Hooray for Captain Spaulding, the African explorer!

"I've been looking for a girl like you - not you, but a girl like you"

The first two figures for September are two oddments that have been sitting around on the workbench.  I always have a number of these on the go  if I need a break from painting units; Afghans, in this case - although the end is now in sight on these.  

The Captain Geoffrey T (for Edgar) Spaulding figure (from the Marx Brothers Animal Crackers, of course) is a Copplestone Castings figure.  The film contains one of my favourite Groucho Marx lines: "We took some pictures of the native girls, but they weren't developed. But we're going back in a couple of months!"

Working out a colour scheme from a black and white film is a challenge and, at one point, I actually contemplated painting him in monochrome but that would have limited his use!  I wasn't sure whether to paint a band on the cigar so had to consult the only person I know who (occasionally) smokes cigars, my particular friend Sophie.  She informed me that removing the band can tear the leaf so she leaves it on although some think that leaving the band in place on an expensive cigar is showing off.  Picture reference of Groucho Mark, however, shows that he invariably removed the bands of his cigars.  So close, but no band.

The lady of the night is one of Tim Prow's Foundry figures and she will lurk around Victorian London.  I have a number of these to paint so really ought to get a gas lamp or two!  She is wearing a side-laced corset, although I have to say that it is not historically accurate as these only had lacing on one side, not both as sculpted here.

Captain Spaulding dates from 1930 so is more likely to appear in my long-contemplated 1920's Egypt project.  Eric the Shed has got me thinking about this again.  I am going over to the Shed again today, this time for a game of Muskets and Tomahawks, which will be too much for my poor brain. no doubt!