COOMODEL 1/6 Empire Series - (New Lightweight Metal) Milanese Knight

I remade the two belts in leather this morning:






Just noticed in the close up that the first belt (the lower one) still has ink marks from when I was spacing out the holes. I'll take them off with a bit of sandpaper.

Wow. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I called my mom to find out where she got those Knights from (I thought it was a garage sale); turns out she got them from Sears. I have vague memories of opening this massive box on Christmas when I was about 4-5 years old (the box contained the Knight, the horse, and all the armour. The bad thing about them, was those little tabs that snap the pieces together kept breaking in the hands of typically careless little boys. My mom told me she sold them in a garage sale (I knew there was a garage sale in there somewhere), because my brother and I stopped playing with them. I do still have some of my old 12” figures from the 60s -70s — Six Million Dollar Man (with the capsule/rebuild playset), KISS, Lone Ranger and Silver, and a couple of G.I. Joes when they first started adding the flocking. Sadly, they’re all in pretty bad shape.

Nice job on the belts. I wonder if they shouldn’t be a darker color? (Just my own personal preference).

Stryker2011 wrote:Wow. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I called my mom to find out where she got those Knights from (I thought it was a garage sale); turns out she got them from Sears. I have vague memories of opening this massive box on Christmas when I was about 4-5 years old (the box contained the Knight, the horse, and all the armour. The bad thing about them, was those little tabs that snap the pieces together kept breaking in the hands of typically careless little boys. My mom told me she sold them in a garage sale (I knew there was a garage sale in there somewhere), because my brother and I stopped playing with them. I do still have some of my old 12” figures from the 60s -70s — Six Million Dollar Man (with the capsule/rebuild playset), KISS, Lone Ranger and Silver, and a couple of G.I. Joes when they first started adding the flocking. Sadly, they’re all in pretty bad shape.

I remember one birthday I got Lone Ranger, Butch Cavendish, Silver, Smoke and the chuck wagon. I didn't think I could ever be happier! Later on I had Dan Reid and Red Sleeves. But never Tonto for some reason.

Stryker2011 wrote:Nice job on the belts. I wonder if they shouldn’t be a darker color? (Just my own personal preference).

Thanks. The colour isn't really so pale. I got close in with the camera and the flash washed it out.

I had a quick look online to see if there was a photo of a similarly coloured belt, and this is more like it:



Since you mentioned the colour I looked around at my other figures from all genres, and leather is invariably represented as a darker brown.

In my 1/1 militaria collection I have a couple of First World War Webley holsters. One is dark brown, and the other the colour I used for the belts.

I might darken them a little by soaking them in cold tea.

For some unknown reason, I never had Tonto, either. One of my younger half-brothers had him (but I don’t remember which). That chuck wagon would have been cool.

Stryker2011 wrote:For some unknown reason, I never had Tonto, either. One of my younger half-brothers had him (but I don’t remember which). That chuck wagon would have been cool.

I loved the chuck wagon.


Well, I just made myself a cup of tea, put the teabag into a saucer and painted the belts while they're still on.

Hard to tell how it will turn out as it's absorbant, so keeps needing another coat.

The belts turned out beautifully. Sandpaper on leather was a bit of a surprise for me.

Asta wrote:Thanks. The colour isn't really so pale. I got close in with the camera and the flash washed it out.

I had a quick look online to see if there was a photo of a similarly coloured belt, and this is more like it:



Since you mentioned the colour I looked around at my other figures from all genres, and leather is invariably represented as a darker brown.

In my 1/1 militaria collection I have a couple of First World War Webley holsters. One is dark brown, and the other the colour I used for the belts.

I might darken them a little by soaking them in cold tea.

In the past they used vegetable-tanning methods, which produces a lighter colour than modern chrome/oil tanning methods. It doesn't really matter because, as the the leather gets used and weathered, it will change colour to any shade of brown you can imagine.

GubernatorFan wrote:The belts turned out beautifully. Sandpaper on leather was a bit of a surprise for me.

Thanks.

A light sanding will take off the ink, a little more and you can create light wear by roughing up the surface.

shazzdan wrote:In the past they used vegetable-tanning methods, which produces a lighter colour than modern chrome/oil tanning methods. It doesn't really matter because, as the the leather gets used and weathered, it will change colour to any shade of brown you can imagine.

That's why I don't mind them being lighter.

It was an observation that regardless of the period portrayed, figure creators usually go for a darker colour, so it's become familiar and expected.


In the past I've used tea to colour a 1/6 leather holster to create the appearance of wear, and darken the pressure points where the revolver habitually presses against the leather.




The leather I pulled out of the cupboard for the belts was different. It's not quite a hard, shiny patent leather, but it does have a coating. It absorbed tea and darkened, but dried lighter, expelling much of the colour. The result is a shade darker than it started, and has taken the shine down.

The belts now look a little more worn, not so glossy/reflective.

Looks good, Asta. The tea bath really helped a lot.

Stryker2011 wrote:Looks good, Asta. The tea bath really helped a lot.

I'm really happy with the result. So much so that I'm doing the same with the Gothic armour's sword belt.

This time I sanded down the shiny side so it should take the colour of the tea better. Also, because the buckle on this one has narrower gaps, I've been thinning the leather down by running the edge of a craft knife over the back of it.

He has a separate narrower belt for his dagger, but I've left that as is since it's mostly concealed by the sword belt.

I am really happy with the result too, and also very impressed with your holster. All this adds so much more realism to the overall appearance.

GubernatorFan wrote:I am really happy with the result too, and also very impressed with your holster. All this adds so much more realism to the overall appearance.

Being a natural product the leather has proven to be unpredictable, but not in a bad way.

The holster was easier to work with, and I could manage the colour by applying the tea with a brush like using paint.

The leather I used for the belts reacted differently. By removing the hard, shiny surface I'd have expected it to have absorbed and retained the tea better, rather than resisting it as the first belt did. My aim was to make this belt look older and more worn. Now that it's dried it's actually lighter than the first two, but I like it. It has a soft, broken in appearance.

Yeah, it looks good. It may be lighter, but it does have that "lived-in" look.