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Damaged Zouave Officer

Randy Bond - 5Nov11 10:45AM


This morning the officer figure from set 378 fell off its shelf crashing to the floor bending his pistol and chipping paint from his kepi. I have not been able to bend the barrel of the pistol back into shape even after applying heat and am afraid of breaking it. I am also wondering where I can obtain the correct glossy red for his kepi to touch it up? It appears to be a brick red.

This set is special to me since it portrays one of the units painted by Winslow Homer during the American Civil War. Homer is the subject of the book I am currently researching for publication.

Any suggestions or help would be appreciated.

Randy



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1. Alexander Jordan - 6Nov11 5:44AM

For the Britains-size French & American Civil War Zouave Officers I sell on ebay (usually paired with an original Britains charging Zouave figure), I use a mixture of Testors Glossy Italian Red, Glossy Orange & a few drops of Testors Glossy Green colors to paint the Zouave Officer's kepi & trousers. The Zoauve-red color-mix I come up with looks very similar to the glossy orange-red baggy trousers of original Britains Zouaves figures from the pre-WW2 era of production.
Several pictures of my own Zouaves (Britains, Hocker, Dorset, Authenticast, Britains-conversions etc.) are pictured in "Dipatches"
-Alexander Jordan
2. Randy Bond - 6Nov11 2:14PM

Alexander

Thank you for your response. Can you tell me which one of the Testors lines the 3 paints are from? e.g. Model Master, etc. Their serial numbers would be perfect. What are the proportions for mixing? I only need a small batch. How many drops of each color before stirring?

Many thanks,

Randy

3. - 7Nov11 10:22AM

Randy,

Send the figure to me and we'll but him back in shape.

Bill Hocker
4. Randy Bond - 7Nov11 11:33AM

Bill

This morning I decided to be brave and took matters into my own hands. First I used a jeweler's pliers to bend the pistol barrel back into shape (while praying) and lo and behold it did the trick with no damage. Next I went through my paint box and found a bottle of Floquil Polly S paint "Venetian Dull Red" and it was a perfect match for the paint loss on the left side of the kepi. So as they say "All's Well that Ends Well" and the Captain is now ready to lead the next charge of the 5th NY (Duryee) Zouaves or pose for Mr. Homer.

Thank you so much for your kind offer.

Randy

5. - 8Nov11 9:02AM

I'm glad it worked out.

The metal, including swords and bayonets, will take quite a bit of bending back and forth without breaking. The best way to re-bend things is to pinch them between thumb and forefinger applying ever more pressure to get them to straighten. (Pliers can sometimes leave marks and kinks).

Since 1983