I thought it was time for me to present you with another couple of 28mm Knuckleduster figures. Both were a joy to paint and both are very simply based.
The first figure is of John Wesley Hardin, a real character of the Old West. According to Wikipedia …
John Wesley Hardin (May 26, 1853 – August 19, 1895) was an American Old West outlaw, gunfighter, and controversial folk icon. The son of a Methodist preacher, Hardin got into trouble with the law from an early age. He killed his first man at age 14, he claimed in self-defense.
Pursued by lawmen for most of his life, he was sentenced in 1877 at age 24 to 25 years in prison for murder. When he was sentenced, Hardin claimed to have killed 42 men but contemporary newspapers accounts attributed only 27 deaths to him. While in prison, Hardin studied law and wrote an autobiography. He was well known for wildly exaggerating or completely making up stories about his life. He claimed credit for many murders that cannot be corroborated.
Within a year of his release in 1894, Hardin was killed by John Selman in an El Paso saloon.
The second figure is of Rattlesnake Jack, not a legend of the period but who ought to be.
Jack got his nickname from being bitten on the arse by a rattlesnake while de-flowering a native american indian against her will. Jack jumped up in a flash and in panic farted several times before mounting his horse and heading for town to see the resident doctor (few people know that this true story inspired Jagger and the Rolling Stones to write their classic track Jumpin’ Jack Flash and the lyric “it’s a gas, gas, gas”).
On examination the doctor announced to Jack that he had good news and bad news for him. Wanting to hear the good news first the doctor told Jack that it would be possible to suck the poison from his arse and thus save his life. With some relief Jack asked for the bad news only to be told by the doctor that he was going to die from the snake bite!
The pictures of Jack below were taken before the fatal incident.
TIM
The Imperfect Modeller 
They both sound like RL twats to me, but great minis mate. I particularly like the trousers on the second one, and you’ve painted the faces beautifully – nicely done sir!
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Cheers Alex. The figure detail helps with the faces but so does practice and doing just figures at the moment I’m seeing some improvement which is motivational. Some aren’t so good though so consistency and perfection are still some way off!
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I haven’t heard of Rattlesnake Jack but I’ll take your word for it that he is a true character ,And if Mick sang about him it has to be true ,I just love the way you can paint pinstripes it’s something I find right difficult ! .Now as for JWH he first came to my notice back in the seventies when I was a big Bellamy Brothers fan and the had a song on one of there albums called Livin in the West and was a song about this guy ,so again if the Bellamy Brothers said it ,it must be right ,You can always trust a Musso just ask the young IMP !.
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Cheers Pat. As for the stripes your seeing the end result. A lot of pain and even more swearing went in to it. One day perhaps I’ll be able to do them at the first time of asking!
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Both very nice indeed! I like ’em both, but I think Jack’s beard and trousers have come out really well! And the bases are somewhat smaller than we’ve come to expect from you, but they’re still nevertheless nicely done.
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Thanks John. I’m going through a figure only phase at the moment and not doing quite so much on the vignette and diorama basing front. The eBay thing is partly to do with it, so is storage and my desire to up my painting skills. I have some plans in my head for a few other bits and pieces and just as soon as I get bored, which wont take long knowing me, I will get started on those.
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Great work on both models, I have to say – as well as your pinstriping. As for the actual people, I’d probably go with something more akin to “douchebags of the old west” than legends, but that’s just me…
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Can’t disagree with you on that. The old west was indeed wild and most gunfights were murders but such is the myth.
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Haha poor old Jack and is that true that the song jumping jack flash is named after him or are you pulling our legs? I like both minis but Jack is my favourite. I like the light green and his scruffy beard.
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No it’s complete bollocks but it won me £5 as I bet SWMBO that you would be the first to query it! 😉 To be fair it ought to be true though. You could tell the guys down the pub and see what they think!
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The guys down my pub only listen to AC/DC and Jimmy Barnes. Haha. You know me well mate. I just won a bet with my wife that you’d be reading this with absolutely no pants on.
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You know I’m now looking for where you put the cameras in my house dont you! 😉
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Great painting – I echo the comments about the pinstriping, it is very impressive.
Cheers,
Pete.
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Thanks Pete, just wish I could get it right first time!
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Awesome miniatures and a great line in Western BS 😂. It did make me chortle.
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Excellent work and loved reading the stories. The stripes on Jack’s pants are ace!
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Thanks Mikko.
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Dave I’m glad IRO questioned that, otherwise my absolute trust in you might have lead me to pass on a really wild urban legend! Excellent work on these as usual, but I’d love to know your pin-striping secrets. You definitely bring these Wild West dudes to life.
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Thanks Mark. No secret to the stripes, just a case of laying down one colour and then adding the second. I always put the lighter colour on second because when tidying up (again and again till I like it!) the darker colour goes over the lighter one better.
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