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Open Book British Infantryman from Alotores Studio

Discussion in 'Reviews , Video Reviews and Open Book' started by Nap, Aug 28, 2016.

  1. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hello out there ,

    The company Altores Studio have certainly made a big splash with the releases that they have done this year , a very new company from Russia with a skilled team behind them working away to give us releases that are both unusual and different including 54, 75 and busts.
    ALTORES LOGO.jpg
    One of these was the butterfly swordsman which I reviewed here and on social media
    http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/butterfly-swordsman-from-altores-studio.78799/

    Announced by Altores recently (http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/altores-studio.79114/)we now have a companion figureif you wish in the shape of this:

    0001.jpg



    There were 2 so called Opium Wars

    First Opium War:

    March 18, 1839 - August 29, 1842.

    Also called the First Anglo-Chinese War.
    Casualties:
    69 British troops, approximately 18,000 Chinese soldiers.
    Results:
    Britain gets trade rights, access to five treaty ports, and Hong Kong.
    Second Opium War:
    October 23, 1856 - October 18, 1860.
    Also known as the Arrow War or the Second Anglo-Chinese War, although France joined in.
    Casualties:
    Western powers, approximately 2,900 killed or wounded.
    China, 12,000 - 30,000 killed or wounded.
    Results:
    Britain gets southern Kowloon. Western powers get additional land rights, trade privileges. China's Summer Palaces looted and burned.
    The British also had other concerns at the time, however. In 1857, the Sepoy or Indian Mutiny spread across the Indian subcontinent, drawing the British Empire's attention away from China. Once the Indian Revolt was put down,Britain once again turned its eyes to the Qing.
    Meanwhile, in February of 1856, a French Catholic missionary named Auguste Chapdelaine was arrested in Guangxi. He was charged with preaching Christianity outside of the treaty ports, in violation of the Sino-French agreements, and also collaborating with the Taiping rebels. Father Chapdelaine was sentenced to beheading, but his jailers beat him to death before the sentence was carried out. Though the missionary was tried according to Chinese law, as provided for in the treaty, the French government would use this incident as an excuse to join with the British in the Second Opium War.
    Between December of 1857 and mid-1858, the Anglo-French forces captured Guangzhou, Guangdong, and the Taku Forts near Tientsin (Tianjin). China surrendered, and was forced to sign the punitive Treaty of Tientsin in June of 1858.
    This new treaty allowed the UK, France, Russia, and the US to establish official embassies in Peking (Beijing); it opened eleven additional ports to foreign traders; it established free navigation for foreign vessels up the Yangtze River; it allowed foreigners to travel into interior China; and once again China had to pay war indemnities - this time, 8 million taels of silver to France and Britain. (One tael is equal to roughly 37 grams.) In a separate treaty, Russia took the left bank of the Amur River from China. In 1860, the Russians would found their major Pacific Ocean port city of Vladivostok on this newly-acquired land.

    Although the Second Opium War seemed to be over, the Xianfeng Emperor's advisers convinced him to resist the western powers and their ever-harsher treaty demands. As a result, the Xianfeng Emperor refused to ratify the new treaty. His consort, Concubine Yi, was particularly strong in her anti-western beliefs; she would later become the Empress Dowager Cixi .
    When the French and British attempted to land military forces numbering in the thousands at Tianjin, and march on Beijing (supposedly just to establish their embassies, as set out in the Treaty of Tientsin), the Chinese initially did not allow them to come ashore. However, the Anglo-French forces made it to land and on September 21, 1860, wiped out a Qing army of 10,000. On October 6, they entered Beijing, where they looted and burned the Emperor's Summer Palaces.
    The Second Opium War finally ended on October 18, 1860, with the Chinese agreeing to a revised version of the Treaty of Tianjin. In addition to the provisions listed above, the revised treaty mandated equal treatment for Chinese who converted to Christianity, the legalization of opium trading, and Britain also received parts of coastal Kowloon, on the mainland across from Hong Kong Island.
    01.jpg 001.jpg
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    aaaaa.jpg aaaaaa.jpg
    0000001.jpg
    000001.jpg
    medal showing clasps awarded
    Books are available here are a couple that are worth looking at
    : abb.jpg ab.jpg 00001.jpg
    Continued in next post
    Nap
    anstontyke and Viking Bob like this.
  2. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    What are we looking at :


    Title: British Infantryman Second Opium War

    Reference: F-54-008

    Scale: 1/30th

    Material: Gray Resin

    No of pieces: 8

    Sculptor: Alexander Deryabin

    Box Art: Alexander Kataurov

    As you can see we have the same team , both Alexander's and both working really well together on this release , shipping was fast and sent with full tracking , packed as others in the white cardboard box with the parts being in clear bags and sandwiched between foam layers . on the top we have a full colour picture of the figure painted by the artist.
    Altores Infantryman 001.jpg


    Parts consist of the main figure , 2 arms , pouch , haversack and water bottle , rifle , bayonet and a base.

    Altores Infantryman 002.jpg



    Prep

    As you can see we only have 8 parts , so prep is going to be easy so whats needed:

    Main figure ...remove casting posts from feet , tiny casting line on inside of legs ..easily sanded away
    Remaining pieces...Remove from formers and fit
    Base ...Remove casting remnant from edge

    That is it (as with the butterfly swordsman) ...easy , simple and quick to do.

    Initial looking at the resin quality overall ...its VERY GOOD , no blemishes , or air holes , fit of all pieces is clean and accurate even to the straps .

    Main figure this consists of the full figure in a action pose , less arms with his left leg forward and the right pushing from behind in an advance mode.

    The head is a nice bit of work the cap is covered with a neckcloth , this so vital covering has good folds with a nice bit of undercuts where it meets the tunic.

    Already I am thinking great conversion the potential with this figure..Mutiny and Crimea...like it!

    Facial Features have him with a fine bushy beard , nice texture this , bushy eyebrows , eyes are well shown the mouth is open with his teeth showing ...shouting as he advances forward.
    Altores Infantryman 013.jpg
    Collar and epaulettes are plain and well sculpted , very clean and sharp definition , there is a pocket flap on the left side leading down to the skirts of the tunic , well positioned as they should be .

    Across his torso front and back we see belts for his equipment , nice and sharply cast , there is the correct pouches , really good shape to these with the belt buckle also being the same .

    There are locating cutouts ready for the arms and other items, well positioned and making fit simple to do.

    Onto the trousers , great movement with the same to be said of the folds , naturally and sympathetically worked.

    The gaiters and boots again nicely sculpted , boots have the laces in place as well , nice to see the little details.

    Altores Infantryman 003.jpg Altores Infantryman 004.jpg Altores Infantryman 005.jpg Altores Infantryman 006.jpg Altores Infantryman 007.jpg Altores Infantryman 009.jpg Altores Infantryman 010.jpg Altores Infantryman 011.jpg Altores Infantryman 008.jpg


    Onto the remaining pieces of resin..

    Arms and Back pouch , after removing from the former , these parts fit well in place , Altores have provided excellent pegs which match up with the holes on the main figure.

    Arms have a plain rounded cuff detail , great folds as with the trousers , the wrist area are ready to receive the hands ( sculpted on weapon)

    The pouch is as shaped with the actual flap having a nice edge to it

    Altores Infantryman 012.jpg Altores Infantryman 014.jpg

    Haversack/Water bottle and Bayonet

    The haversack and water bottle again really nice work from he sculptor , the bag looks like it has weight in it an the water bottle has wood texture , the stopper is nicely worked , with the actual strap cast around it , the ends of this meets accurately when in place with perhaps a tiny bit of filler required.

    The Bayonet is as issued but I note there is no actual scabbard on the figure , easy to make one if you wish , fit of the bayonet will need steady hands and a good eye ( optivisor at the ready!!..lol) ...or of course you could leave it off if you wanted to .
    Altores Infantryman 015.jpg Altores Infantryman 016.jpg
    Weapon


    A percussion cap weapon , on the review item a tiny bit was missing but in fairness it could have been me when taking out the bag ...but quite easy to replace. , the weapon shows the sights and nice detail on the barrell and fittings . there is a strap underneath , a tiny part was missing on the review but again a small bit of filler is all that is needed , aside from that the strap has been sculpted close to the weapon and being held in place by the left hand.

    The hands are well up to the standard expected from Altores , good finger definition and they are actually holding the weapon , fit to the wrist area's is easy and accurate.

    Altores Infantryman 017.jpg Altores Infantryman 018.jpg

    Base

    A nice bit of groundwork hard ground littered with stones , textured as with the previous releases , perfectly suitable suitable or you could incorporate it with a larger base and another figure like the swordsman .

    Altores Infantryman 019.jpg Altores Infantryman 020.jpg

    Final Thoughts

    A simple figure in pose , not cluttered with equipment , prep is simple and easy , the sculpting and casting are very good indeed . The figure itself lends itself to many conversion potential so plenty of options and of course it will work well again the Chinese swordsman as well .

    Keep at it Altores you are doing a grand job

    I wonder what will come next but be assured I will review it if I can !!!!!

    For details on this and more from them :

    E-mail: altoress@mail.ru

    Website: www.altores.com

    They are also a member of FaceBook and the forum here on PF

    Thanks to [IMG] for the review piece

    .ENJOY this and your modelling

    Nap
    Blind Pew, anstontyke, Scotty and 2 others like this.
  3. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Lets have some colour now

    The single painted piece first

    1aaaaaa.jpg 1a.jpg 1aa.jpg 1aaaaa.jpg

    And now with the Butterfly Swordsman
    AAA.jpg AA.jpg
    ENJOY

    Nap
  4. mick3272 A Fixture

    Hi,
    A very nice review as always Kev,
    I note on the box art the large '2' on the epaulette, I assume he is a mutton lancer. If so I think it a bit large but I am unable to see if its the same on the fig.
    As you say no bayonet scabbard, yes you can add but should you?
    I like the pegs on the arm to assist in positioning, I feel this should be standard on all figures but alas its not.

    Mick
    anstontyke likes this.
  5. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England


    Thanks , the 2 has been painted on , the epaulettes is plain as stated in review , agree about the pegs ..good thinking IMO .

    Mutton Lancer = What was The Queens Royal Regiment (West Surrey)[IMG]

    Bayonet to add or not to add that is the question ...personal choice I feel

    Thanks for looking in

    Nap
    anstontyke likes this.
  6. Viking Bob PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Another great review Kev, the bayonet would have been fixed in the advance on the enemy. In the words of L/Cpl Jones (your last review) 'they don't like it up' em'
    anstontyke and napoleonpeart like this.
  7. swralph A Fixture

    Great review Nap.
    anstontyke likes this.

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