Major General Romeo Dallaire UNAMIR 1994 1/5 scale bust

[ColinRF]

I have long wanted to sculpt a tribute bust to Romeo Dallaire, the Canadian general who commanded the UN forces in Rwanda in 1994 during the genocide. When ordered to leave as the wheels came off his mission, Dallaire and his second in command from Ghana told Kofi Anan to "go to hell" and they stayed on with a rag tag force of Africans. They probably saved 25,000 to 30,000 souls.

The model is in progress. Its sculpted in super sculpey firm, primarily with sculpey dilutant and brushes after the planes of the model were established with an exacto blade and colour shaper rubber tipped "brushes."

Once he is done I will paint him in acrylics.

Colin

Edited August 2, 2011 by ColinRF

[Chris Boonzaier]

Fantastic, that is a real work of art.

Why not a full sized one. I am sure there is a place or two that would happily display a bronze bust of him.

Best

Chris

[ColinRF]

Thanks Chris - maybe one day I will try full sized sculpting.....but currently I'm too cheap to pay for all that material!

Colin

[Michael Johnson]

A man I greatly admire. I wrote him, and he sent three autographed postcard-sized photos for me and my sons. Mine is tucked inside my copy of "Shake Hands with the Devil".

[Kev in Deva]

Nice one ColinRF

I too have great admiration for the man, he really told it like it was,

much to the dismay of the "politicos" at UNHQ Security Council.

He was warning for months of the planned "genocide" based upon

the huge amounts of machetes he saw being stored around the country

and his local intelligence network.

Kevin in Deva. :beer:

[ColinRF]

Thanks gents....I have been immersing myself in Rwanda 1994 and its a depressing but at the same time uplifting experience, even as a bystander. I just reread Shake Hands With the Devil and watched the feature and doc of the same name. I also read a few other works. Best of all is the 2004 PBS Frontline doc Ghosts of Rwanda.

If the bust turns out well I may cast him in resin and send a copy to General Dallaire. I'M not sure how he'd react though as he hates the hero tag. I would like his signature for my collection too so thanks for the heads up Michael.

I will post progress here as I move forward.

Thanks for your interest.

Colin

Edited August 7, 2011 by ColinRF

[TacHel]

WOW! Great work! I've had the pleasure of meeting general Dallaire on a few occasions. I can't wait to see the finished product! It should be worth sending him a picture!

[peter monahan]

I agree! An extraordinary individual, not least because he has broken the 'code of silence' many warriors live by and spoken of his own struggles with mental uillness, brought on by the incredibly evil things he witnessed in Rwanda.

A great project, Frank.

[ColinRF]

Thanks for the kind comments. Here are a few pictures of progress to this morning. Just some sanding and his jump wings to complete before painting commences.

Colin

[ColinRF]

Painting commences...using Liquitex artists' acrylics, Vallejos and Citadel inks.

Colin

[ColinRF]

A couple more.

[Kev in Deva]

Coming along very nicely, you have captured the physical "essence" of the man in person so to speak.

Keep up the good work!

Kevin in Deva.

[TacHel]

Saw general Dallaire in Quebec city last Saturday, he was honoured during the Quebec City Military Tattoo. Your bust is coming along greatly!

[ColinRF]

Neat. I envy you Frank.

I would really like to meet him as I have been an admirer since I heard him on "As it Happens" reporting from Kigali weekly in '94. After viewing "The Last Just Man," "Ghosts of Rwanda" and the two "Shake Hands with the Devil" films, my admiration only increased. And then there is Carol Off's book that lionizes Dallaire at Lew McKenzie's expense.

Thanks for the comments on the bust....still a long way to go on it.

Colin

[TacHel]

Neat. I envy you Frank.

I would really like to meet him as I have been an admirer since I heard him on "As it Happens" reporting from Kigali weekly in '94. After viewing "The Last Just Man," "Ghosts of Rwanda" and the two "Shake Hands with the Devil" films, my admiration only increased. And then there is Carol Off's book that lionizes Dallaire at Lew McKenzie's expense.

Thanks for the comments on the bust....still a long way to go on it.

Colin

Once your bust is finished, send him pics and include your address, he'll probably stop by when/if in the area. He's a really easy man to talk to.

[ColinRF]

Repainted the face and I like this one better. This is painted in Vallejo acrylics with Citadel ink washes.

Colin

Edited September 11, 2011 by ColinRF

[Chris Boonzaier]

Just a silly question... did you check to see what colour his eyes are? Not that they should be brown or something...

[ColinRF]

Yes Chris, I checked his actual eye colour by taking a screen capture from the "Shake Hands with the Devil" documentary film and blowing it up. For modern figures, colour videos, news clips and documentaries are great resources. The difficulty in doing WWII or earlier portraits is that eye and hair colour are not always immediately apparent. Then its guessing time unless one can talk to a descendent or find the detail in a bio.

But his eyes are too blue. Dallaire has grey-blue eyes so I need to tone them down a bit with glazes./washes.

Thanks

Colin

Edited September 12, 2011 by ColinRF

[ColinRF]

Almost done - just need to add a leaf to his shoulder flag, paint the UN crest and tidy up. A base is in the mail. I will post the final product.

Colin

[ColinRF]

Some details.

[ColinRF]

A couple more.

[Chris Boonzaier]

That is overly-freaking fantastic.

You really must contact him and say "look!"

[TacHel]

I smile just looking at it!! Fantastic job!

If I may though... Don't forget the yellow edge stripes on his OMM ribbon. :blush:

[ColinRF]

Thanks gents - I will send him a picture when I am done.

And thanks for the yellow edges comment Frank - I missed that!

Colin

[TacHel]

Colin, it's been 2 months! Come on man! get with it! A small flag, a planet on a badge and a medal ribbon!

Or did your cat push it off the table? :speechless1: