JMD Medieval bust - review

As promised, first from many, review of a beautiful medieval bust by JMD miniatures.
The mini portrays (judging by the hauberk) a knight from early middle ages.
Very simple, just the armor and face, without too many eyecatching details, this bust is a great piece to present skills in painting faces.

The mini:

(c) JMD Miniatures

painted by: Daniel Ipperti

Name: Medieval Bust
Manufacturer: JMD Miniatures
Product code: JMD034R
Sculptor: Jean-Marie Daniel
Range: historical
Material: resin
Scale: 1:10


The box:

I am fully aware that the box on the photo doesn't belong to the mini I'm talking here, but all of them are exactly the same. Plastic box with the mini in a plastic bag, and smaller bag for smaller parts. Not the most secure packaging, I know. But luckily for me all ordered miniatures arrived undamaged.
On the other hand it might be the packaging provided by the middle man.


In the box:

These two little bits of resin on the side, are the leather strapes to be glued on the right side of the face. Of course you need just one, but I guess the second one is in case the first one breaks, as they're really thin and fragile

Quality of the cast:
At the first sight cast seems to be very clean and crisp. No visible mould lines, or air bubbles. The only issue visible was the 'base'. As you can see, there is a massive thingy on the bottom and front of the base. It's not a problem for me at all, because I'm planing to get rid of it immediately.
But... upon a more diligent scrutiny, I found out that the face is not that perfect at all. There is a rough surface on the nose of the mini, and eyes are not the greatest part of the sculpt,especially the left one. There is a deep hole near the inner corner of the left eye, and both eyeballs need some cleaning as well, and there is a little crack at the top of the nose.

It all can be fixed, with a bit of care, but after checking some of the photos in internet, I'm fairly sure it's more the issue of the sculpt than the cast. In fact the whole left side of the face seems to be a bit less defined, especially around the eye.

I'm planing to do him as a battered veteran of many battles, so the imperfections on his left cheek aren't the problem for me. I just need to mention that, so you have the whole picture.

The rest of the sculpt is really crisp and clean. Few very delicate lines can be removed with the knife or sanding paper.


Summary:
Despite the imperfections, the bust is really beautiful and full of character. And with right execution, it will be great addition to every collection.
I can only hope I'll be able to start on this bust soon.


Where to buy:
JMD miniatures
SKminiatures

 
Other JMD reviews:
Succubus
Sikh bust
Yodleur Des Cascades (aka Pencil head)
Demon
Persian Assassin
Drummer bust


cheers

'eM

JMD week (or maybe even a little more)

I guess everyone heard already, that JMD Miniatures is closing with the end of August. It is a very sad news indeed, but also can be treated as a great excuse to buy some of their beautiful models. At least for me it was a good reason to do some long overdue shopping. I was delaying this for quite a while, thinking that it's still time, that I still have a while to upgrade my skills. And of course, it's hard to deny that my massive 'grey army', or like as I call it 'Mountain of Resin and Lead', had something to do with that delay.
But now , facing the closure of the company, I had no other choice than to make a purchase.
I decided to go not only for fantasy classics like the Persian Assassin, or Pencil Head, but also for some historical pieces. In fact 2/3 of my order are historical miniatures, most probably less known to the wargaming crowd. So I thought  maybe I could review all of my JMD minis here, just in case someone is considering making an order (there is still a while to do that).

Because the time is very limited here, over the next weak or two, you can expect one review a day, alongside some updates on my painting. For starters I'd like to remind you a review I did a while ago on one of my first JMD minis: Succubus


Where to buy:
If you like you can buy these miniatures directly from the JMD website, but I got mine almost exclusively from Steve Kirtley, who runs an online shop SKminiatuers. Mostly because I don't really speak any french, and I do preffer more personal contact.


Review list:
Succubus
Medieval bust
Sikh bust 
Yodleur Des Cascades (aka Pencil head)
Demon 

cheers

'eM

Einstein - Team(w)Orc Guy

Today I did some more work on Einstein. I focused on everything except skin and shirt (which leaves us only the apron and googles;p) Leather elements are more or less finished, but the googles need some more work, mostly tidying up the weathering and redoing lenses. I'm pretty sure I'll have to change their colour, now they look way too similar to the oxidation.
At this point skin is basically only airbrushed, I did touch it with a brush but just a little. I painted his eyes and the skin around them, but it's still far from being ready.

As for the shirt I'm thinking some sort of doctor's coat, most probably white, or with delicate stripes (a bow to the Einstein's steampunk vibe) and Einstein's name on the back (a bow to his orcish nature). To make it a bit more interesting I decided to add a patch where I'll paint his name. I must confess, sculpting even such an easy thing on a half painted miniature was rather stupid. Especially when my sculpting skills are almost non existing. Luckily for me I didn't destroy the whole bust, but I still need to do some clean up work there when the patch will dry. If it doesn't help, I think I'll have to paint it leather to cover imperfections;]

Anyway so far I'm rather happy how he's turning out.
And what do you think?

cheers

'eM

Team(w)Orc project - airbrushing part

A small update of my airbrush efforts. I'm guessing I should be able to do more work done with the gun, but I'm just learning.
Now I can move to the brush work.
So far I managed to do only the eyes on Eistein, but I hope I can do some decent amount of work next few days.

cheers

'eM

Anker Guy - some more work done

I did some more work on the Team(w)Orc guys. This time I'm gonna present you Bugne, who's technically an ogre, but still I'm counting him as a part of my Orc bunch.
As you can see I was focusing on the leather elements. Hat, wrist band and the front bottle are mostly done now. Rest still needs some work, especially shoes. I'm not entirely sure how to paint the throusers, but I'm guessing white and red stripes should contrast nicely with the blue-greenish sea creatures.

And here some close ups of the details.

cheers

'eM

Anker guy

And here are few solo photos of the 'Anker guy'.
Colours are slightly 'patchy' (to put it mildly) and the skin looks extremely messy, but I'm experimenting with techniques a bit here. Some preshading mixed with building volumes while applying base layer.
Might be a total disaster, but I feel I need to give it at least a try;]

cheers

'eM

Team(w)Orc;]

Here is a group photo of the 'minis' I stated today. I used a quotation mark here, because nothing on this photo is really mini. Just to give you the scale here (I should add a coin or something I guess), the smallest guy, the one with the anker is 50mm tall, and if I put all three parts of this massive bust together it's twice as high as him.
So far I managed to preshade all parts, especially flesh, and put basic colours on most of the leather elements. But I have a feeling already, that this bunch is gonna be huge fun to paint.


cheers

'eM