Sun Bear from SK Miniatures sculpted by Carl Reid

Submitted by Al LaFleche

Gallery

Sun Bear was a member of the Northern Cheyenne and was in the big camp attacked by Custer’s 7ty cavalry on 25 June 1876. According to Osprey’s Warriors at the Little Big Horn, Sun Bear was known to have been involved in he fight with Maj. Marcus Reno’s forces before the big battle. It is unclear where he was in the fight with Custer’s 5 companies. Amos Bad Heart Bull, a contemporary Sioux artist depicted Sun Bear wearing an ermine cap with ermine drops, a trailer with eagle feathers and a single bison horn  in his ledger drawings. Other sources agree with this and Richard Hook depicts him as such in the book. This is how Carl Reid has sculpted him in this bust.

The kit is molded in 3 cream colored resin parts (body, trailer, and plinth) and 17 white metal parts (both side piece to the head gear, bison horn, decoration for the headpiece and 13 feathers with hair decorations). It comes packed in a sturdy cardboard box with bubble wrap. The metal parts are in a zip lock bag. There box has multiple views of the assembled bust in black and white. There are neither instructions nor painting guide.

Upon examination, one of the feathers had lost its decoration and given the fine size, I suspect more may be lost in the painting and assembly process. Replacing them with thread or wire may be a better option from the start. The feathers have attachment pins to mate them with the resin trailer.

The horn has a small burr at the tip which should clean up quickly with a file. There is a slight mold line on the left shoulder which will need attention. A second seam on the body is deeper but will be completely hidden by the trailer. The trailer has a bit of a mold line on the inside and this, too, should clean up very easily.

The ermine and hair drops also include molded in bead work. I saw no flash of mold lines on either of these pieces, though casting burrs on the inside may need to be ground off to improve fit.

This is another fine piece of sculpting from the hands of Mr. Reid.

$64.95 available from The Red Lancer