This Russian company continues to add to their range of figures we have had the pleasure to see released , this time we are in the 12th the Holy Lands with:

Knight in Jerusalem

The release was announced by Altores here on PF

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/altores-studio.78313/

and also on social media via the FB page

Here's the links for the other releases I have reviewed here and on FB

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/trapper-from-altores-studio.78266/

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/iroquois-fisherman-from-altores-studio.78335/

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/mycenaean-warrior-from-altores-studio.78750/

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/butterfly-swordsman-from-altores-studio.78799/

We often see depictions of Knights Templar and Teutonic and indeed other religious orders from this period so looking at the box art I must admit its really good to see a less than pristine knight and in no armour ...a refreshing choice , and no doubt how many were like this in reality.

Depicted in the Crusades so lets have some background on the crusades and the Jerusalem siege

During the First Crusade, Christian knights from Europe capture Jerusalem after seven weeks of siege and begin massacring the city’s Muslim and Jewish population.
Beginning in the 11th century, Christians in Jerusalem were increasingly persecuted by the city’s Islamic rulers, especially when control of the holy city passed from the relatively tolerant Egyptians to the Seljuk Turks in 1071. Late in the century, Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comenus, also threatened by the Seljuk Turks, appealed to the West for aid. In 1095, Pope Urban II publicly called for a crusade to aid Eastern Christians and recover the holy lands. The response by Western Europeans was immediate.
The first crusaders were actually undisciplined hordes of French and German peasants who met with little success. One group, known as the “People’s Crusade,” reached as far as Constantinople before being annihilated by the Turks. In 1096, the main crusading force, featuring some 4,000 mounted knights and 25,000 infantry, began to move east. Led by Raymond of Toulouse, Godfrey of Bouillon, Robert of Flanders, and Bohemond of Otranto, the army of Christian knights crossed into Asia Minor in 1097.
In June, the crusaders captured the Turkish-held city of Nicaea and then defeated a massive army of Seljuk Turks at Dorylaeum. From there, they marched on to Antioch, located on the Orontes River below Mount Silpius, and began a difficult six-month siege during which they repulsed several attacks by Turkish relief armies. Finally, early in the morning of June 3, 1098, Bohemond persuaded a Turkish traitor to open Antioch’s Bridge Gate, and the knights poured into the city. In an orgy of killing, the Christians massacred thousands of enemy soldiers and citizens, and all but the city’s fortified citadel was taken. Later in the month, a large Turkish army arrived to attempt to regain the city, but they too were defeated, and the Antioch citadel surrendered to the Europeans.
After resting and reorganizing for six months, the crusaders set off for their ultimate goal, Jerusalem. Their numbers were now reduced to some 1,200 cavalry and 12,000 foot soldiers. On June 7, 1099, the Christian army reached the holy city, and finding it heavily fortified, began building three enormous siege towers. By the night of July 13, the towers were complete, and the Christians began fighting their way across Jerusalem’s walls. On July 14, Godfrey’s men were the first to penetrate the defenses, and the Gate of Saint Stephen was opened. The rest of the knights and soldiers then poured in, the city was captured, and tens of thousands of its occupants were slaughtered.

Books are easily accessible here are a couple to get the research going

Continued in next post

Nap

Let us look at the resin...

Details of the release:

as you can see this is the 4th release from the Studio

Title: Knight in Jerusalem 12 Century

Reference: F-54-005

Scale: 1/30th

Material: Gray Resin

No of pieces: 15

Sculptor: Oleg Pogosyan

Box Art: Alexander Kataurov (Alessandro on Putty and Paint)

As with the previous releases fast shipping , good customer service in response to my never ending questions!! packaging consists of a white cardboard box with colour box art .

Prep
As with previous releases very little to do , the base has the biggest casting plug to remove, the shield has one on the lower edge also ,for the remaining pieces its a simple case of carefully cutting away from the formers ( slight sanding will be needed to finish them off) and then fitting together to produce the figure.


Parts consist of the main torso with legs, 2 arms , head , 2 lower parts of his clothing , the hood , shield, 2 pouches , a sword and a dagger , spear, a large sack, and a base

I will look at the actual figure and components in this bit .

The Main Figure this is cast with the legs and as with previous releases the casting is sharp and with good undercuts , our knight wears a more relaxed style of clothing perhaps he is in the camp lines . the upper torso is a mass of folds perhaps a little overdone but done very well never the less , what I am impressed with is the way the straps have been sculpted these are really well done , sitting naturally delicate in places , good buckle details around his waist there is another belt with the beds from his crucifix wrapped round , at the middle there is a nicely done bow and his stomach/clothing protrudes slightly..good attention to detail here.

The lower torso has the central piece of his under garments in the shape of 2 long folds( there are 2 over pieces to fit)

Again legs are trousered , folds are evident with the lower legs being wrapped in bindings , leading down to the typical shoes worn for the period , all very well done.

Onto the clothing parts to be fitted onto the main figure these consist of 2 Lower parts to the surtout , both fit very well indeed completing the look admirably , both have been depicted well worn , holes and tears at the lower edges , one has a crucifix on a beaded chain , this is a nice touch ... a reminder to the knight of the holiness of the fight, this meets well with the beads on the belt.
The other piece is the Hood , again well sculpted and sitting correctly , he has the hood down , there are also the belts that match up with the man figures nicely.



Onto the Arms now , the sculpting matches the other parts well , arms are sculpted with the left on his hip, the fingers are spread out and they do look really good , cuffs on both are open perhaps allowing some heat to escape from his body!! , the right is sculpted out with again the fingers spread but this time resting on the spear shaft . I will say it again the sculptor has done a really great job on the fingers .



The Head this is something I was keen to look at , he wears a soft arming cap pushed slightly forward at the crown . well worn with good folds on it , the face itself is a gem full beard , very well worked on the textures , nice features on the face with the nose popping over from above the moustache...a real nice bit of work here full of character.

Continued in next post

Nap

Now to the remaining parts:

The Large bag , this is an elongated balloon type and fits onto the shield , on a dry run I could see no need for any putty. the bag is pulled together at the top by a piece of cord , , the top part is all furled as it should be, what has he got in it , well perhaps some clothing maybe some items he has "found" whilst in the holy land . You could of course quite easily leave this off and use it on a base .


The Shield , this is well shaped with a smooth and plain front allowing you to paint the design of your choice on to it , if you choose not to fit the bag to the tab then its a simple matter of sanding it off



the underside has the wooden planks depicted with the shield material having a stitching at the edges.


4 of the remaining parts are on one casting block the 2 bags ( one larger , the other for coins no doubt ) , both show good sculpting and fit easy and cleanly in place. There is also a small dagger and a sword , the sword was often used as a cross for prayer , we see this in manuscripts and pictures of crusaders holding it high looking at the shape. Both the weapons are good , both are in scabbards , the sword has strapping sculpted to it as well.



Then of course we have the main weapon the Spear , approx 8-9 feets in height scaled down obviously!!! , the shaft on the review piece was straight but if you have a slight angle rubbing between the fingers or careful use of a hairdryer will easily sort this out , the shape of the point is very good , you could easily replace the shaft with a brass rod as well.


The Base good simple groundwork here , angled and sloping , easy to fit the figure into and easily incorporated into a larger base if you wish.

Final Thoughts

Without doubt this is going to be popular , offering many painting options , its a very popular subject and well sculpted , presentation is well up to the standard of the previous releases .

My advice ...get yourself one and follow Altores very closely for future releases.

Lets have some pictures both of the WIP's unpainted here:



and then the painted version from Altores Box Art here: 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 for the review piece

And to you all for looking in

Happy Modelling

Nap