Here is Pegaso’s recent release of an Absarokee (aka Crow) warrior in 54 mm as sculpted by Benoit Cauchies. He is depicted with a traditional pompadour hairstyle with braids and long decorated hair at he back. He wears a beaded buckskin shirt trimmed with ermine fringes and decorated trade cloth leggings with typically decorated squares at the hems. He is carrying his bow and arrows in a mountain lion skin quiver with more beaded decorations. He also carries a long crooked lance.
The lance was a problem when I opened the box, While everything was well packed between foam rectangles, the curved top of the lance was bent out of shape. Even doing so very carefully, the top section fell apart while I was trying to correct the bends. I e-mailed Pegaso and Luca Marchetti offered to replace the part, but I thought the material would be too delicate to handle any type of transport to shows. I therefore took a piece of brass rod and measured it to the remains of the original piece and bent the top to match. I then cut the original at the hand and decorations and drilled an appropriately sized hole through the parts. Next, I wrapped the lance with fine brass wire, stopping when I reached the spots for the decorations and the hand, which were inserted and set with Zap-A-Gap. I also added a blade made of left over white metal flattened to a pointed blade shape.
Isn’t that lance what the Lakota would call a “Coup Stick”. A warrior would touch an opponent in battle with that stick to “Count Coup”. It was a way to show bravery without killing an opponent and earned the right to wear an eagle feather for each “coup”. I’m not sure if the Crow followed the same tradition.
Mike, the crooked lance was a symbol of either membership in a particualr warrior society or a way to denote leadership. According to Richard Cook, who has authored a number of books for Osprey and others, it is often mistakenly referred to as a coup (French for strike or blow) stick, though it could be used to count coup. Hook states in Warriors at the Little Big Horn, “counting coup was to touch the enemy with a decorated wand of willow carved specifically for that purpose, or with a quirt (whip), the hand, or any other weapon.”
My base color mixture for a Plains Indian is 1 part Vallejo beige red to one part Vallejo dark fleshtone, applied in several thin layers as recommended. Next, using an 18/0 or 20/0 fine pointed brush, I apply thinned dark fleshtone to outline the fingers and use some of this color for the spaces between the bones on the back of the hands. I then use successive layers of thinned beige red and very thinned light flesh on the knuckles, highpoints and along the bony ridges of the hands. This is topped off with an airbrushed layer of Testor’s Dullcoat.
No wonder those hands look great! thats like 40 coats of paint! man you have a lot of patience AL! I’ve just started into the world of figure painting, and getting the right fleshtones through shading and highlithing is one thing that can onlybe mastered through practice. On another note, the figure looks great! probably one of my favorite faces I’ve seen by you.
