JMD Yodleur Des Cascades (aka Pencil head) - review

'Pencil head' - first from the fantasy busts I'm gonna review here. Simple yet impressive sculpt, a portrait of an alien beeing, strongly reminding me for some reason of Star Wars.
Of course 'Pencil head' is not an official name, but  Yodleur Des Cascades is a bit of a mouthful for me, and I don't know what does it mean (I'm assuming it's just a name, but who knows). Not to mention that his head kinda looks like a pencil;]

The mini: 

(c) JMD Miniatures

painted by: Alban Berger

Name: Yodleur Des Cascades (aka Pencil head)
Manufacturer: JMD Miniatures
Product code: DW001R
Sculptor: David Waeselnyck
Range: fantasy
Material: resin
Scale: 1:10


The box:  
Not even the box to be honest, just a platic bag with a tag on top. Again... not the best way to protect the mini, but for sure cheap way of packing. If I remember correctly the two other fantasy busts (ghoul and octopus) bought during Euromilitaire 2011 were packed the same way.

In the box:

Quality of the cast:
Bust seems to be very clean and crisp in details. There is only one visible mouldline, on the back, next to the lacing. This unfortunate location makes it a bit tricky to remove, so at this point I'm thinking about adding  some putty (Liquid Green Stuff I guess) to fill the recess, rather than removing the mouldline. Hopefuly this way I'll be able to level the hat withoug risking damaging delicate details.
Except of that there are two other places that will require some work. Adam's apple, where you can see a bit of thin resin residue, which may need some smoothing of  the surface ater removing extra resin. The other one is a place where his right cheek joins the hat. As you can see there are some resin blobs there. It's bugging me a bit, even though it shoudn't be to visible after painting. I'm gonna try to remove it with the knife, so I can put my mind at ease here.


Summary:
Yet another beautiful bust. Again full of character, but thanks to the slender shape rather unique. All that combined with overall qood quality of the cast, makes me confident, that it will be fun to work with.
The only downside is a packaging, which I guess could be a bit better. But on the other hand, as you can see, there is nothing that could be easily broken here.


Where to buy:
JMD miniatures
SKminiatures


Other JMD reviews:
Succubus
Sikh bust
Medieval bust
Demon
Persian Assassin
Drummer bust
 

cheers

'eM

JMD Sikh bust 1914 - review

Another beautiful bust from historical range of JMD miniatures. 

This one represents a Sikh from the time of IWW, a member of the Sikh regiment of the British Indian Army. 

The mini: 

(c) JMD Miniatures

Painted by: Daniel Ipperti

Name: Sikh 1914
Manufacturer: JMD Miniatures
Product code: JMD028R
Sculptor: Jean-Marie Daniel
Range: historical

Material: Resin
Scale: 1:12

The box:

Like other JMD miniatures from the last order, this bust came in plastic box secured only with plastic bag, without any foam or other protection. But again, in this case there is nothing important that could break in the transport.
Most definitely not the best way to pack a mini, but lucky for me, nothing bad happened.

In the box:

Quality of the cast:
It ain't perfect, that's for sure. The bust  has nice smooth surfaces and crisp details, which will make it a pleasure to paint, but there are some things I need to fix frist, before I can actually start painting.
So there are: big chunks of resin (remnants after the resin's supply chanels) on turban and below right shoulder, visible mouldlines on the turban and back of the shoulders, two air bubbles, one big on the turban and the second, much smaller on the right epoulet, some extra resin on the separate sachet. It all requires some work, but shouldn't be hard to get rid of. The thing that worries me more though is the extra resin on his right cheek and beard.

I hope that with some care, patience and x-acto knife, I'll be able to remove it without leaving any traces. Good thing is that  the eye is unaffected, so even if I'll have to fill some gaps, it shouldn't be too hard for me.

Assembly:
For what I can tell, it easy, really easy. Parts fit together nicely, in fact all the photos above were done with just a little help of bluetac. All the pins made by the producer fit really well with the corresponding holes and thanks to the square shape, make sure  that all parts are positioned in optimal way.
The detachable base is a nice touch, as not everyone likes to mount a bust this way. And if you preffer to use just a black/metal rod to secure you bust to the plinth, it saves you the trouble of cutting it away.


Summary:
What can I say... I still love this bust, despite the imperfections.
And I hope they won't discourage you from buying this beautiful sculpt. At this point I believe that the issues on this particular piece are cast related, and your copy might be absolutely flawless.


Where to buy:
JMD miniatures
SKminiatures



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

cheers

'eM

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