Translate

Monday, November 29, 2010

The Work of Jay Moffat Pt5



Here are some images of Jay Moffat's
tribute the the centennial anniversary of the Royal Canadian Navy - "Jenny Wren", a Leading Wren from the Woman's Royal Canadian Naval Service and here in his own words is his description.
Due to the serious wartime shortage of sailors for sea billets, the Navy decided to organize a women's division of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) "to release a man to go to sea." On July 31, 1942, the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service was established. The WRCNS, unlike other Allied female units, was not an auxiliary but rather a formed unit of the RCN and its officers held the King's commission. Nicknamed "Jenny Wrens, at peak strength, over 6,000 women were fulfilling the various roles of coders, confidential clerks, messengers, telegraphists, cooks, stewards and some 35 other important duties. The WRCNS was disbanded in 1946. In 1951 a Wren section was reformed in the RCN, initially in the Reserve but becoming full-time regulars by 1955. Wrens continued to serve in the RCN and RCNR (reserve) until unification of the Canadian Forces. Women in the navy were still known as Wrens until the late eighties.

The figure is from Chota Sahib, and has been out of production for about 20 years - I came across this one by chance on Ebay, and managed to get it cheap. But even for a 20 year old figure, it's equal to anything done today. The original figure was a British Wren of the 1970s. However, only a couple of minor changes were needed to backdate it to World War Two, namely adding pocket flaps to the jacket and adding an upper portion to the shoes. The figure is done in artists oils, and painted to represent the Wrens' light blue summer uniform, which was unique to the WRCNS. The black nylons were done using chalk pastels brushed over the paint until the right darkness was achieved.

2 comments:

Pat Tillett said...

very nice! It has a Marilyn Monroe feel to it...

Anonymous said...

What a neat figure. I like the pose. As my eight year old son would say....."very stylish".

Dave