"GI JOE" Prototypes

[kanemono]

Thank you all for the nice comments. Unless I am working on a per hour commission I don't keep track of time so I have no idea how much time is in the sets I have made but it's a lot of time.

Dick.

[kanemono]

Here is a pair of cased Colt Navy pistols with flask and bullet mold. The grips are ivory, the cylinders revolve and the bullet mold works. Each pistol is 1 1/4" long. That is a real dime.

Dick

[kanemono]

Here is a prototype of the 'o3 Springfield Sniper Rifle. This is one of my embarrassing mistakes. The sniper scope is wrong. When I created this piece I used a picture from the American Rifleman as a reference. The problem was that this was a scope that was tried but never used. I was called to task at the GI Joe Convention in Washington DC. All I could say was "sorry" I made a dumb mistake. The interesting thing was that only one person spotted the mistake and he collected sniper rifles.

Dick

[ludwigh1980]

Wonderful!

[aerialbridge]

Thanks for posting your incredible artistry, Dick. It's hard to believe they're miniatures and that your Liberty dime isn't about 5" diameter!

[kanemono]

Here is another brass prototype I made for Cotswold in the 1990's. This M-4 is made from well over one hundred separate individual pieces soldered and brazed together. This piece is a bit beat up because it was used to make an injection mold. Before everything was created in a computer, injection molds were made by a pantograph tracing all the detail on one side of the prototype then flipping the prototype and cutting the other side of the steel mold. I had to make the prototypes in brass to survive the process. Today everything is cut from drawings or scans direct from a computer. All the people like me were put out of a job, however, the finished pieces are exact, perfect copies of the real thing. Human error has been eliminated.

Dick

[kanemono]

Here is another miniature. This is a "Brown Bess" musket used by both sides during the Revolutionary War. All of the metal parts were fabricated from German silver and brass. I sculpted the stock in wax, made a rubber mold and cast it in "cold cast bronze" which is bronze powder and epoxy resin. This piece was used with a number of 18th century figures.

Dick

[Jba1973]

I love the sixth scale stuff, but this is a step above anything I have ever seen wow!!

[Brian Dentino]

Still just amazed by your incredible pieces......thanks so much for sharing them here with us!

[kanemono]

Thank you very much for your kind comments. I now make sculptures with life-size bugs, frogs and other small creatures and plants in mixed metals.

Dick

[kanemono]

Here is a working miniature Derringer that I made for the Franklin Mint in 1977. This is the model Derringer that Booth used to shoot Lincoln. The gun and knife are fabricated except for the pistol stock which I sculpted in wax and cast. Everything is sterling silver except for the springs, which are steel.

Dick

[BriansBricks]

Amazing amount of detail, the creator has an incredible amount of skill and patience.

[kanemono]

Thank you very much. The creator would be me.

Thanks,

Dick

[kanemono]

I had posted this Grease Gun by itself and I thought I should be here since it is a Cotswold prototype. I think this came out really well, one of my favorites.

Dick

[kanemono]

Here is a design I created for Cotswold in the late 1990's right before the sold the business to Gearbox. Please forgive any mistakes I made in the uniform details. I wasn't a member of this Forum when I painted this or I would have asked for help. I know if I ever do anything like this again I will ask for your help.

Dick

[Sabrejet]

I had posted this Grease Gun by itself and I thought I should be here since it is a Cotswold prototype. I think this came out really well, one of my favorites.

Dick

 

I agree...that is a pretty nifty miniature M3. Remarkable detail in so small a scale!

[RustyCanteen]

Your work is exceptional!

 

The detail is incredible, and I can't imagine how much time went into each piece!

[kanemono]

Thank you both for your comments. There is a lot of time involved but when I worked creating peototypes I learned to work fast. There was a strict timeline so pieces needed to be finished on time. It was a lot of fun! Here is a Colt 1911 that I made for Flatt World Figures "The Phantom" figure.

[RustyCanteen]

I can't imagine making something as small as a dime from scratch!

 

How many completed pieces would you estimate you have made?

[kanemono]

Hi,

The interesting thing is that I do most of the work by eye. I have no machining or math skills. Almost everything is done with a jewelers saw, gravers and files.I looked in my portfoleo and I counted 126 miniature weapons and accessories. Many of the pieces I made can't be posted here because they are German and Japanese WWI and WWII. I did create some British pieces which would have been used by Americans serving in Commonwealth armies. I think those might be OK. I also do large bronze sculptures one of which would be appropriate to post.

Dick

[kanemono]

Here is a Webly .455 pistol. I think this is OK to post since the Webly pistols were used by Americans who flew with the RAF in WWII. The piece is brass and fabricated from many pieces. If you were wondering how I was able to do the checkering on the grips so well there is a secret method. Not really. I placed a file between two sheets of brass and ran everything through a rolling mill. The brass protected the rollers from the file while printing the checkered pattern into the brass.

Dick

[Captainofthe7th]

Hey Dick--try and get away with posting the foreign weapons, I know I would love to see them. It's about your work and skills, not what the item is....

 

Rob

[kanemono]

Thanks Rob,

Here is a page from the Cotswold Catalog. I made the prototypes for all of the weapons, helmets insignia etc.This shows the Pearl Harbor Limited Edition figure.

Dick

[jeb137]

From someone who owns a couple hundred GI Joes, and who has purchased from Cotswold ..... Thank you.

 

 

Your work is very appreciated by the us.

 

Thanks

 

Jon B.

Newaygo MI

[kanemono]

Thank you Jon, it is is really nice to have my work appreciated. I tried to make the pieces I created as accurate as possible for people like you who know what the real thing looks like.

Dick