Thursday 1 September 2011

15mm Totem Pole



I bought this fine looking Totem Pole recently from Irregular Minis to add to my growing Indian village. I previously bought the same model around a year ago but was a little miffed as the model was miscast, the lower green, red and white face had half of it missing. I left it far too long to phone Irregular up and moan, so as Postie was ordering some Russo-Japanese figures, I got him to order me another Totem Pole. BUT this one was also a miscaste, so I moaned and groaned to Postie and he said he'd have a go try and fix it, which he did, and he made a damn good job of it!!!
Totem Poles are carved wooden pillars made by the first nations of the North-West coast, they were usually made from Western Red Cedar.  A Totem is usually an animal, that serves as an emblem for a family or clan. They represent a symbolic relationship between nature and human kin groups. The figures on the pole are mythical creatures from the First Nations ancestral past. The word Totem is derived from the Ojibwe word Odoodem, which translates to "His kinship group".
The pole is based on a large MDF base from Warbases and the three figures are from Frei Korp, now sold by QRF.
The last picture is of a pole from, Stanley Park in Vancouver. I based my colour scheme on this pole, and by the look of it, so did the Irregular sculptor.

Ray




Totem Pole at Stanley Park, Vancouver




26 comments:

  1. Nice totem pole, and cool Indian figures with it, though from the picture they look more like their from tribes in the Northeast. There maye not be a lot of Tlingit or Haida figures to be had. :)

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  2. A splendid job by both Gentlemen, excellent stuf!

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  3. Not often we see one of these. It's an instant anchor for the setting though, suggesting a lot. I don't know how much work it needed doing, but it looks good now so well done all involved.

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  4. It look a little oversized, but Its these bits and bobs which make a table come alive.

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  5. It does look like the scale is different if that exact one were being modelled, but it doesn't have to be.

    Ray on yours it looks like the Eagle might have some Duck in his ancestry, like maybe Mallard Duck, with the green around the eyes like that, but he does have an eagle beak for sure.

    This is a good subject and makes me want to learn more about those. Maybe even try carving up some, although I know 1/2 inch dowel is tough but 1/4 inch carves nicely. Good job on fixing it.

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  6. The details on that are awesome!

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  7. Nice totem painting...the colors stand-out sharply in contrast with the indians and base. I like it!

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  8. White man speak with forked tongue - which ain't easy.

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  9. That´s some BIG wampum!!!!
    Cheers
    paul

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  10. Great job done Ray! Postie to of course!

    Greetings
    Peter
    http://peterscave.blogspot.com/

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  11. That'll never get off the ground!

    cheers WW

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  12. wow, that last one is sure life-like. ;)

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  13. Nice pole you got there Ray.

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  14. That came out very niceley. I like your color choices.

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  15. Irregular caster will be low man on it then?

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  17. Do you have many people dancing round your pole! (as the actress said to the Bishop).
    Something different mate.
    Dave

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  18. See ... now I think this would be much better if your head were on the top.

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