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Review De Wiart from Sarnia Miniatures

Discussion in 'Reviews , Video Reviews and Open Book' started by Nap, Dec 12, 2017.

  1. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi everyone

    Back from the depths of day to day life and its great to show you a new company in the marketplace

    I purchased this after seeing it on a well known auction site and also on another modelling forum as a WIP .

    The name of the company Sarnia Miniatures but who are they well they are based in Guernsey, this used to be a tax haven I believe but apparently no more , so shipping is a little higher to UK as the "Low value consignment relief" ended about 4 years ago ( as advised by Peter !!) ....

    ........But to the EU countries its VAT free

    Run by the owner called Peter Gillson.....who began as he found he enjoyed sculpting and wanted to see how he got along with it and this release is the result .

    He is looking to release a wide range of periods and subject matter ...the next will be from the ECW , in the future we might possibly see a fantasy piece.

    The subject is a true "Boys Own Stuff" , a heroic warrior who served though the late Victorian up to WW2

    WWW.jpg

    Lets have some background on this soldier

    Born in Brussels, Belgium, he was a career British officer, who served in the Second Boer War, World War 1 and World War II.

    He was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, hip, leg, ear, survived a plane crash and tunneled his way out of a POW camp.

    A World War I Victoria Cross Recipient......In actions at La Boisselle, France, July 2-3, 1916, Lieutenant Colonel Carton de Wiart, was in command of the 8th Battalion, British Army. After three other battalion Commanders had become casualties, he controlled their commands. He ensured that the ground won was maintained at all costs. He frequently exposed himself in the organization of positions and of supplies. He passed unflinchingly through fire barrage of the most intense nature and inspired to all. For most conspicuous bravery, he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

    During the World War II, he served first as Head of the British Military Mission to Poland until its collapse, followed by command of the Central Norwegian Expeditionary Forces. Later, he was sent to head the Military Mission in Yugoslavia but on the way, his plane crashed into the sea and after swimming ashore he was made a prisoner of the Italians.

    In August 1943, the Italians released him and sent him to Lisbon to negotiate their surrender terms.

    From October 1943, until retirement as a Lieutenant General in October 1947, he was the Government's Military Representative with General Chiang Kai-Shek in China.

    He died at age 83, in Cork County, Ireland.

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    wiart6.jpg
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    His medal bar

    aa0.jpg


    Full set of honours

    aa.jpg

    Hi memoirs had the preface written by none other than Winston Churchill
    a.jpg

    Continued in next post

    Nap
    swralph, razor, anstontyke and 2 others like this.
  2. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Lets look at the release details

    Title: Adrian Carton de Wiart VC

    Reference: SM10/001

    Scale: 1/10th

    Material: Gray Resin

    No of pieces: 4

    Sculptor: Peter Gillson

    Casting: In House

    Box Art: Peter Day


    The purchase was sent quickly , well packed and with a handwritten thank you note saying "hoping I will enjoy the painting as much as Peter as he enjoyed the sculpting."

    Packed in a simple cardboard box with the resin in bubble wrap

    Parts consist of Main Torso , head , greatcoat collar and a base

    Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 003.jpg

    On the box top we have a colour picture of the boxart with smaller picture on one of the edges

    Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 001.jpg Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 002.jpg

    Also included is a A4 sheet with a biography and also detailing his awards and a painting guide in the way of 3 pictures

    Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 004.jpg Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 005.jpg



    Prep

    With so few parts I am expecting minimal !!!

    Main Torso...Remove the casting plug from lower edge , slight tidy up at tie edge

    Collar....Remove casting plug and sand away slip that runs from it , fit to torso

    Head...Sand under neck , remove slight slip at rear of head and rework hair if needed and then fit to torso

    Base....Remove excess resin at lower edge and fit to underside of torso

    Lets look at the Resin

    Main Torso

    Consisting of our subject wearing his greatcoat over his uniform , being worn open showing the Sam Browne belt , wearing a tie .

    The sculpting is a little soft but this suits the clothing of the greatcoat well , undercuts are not overworked with the pockets being a good shaped and nicely defined , this comment goes for the collar details leading up to the tie , again a good area .

    The belts look good and in scale for the piece .

    I would have liked to see some medal ribbons being shown above the left pocket ..but its doesn't detract by not having them ...just my personal preference

    The greatcoat is suitable fuller with the edges folded over , button openings are worked on the right side , the folds and creases are a little overdone for me but painted up look good and seem to melt into the areas well ...as we can see on the box art.

    The neck area has the piece cast to take the collar around it .

    Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 006.jpg Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 008.jpg Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 009.jpg Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 011.jpg Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 012.jpg Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 013.jpg Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 010.jpg Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 007.jpg

    Collar

    This is sculpted up and fits easily onto the torso with minimal filler needed and seems to bring the piece together

    Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 015.jpg Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 016.jpg Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 017.jpg

    Head

    As with all busts this is the most important part in my view ...and even more so if you are doing a known personality ...de Wiart lost his eye as we know so the eye patch is in place

    ...has Peter captured the look ...in my opinion ...YES , our subject wore his hair slicked back and as such it sits close to his head , the texture of the hair reflects this , his moustache is full .

    We have only one eye of course , and Peter has not done a bad job with the definition being good , the same comment goes for the ears as well

    There is a casting slip at the back but careful prep will sort that out easily enough and is well within the capabilities of most modellers.

    Fit into the collar area is simple and causes no issues

    Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 018.jpg Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 019.jpg Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 020.jpg Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 021.jpg
    Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 022.jpg


    Base

    Nice to see one provided a simple pedestal type with 3 tiered surrounds , fitting well onto the underside , I will donate this to my spares box as I prefer to use a brass rod .

    Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 023.jpg Whart VC Sarnia Miniatures 024.jpg

    Final Thoughts

    Its great that we have a new company and its even better we have a new sculptor as well so hats off to Peter , the piece is a good start , simple to build and with the options of different colour mixes for the uniforms , facial features are good and this is a nice tribute to the subject .

    Recommended

    I hope we will see more from Sarnia Miniatures....very soon

    For more details contact him at : plgillson@hotmail.com

    No website at the moment but one is planned for early 2018

    A very hearty thanks to Peter for the sculpting

    ....also of course you all for looking in

    Happy modelling

    Nap
    Andrew Belsey, swralph and anstontyke like this.
  3. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi Folks

    Lets have a couple of pictures of the painted piece from Peter , I like his style of painting so well done to him

    ENJOY

    W.jpg
    WW.jpg

    Nap
  4. REMOVED PlanetFigure Supporter

    E mail sent ...thinking to try adding headgear from one of the images
    anstontyke and clrsgt like this.
  5. clrsgt A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Nicely done bust and I think adding the cap is an excellent idea.
    anstontyke likes this.
  6. swralph A Fixture

    Thanks for the review Nap:).
    Old johnny likes this.
  7. REMOVED PlanetFigure Supporter

    Based on the review, e mail sent, replied to, and just sent my payment. Very reasonably priced..

    There are many new offerings coming out from all sorts of new people..surely that speaks volumes for the health of things ...I may be an old fool, because shipping takes forever, but with my confidence in Naps reviews to give me a solid base to judge what I am getting, I am making 2018 a year to support the small outfits.

    Not the least of the benefits is the dialogue, being able to express my interest in future subjects..feel part of things even though am on the other side of the world..there’s even a bit of aide memoirs to former travels...yeah Guernsey, Hungary...Norway...
    Tommi, Babelfish and napoleonpeart like this.
  8. Babelfish A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Promising first release, very nice paint job.

    - Steve

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