I thought I would enter this one in Azazel’s Jewel of July as well. Why? Well it might be a small piece but I think it is cool. How can a 1960’s Mod, a Lambretta and the Who not be? Feel free to argue.
So what do we have here? Well first and foremost this is a TIM conversion! OK so it’s only a hand that has been changed but it is still the only figure in the world like it.
The figure itself is from Crooked Dice and one I bought a while ago. It is one of three scooter figures, this one being the gang leader. I knew what I wanted to do with it immediately I saw it but there was a problem to be overcome. The figure, a picture of the original little chap appears below, was holding a gun. Not in keeping with 1960’s Britain so it had to go. The trouble was I didn’t have an alternative hand. Move forward a few months and a new supply of figures in the post and as luck would have it one of the figures I had bought came with an arm alternative and voila, up and running. Eat your hearts out Wudugast and IRO!
Thereafter the figure became a paint job and an opportunity for a little freehand. Do I paint the classic who logo on the back of the parka like the Crooked Dice images or a Union Jack? I decided on the latter, I couldn’t do the same and besides I had settled on the Quadrophenia album cover for the base. Slightly thicker black around the eyes for eye shadow and a registration of WHO1 plus my initials painted to either side of the front of the scooter and there you have it. If I could only have added some mirrors it would have been perfect but hey ho!
I then decided the front of the wooden base could do with a lift and I managed to find a little print which made reference to the Brighton Beach clashes between the Mods and the Rockers in 1964 which was also the central theme of the movie.
Job complete.
For me this is a little nostalgia piece and as cool as it comes. I was only seven in 1964 but I remember my dad talking to my mum in the kitchen and showing her the front page of the Daily Mirror and saying “Whatever next!”.
Images of the model below.
TIM
The Crooked Dice images of the original figure
That is flippin’ brilliant mate. I think I would’ve been a Mod 😎
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Thanks Alex glad you like it. For the Mods it was really all about the fashion. I got into it as I got a little older – Fish Tail Parkas, Fred Perry Polo Shirts, Harrington jackets, Ben Sherman Shirts and Levi Stay Press two tone trousers and tassle shoes. Still awesome to this day in my opinion and I still wear Ben Sherman shirts and Harrington. Sad but true. 🤗
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Very nice mate, I was just watching a thing on YouTube or something where they were interviewing the mods and rockers, so this is very apt.
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That’s spooky. 👻
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Love this- still love the look of scooters too!
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Thanks, I do too.
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Absolutely amazing. I have such a strong affinity to the whole mods culture. So this model really made my day. Mods (and hard mods, skinhead, hooligan/casual) was such a big part of my late teenage and twenties (and I guess, the wardrobe hasn’t changed much since).
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Glad it brought back some memories for you. It’s a nostalgic piece for sure and you can still by all the gear today. 😊
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Wonderful conversion and very true to Quadrophenia. Great job on the jacket, and really the whole thing. It is a pretty cool throwback. Not really sure I’d I would have been a Mod or a Rocker, as I would prefer Mod music and Rocker styles. We just had hippies back then (and war protesters), and I was just a toddler anyway. I heard the sound track for the movie in the late 70’s (being a long-standing and huge Who fan to this day) but did not manage to see the film until last year. I kind of enjoyed it (especially the Sting scenes) but as an American it was almost a different language at times! My wife understood maybe two words, so that was a bust. But, as usual, a brilliant project coming out of the blue (following your recent stuff). Your mojo, my friend, is BACK! Though in truth, I doubt it ever left ya!
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I think the Mods were a very British thing. Quite why that was I am not sure although we are talking about an era when communication and travel was not like it is today. Music would have travelled the airwaves much more easily at that time. Not an easy film for Americans to get. Somethings simply do not translate, despite a common language there are a great many cultural differences. Glad you like the little piece and the Mojo is on its way back. I have a few ideas that’s for sure. 😊
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I immediately thought of that film when I saw this. Probably because that’s my only relatable reference to the mods bar the music. Great work as always TIM. Your pieces so often provoke little nostalgia trips 😁
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Thank you. Alas the ageing process leaves me with little room for anything other than pieces of nostalgia. 😉
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Fantastic! Great to see an original TIM conversion as well (it may only be a handswap but if that’s all it needs then that’s all it needs. You changed what you needed to and the model tells a completely different story now, without the need for anything extraneous). Oh and, much as it pains me to say this ;-), you’ve really nailed that union jack.
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Cheers mate. Not sure this little acorn is going to manifest itself into a Wudugast oak tree so no need to keep an eye over your shoulder for a good while yet. Enjoying the freehand work and trying to improve bit by bit but at some point I will have to get more adventurous if I want to push on.
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Wonderful work- really like the blue suit.
Cheers,
Pete.
(Rocker)
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Thanks Pete. Nothing wrong with Rockers! 😊
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Very nicely done and very atmospheric! 🙂 And you’ve achieved that for someone sitting on a two-wheeled lawn-mower rather than a proper motorbike, so even more impressive! 😉 You can maybe tell that, had I been old enough, I would not have been a Mod!
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Thanks John. My image of you is on a trike wearing a WW1 German helmet! 😉
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Funnily enough, Dave, that is also my image of me once I’ve retired! A decent trike isn’t cheap, so I might just treat myself! 🙂
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well i used to ride around on the back of my mates lambretta, he had 20 mirrors on it as well as lights all over, really cool for the day. Its funny because i saw out my window just today a lambretta (i think) with all the glitz on it and it made me think back, deja voo. Great models brilliantly painted..
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Cheers Steve, it’s a little piece of nostalgia for a few of us it would seem. 😊
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That’s absolutely terrific. Though I have to say that the coat doesn’t strike me as very mod-ish… maybe it’s just because the fashion was rather before my time.
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Thank you, glad you like it, even if it was before your time 😊
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Sorry mate I checked your lad out but forgot to leave a comment !! Nice figure and a neat conversion, a bit before my time but I do remember my elder sisters that went to boarding school going on about Mods and Rockers but out in the back blocks of NSW it was still short back and sides, fathers and sons both had the same style hair cuts Ha Ha !!
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The subject of this mini is a bit before my time and distinctly British (so it is out of my frame of reference) but I still love this mini and your paint job. The display base looks awesome too with the plaque on it. Going to go Google mods to try and better understand what they are/were 🙂
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Alas not all things cross the atlantic and the theme of this model is one of them. It is very British as well as being to old for a young blood such as yourself! The Mods was very much a cultural movement of its day and embraced everything from the music to fashion and lifestyle.
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I am imagining it being something like the beatniks which are somewhat lost to time for people who weren’t a part of it when it happened. Either way, I certainly learned something from it 🙂
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Again, sorry I missed this one?! Absolutely brilliant mate and probably the best conversion I’ve seen 😉hehe. Love the scooter and the jack on his back. So cool. I would have been more of a rocker (like my Dad) instead of a Mod (like my mum). So good mate, really good. 👍🏼
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Yea if you need any tips on converting I’m your go to guy! You would have had to have been a rocker the mods would never have had tattoo’s. 😉
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Haha that’s right, plus Rockers were more Rolling Stones and Mods were more Beatles. I love both bands but the Stones are my favourite
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