Jake Cutter Forgotten heroes “part 1” (Borderguy190)

I’m jumping the gun a bit, as this challenge doesn’tt officially kick off until next month. But… When I have an idea I need to act on it before it flits out my tiny brain.

My choice for the miniature challenge was from a tv series I barely remembered until I was looking through Artizan’s Thrilling Tales minis and wanted to buy the whole lot. The minis triggered a long lost memory and the show resurfaced.

Tales from the Golden Monkey was a single season show about an American pilot in the South Pacific in 1938, before the US entry into WW2. I remember it vaguely, enjoying the sets, locations, the Grumman Goose amphibian plane, and the adventure.

When Roger and Jez invited me to participate in the Fogottem Heroes 2018 competition, I had a bit of a think. I’m not that into comic books to know about some forgotten hero or villain. Plus, I have zero use for

What, you say? No need for a mini? Who are You and what did you do with Borderguy190?

Seriously, I might have a slight overabundance of miniatures. But each was purchased with a plan. A role to play. Nothing “just because its cool”. Maybe. I do have minis I forgot about.

Regardless. I was stumped. Didn’t want a hero or villain. I might get into 60-70s spy stuff someday, but I’m not getting into new areas until I paint stuff for SAGA, Muskets & Tomahawks, Bolt Action, Triumph! and Warhammer Fantasy. Then ACW. THEN… Maybe I’ll get some movie minis and try 7TV. But that is years away.

So, who can I paint? Lightning bolt. Jake Cutter from TFTGM. A bush pilot hero. Perfect for my WW2 pulp stuff. He can be Indiana Jones’ pilot friend. A daring pilot flying OSS and Jedburghs and Commmandos into hostile places. Pistol on his hip and a crazy attitude. Hero found.

a hero mini like that.

Off to find a model. Easy. Artizan had a rougish fellow in a bomber jacket and pilots cap. With a pistol even.

The model is wearing long pants, though.  Hmmm. How to fix that? In many of the stills I found on the interwebz Jake is wearing form-fitting,  laced knee boots. Trousers tucked in. And carrying a Webley revolver. Pants I can fix. My Jake lost the Webley and replaced it with a Colt 1911.

The boots. At first I had the dumb idea to add them with green stuff. Huh? Over baggy pants?  What was I thinking?

Then, the epifany. Carve the trousers into boots. Ah ha! Diwn to the work bench I hustled, the finished product fixed in my mind. 20 minutes later, some razor knife carving and sanding stick sanding, I had a transformed model! Here are the before and after pics:

Can you see the difference?

I cut a cleft chin, and started work on the cap. Jake’s is well-worn and the sides are sagging. The model had a crisp, new cap. I sanded and carved to remove the sides, now I need to get some Green Stuff and make the sides say. Easy. I carved off the cap device as well. I think the chin cleft and the cuts marking the top of the boots need to be bigger to catch washes, but basically I have a Jake Cutter model.

The back of the jacket has a box molded in. Was there amything on Jake’s jacket? More interwebz searching and I found the answer. On the show Jake was supposed to be a veteran of Claire Lee Chennault’s American Volunteer Group. The famed Flying Tigers. If you know your history, you will notice a problem with this… Nonetheless, Jake had a Chinese blood chit on his jacket like the AVG pilots wore. It tokd the peasants the pilot was a good guy, and promised a reward for assistance in event the pilot was shot down. Could I find a picture? Of course!

Not terribly difficult to paint in a 1/4″ or so square.

Now to find a 28mm Jack Russell Terrier…

https://warthroughtheages.wordpress.com/2018/05/21/forgotten-heroes-pt-1/