When John Yorio at 54mm or Fight was sculpting his own miniatures by using air-drying clay, it made me start thinking if air-drying clay also would be suitable for small plastic figure conversions?
When searching the internet for tips or tricks for using air-drying clay for plastic miniatures conversions, I didn't actually find much, so perhaps that's not a proven method??
- What I did find however was the product name of such air-drying clay I remembered using as a kid; DAS Pronto. It's an Italian product from 1963. This made me remember a birthday gift I got from my beloved sister when I was a kid; It was a DAS Pronto moulding kit for moulding your own Cowboy & Indians with the air-drying clay. Perhaps not a coincidence that such a set came from Italy at the time several 'Spaghetti Westerns' were made there? I remember DAS had other similar sets with football players, animals, custom cars and buildings too.
You added clay to the pres fit mould, and after releasing it from the mould again, the miniature could be posed as desired and you could push-fit different weapons, hats, and different equipment in them while the clay was still soft. After the clay had hardened it could be painted and varnished. The only limitation to how many you could make was the available accessories. I'm not sure where I have my moulds anymore, but I've borrowed some images from different forums and adds at ebay to give you an idea. These are similar to the Cowboys & Indians I had:
.jpg "Das Pronto cowboys and indians. Das Pronto american civil war soldiers. Das Pronto modern soldiers and army men")
What I've discovered recently, and didn't know at the time, was that there were similar sets from DAS to mould soldiers from the American Civil War as well. One mould for soldiers with kepis and one mould for soldiers or officers with hats, and you could off-course combine them and using them for making a blue and a grey army:
There was even a 'maxi' combination-set of the 2 sets above, with cardboard fortress and a 'battle mat' to be colored:
Another interesting thing I've recently discovered with these DIY 'DAS soldiers', is that they even made 'modern' Army Men. I can't remember seeing any of those in Norway:
While working on this blogger post I've also found out that the made Sci-fi Space warriors:
And D&D 'miniatures':
Here are some of the other DIY figure sets from Das Pronto with skiiers, American football players, soccer players and ice hockey players:
Of all these different sets, I've only seen the Cowboy & Indian set in Norway.
This is not a sudden change of focus for me in the wargaming hobby, as I have no plans for start making DAS figures again. I just thought I would share the information if someone finds it interesting. It would be interesting though if anyone has pictures to share of the 'finished product' of soldiers from DAS. -And especially if anyone used them for wargaming.
On the other hand, if DAS can be used for moulding figures, would the same air-drying clay be suitable for making smaller conversions on plastic figures? Anyone having experience with this??
It seems like DAS also was marketing and aiming towards the military modelling market too:
Thank you for the gift Sonja❤️
.jpg "Das Pronto cowboys and indians. Das Pronto american civil war soldiers. Das Pronto modern soldiers and army men")
.webp "Das Pronto cowboys and indians. Das Pronto american civil war soldiers. Das Pronto modern soldiers and army men")
.webp "Das Pronto cowboys and indians. Das Pronto american civil war soldiers. Das Pronto modern soldiers and army men")
.webp "Das Pronto cowboys and indians. Das Pronto american civil war soldiers. Das Pronto modern soldiers and army men")
.jpg "Das Pronto cowboys and indians. Das Pronto american civil war soldiers. Das Pronto modern soldiers and army men")
.jpg "Das Pronto cowboys and indians. Das Pronto american civil war soldiers. Das Pronto modern soldiers and army men")
Absolutely fascinating! I have heard of DAS but not the sets you mentioned. I will be interested to see if anyone is promoted by this article to share their air dried clay modelling experiences.
ReplyDeleteI remember magazine articles about making 25mm figures using oven dried Fimo. A chap I know makes personality figures for his 18th Century armies from it. I was so taken with them l got some Fimo but haven’t got round to using it…
Alan Tradgardland
Thank you, Alan!
DeleteWhen I was a kid we used DAS minor scenery projects for model railways and military models. It could easily be formed to a small diorama base like those in the Matchbox kits. I even used Das for making small buildings for my Star Wars action figures. Our craft shop sells Fimo, but I've never tried it my self. I didn't know it could be used for miniatures making. I hope someone will share their experiences with DAS here. Stay tuned.
I appreciate that you read and comment Alan.
As a teenager I tried using DAS but only for scenic items like walls and grotesque statues, not having the skill for sculpture. I have never seen the figure moulding sets you show above.
ReplyDeleteAs a kid I've used DAS for small scenery items for model railways and minor diorama bases. I also used it to make larger object for my Kenner Star Wars figures. -And Cowboys and Indians from the set I got from my sister.
DeleteThank you for reading and commenting!