based on this image, the moccasins will be weathered even further at a later stage.

Session 5

Today’s session is fabricating or constructing the sideseam woodland native leggings. Suffice to say all the prepwork, reference observations and paper pattern prototyping went well!

More research work!

Secondary research on Hawkeye’s waist sash/strap thingy. It appears to be a 2 part component.
Interesting backshots of the waiststrap/sash with long trailing ends. Note the ties to the legging ankle straps.
Noted the weave design on the leggings ankle straps.
Tattoo references – forearms and chest.

Session 6

Leggings straps added to leather waist girdle. These will be painted later. In the meantime, I’ve completed the native hunting shirt, no stitching was used, just careful application of CA glue.

Session 7:

This session covered painting of the legging straps, rendering of the upper chest and forearm tattoos. The body skintone was painted in tints to match the skin colours of the headsculpt. Note the puttied wrist joints.
Well, all that puttying with the Japanese putty was a waste of time, it was quite pliant when dried but did not stick to the plastic! So I had to redo everything again. The epoxy putty looks kinda raw as I was pressed for time. Will refine at a later stage.
Meanwhile I was busy sculpting the hunting pouch. It looks beaten up but I’m quite satisfied with it, it needs only a button on the flap now.

Meanwhile, in the course of conducting more research on the tattoo designs on Hawkeye’s chest (those bird symbols looked like hawks or swifts – I later found that they were Thunderbirds) and forearms, I came across this Los Angeles Times article. It’s a good and interesting read, if you’re keen on such stuff as these.

Frontier Finery

By BETTY GOODWIN 

THE MOVIE: “The Last of the Mohicans”

THE SET-UP: Love blooms on the American Frontier, in a story based on the James Fenimore Cooper novel. Key players are Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis), the adopted son of a Mohican chief, and Cora Munro (Madeleine Stowe), the daughter of an English officer, who meet during the war between England and France in 1757 in Upstate New York.

THE DESIGNER: Screen credit goes to Elsa Zamparelli (“Dances With Wolves”) who replaced Oscar-winner James Acheson (“The Last Emperor” and “Dangerous Liaisons”) during production.

THE LOOK: Expect authenticity. Among the specialists working on the film were a “military costume adviser,” an “18th-Century frontier consultant,” and several American Indian craftspeople. But don’t expect the familiar glitz. Pains were taken to create a portrait of Northeast American Indians as they would have appeared in their daily lives. Frills would have been virtually nonexistent, says frontier consultant Lee Teter, a Pennsylvania artist. Instead there are honestly drab-colored hunting shirts (of chamois and cotton), skin leggings and loincloths for Day-Lewis and the Mohicans and Hurons. Day-Lewis’ gun strap of shell beads seems like a Hollywood affectation, put there for its chest-thumping effect. It works, but another special effect–Stowe’s tattered bodice–reads like a cleavage cliche.

The redcoats are a striking bunch in their military finery. Particularly mesmerizing is the luxurious gold braid on officers’ uniforms and tricorn hats.

THE OVERLOOKED: Because much of the film takes place at night, many details are lost in the darkness. Ten tattoo artists worked on the film, as tattoos were common to Northeastern Indian tribes. And Day-Lewis’ forearms are covered with geometric patterns only visible in press photos. Thankfully, the two thunderbirds on his chest are clearly seen.

THE RESEARCH: Period clothing, documents and paintings were studied from many sources, including collections at the British Museum in London, the McCord Museum in Montreal, the Museum of Civilization in Ottowa and the Museum of American Indian/Heye Foundation in New York City.

THE SOURCES: Almost every garment was made in the production’s wardrobe department in North Carolina. Many items such as moccasins, officer’s riding boots, and Day-Lewis’ chamois shirt were made by hand. Some deer, elk and split cow hides were actually “brain-tanned” (the animal’s brain is rubbed into the hide) and smoked, according to Canadian Indian tradition. The British officers’ gold braid was imported from England, and Cora’s bonnets from Italy.

Session 8:

Hunting pouch completed with some refinements.
Construction of the hatchet out of apoxy putty and basswood. Painted in acrylics. Looking at more reference images, I realised the upper edge of the axe blade should have been straight rather than curved! So it’s back to the cutting board to rectify this.
Had a lot of interesting positive comments regarding these photographs. Thanks so much, my friends.

Session 9

The hunting knife and scabbard was a big challenge and I dreaded working on it. But it of course had to be done. I dislike painting before dawn, as my colours turn out saturated, and will now need to retouch the colours on the fabric-wrapped handle. The scabbard is leather while the scratchbuilt tassels were made from red thread.
Redefined hatchet / tomahawk

I’m wrapping up the project and photography can begin, yay! Thanks for viewing.

Category : Wild Wild West