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Review Kyle - Heir to the Blue Sun from Galapagos Miniatures

Discussion in 'Reviews , Video Reviews and Open Book' started by Nap, Mar 15, 2014.

  1. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi to all in this oh so enjoyable miniature world of ours .

    The country of Korea must I think be one of the most prolific for figure companies that continually impress us with their releases , one of those is of course GALAPAGOS MINIATURES , a company that has not been in existance for long but has established them as a leader in the area of fantasy sculpts.

    The latest from the "Team Galapagos " is of course a fantasy piece , what am I talking about ..of course its :[IMG]

    Title: Kyle -"Heir to the Blue Sun"

    Scale: 1/10th

    Material: Resin

    No of pieces: 11 plus 2 card inserts

    Sculptor: Ju-Won Jung

    Box Art: Ju-Won Jung

    Galapagos was started by Ju-Won whao previously has worked with the likes of Life Miniatures, Alpine and Young Miniatures as a sculptor so I think its only natural that with these credentials expectations were very high .

    As with the previous releases I opened the box with a increased heartbeat and WOW was I impressed by the contents .

    As with the others released they have put an immense amount of thought into the presentation , starting with the distinctive box (well made and very secure) , on this we have a lovely picture of a finished version ..looking so sultry and innocent , in a really exciting painting style . A 051.jpg

    Again as with others you not only get the model but there are inserts , one has 2 different versions of the painted bust beautifully done in both cases both showing the variety you can do with your brushes (the talented painters being Ki-yeol Yoon A 053.jpg and Myeong-ha-Hwang). A 052.jpg

    The other tells us the story of Kyle , the son of King Tagius whose kingdom fell , he took up the challenge and grasping the sacred sword and shield vowed to avenge his fathers loss ..........I really like the way there is this story within the box it really does set the scene ...again both cards are well produced with a nice touch being a seal on one side of one A 055.jpg with a caraciture of Kyle on the other side. A 054.jpg

    The parts were secured sandwiched between 3 layers of foam , all protecting the contents , these being the Torso , the head, the right arm, the right hand , 3 pieces of shoulder armour, the shield (the other arm is cast with it) the sword blade and the pommel for this , finally we have small pillar base .

    A 056.jpg A 057.jpg A 058.jpg

    Continued in next post:

    Nap
    Mike - The Kiwi and Mac1966 like this.
  2. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Lets now look at the pieces themselves :

    Firstly the main torso , this is sculpted with Kyle wearing a cuirass , prep needed was only the removal of a casting plug from underneath (be careful you don't loose the angle on the edge) there are also 2 small lugs of resin to remove as well . A 060.jpg

    On now to the sculpting the cuirass is in a word AWESOME , the resin is babyskin smooth , so sharp in the sculpting and also the casting , details of the straps are well done A 065.jpg , at the neck we have a ruffle of cloth A 067.jpg , again beautifully done , there is the upper left shoulder included ready to receive the armour pieces ...of note in the arm is the finely worked chain mail A 066.jpg ......what a start .

    A 061.jpg A 062.jpg A 064.jpg A 063.jpg

    Now lets enjoy the character himself .........the face, prep needed was just a casting plug to remove from under neath A 068.jpg , the head is IMO a wonderful sculpt A 073.jpg , even unpainted you can sense the innocence of the youth within , proud and so destined for greatness , features are really top notch ,delicately sculpted , the eyes again portray the youthfulness ..a youngster in a mans world who has taken up the shackles of his father ..determined not to let his family down.
    A 069.jpg A 070.jpg A 072.jpg A 071.jpg A 074.jpg
    The Hair is another area of note , curly and dense , finely detailed ...allowing the painter to bring out these with ease.

    Both of the cuirass and the head were secured within individual cutouts in one of the 3 foam inserts .

    Continued in next post:

    Nap
  3. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Looking at the remaining parts now:

    The Right arm is next , removal of the casting plug was again needed from the elbow , the arm is sculpted in armour at the shoulder and chainmail with a wrist protector . The armour has great undercuts , super smooth , underneath this we see even more of the chainmail finely worked and to scale , the clothing under this has natural folds , the wrist piece has a small triangle of excess resin to remove ..easy with a knife , the securing cord is defined well .at the shoulder we have a cutout which matches perfectly to the lug cast onto the torso .
    A 076.jpg A 075.jpg
    Then we have the other arm again the same comments apply , this is sculpted with the shield , and boy does it look so right , details of the hand are 5* , the young fingers holding onto the upper edge of the shield.


    A 079.jpg A 081.jpg A 078.jpg

    The shield is a masterpiece of sculpting (removal of a plug is needed as with other pieces) , the design has the rays of the sun radiating from the central boss , all so tightly sculpted and with the casting quality being equally excellent.

    A 077.jpg A 080.jpg
    Now to the shoulder armor , there are 3 pieces , 1 for the right and 2 for the other side , fit is spot on after removing the small plugs , again on ALL pieces undercuts are very good , there is a wing which again fits well and if nicely detailed . A 087.jpg A 082.jpg A 083.jpg A 084.jpg A 085.jpg A 086.jpg A 088.jpg

    Note : there is even a L and R cast on to make sure you fit them to the correct side..nice one Galapagos

    Now to the right hand ,as with the other a cracking sculpt grasping the handle of the sword A 089.jpg A 090.jpg ready to receive the blade , there is a crescent shape piece A 093.jpg to fit as a pommel to the handle , this will be a liitle fiddly especially if you have fingers like mine but when in place looks the part.

    The sword blade was an area I thought might be bent needing hot water to straighten but NOT in this model it was so good ,you could also cut yourself on the blade A 091.jpg at the top of the blade we have a lovely winged area A 092.jpg ..again finely done ...the end result a really nice part of the model .

    Finally we have the base... A 059.jpg a simple pedastal which will be consigned to the spares box by me as I prefer a brass rod , but it is perfectly usable (after removing the excess) .

    Lets have a look at the unpainted bust made up gal-bu03c%20(319x450).jpg gal-bu03b%20(319x450).jpg gal-bu03d%20(321x450).jpg and then painted again l_gal-bu03-col2%20(300x450).jpg l_gal-bu03-col4%20(300x450).jpg ...ENJOY ..I am !!!

    Final Thoughts:

    As with others from Galapagos this is a gem , well presented , superbly sculpted and cast .this is a lovely addition to the range and I heartily recommend it to one and all even if fantasy is not your area in the past ..this will change your mind ...it did mine...its good to have a change eh!!!

    Team Galapagos would like to thank : Wandering Bard and of course the 2 painters for the card pictures .

    Galapagos products are available from both El Greco and SK Miniatures in the UK with worldwide shipping also available from the website .

    For more details of this great release and previous ones go to the website www.galapagos-miniatures.com

    If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to send an email to:
    galapa.jj@gmail.com

    Thanks for looking in ...enjoy the review and the modelling

    Nap
    arxo, Grod and ARTEM like this.
  4. CBDesign Active Member

    Country:
    Germany
    Thank you Nap fantastic review!

    Happy painting and best regards from Hamburg,

    Chris
  5. Wings5797 A Fixture

    Country:
    France
    Very good review Kevin,
    Many thanks for taking the time to write and post, great job.
    Cheers,
    Keith
    napoleonpeart likes this.
  6. taff edwards A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Great review Nap
    Cheers Chris
    napoleonpeart likes this.
  7. brian A Fixture

    Country:
    Scotland
    Once again a big thank you Kevin for a brilliant review of another awesome bust.Much appreciated.
    Brian
    napoleonpeart likes this.
  8. swralph A Fixture

    Another great review(y)
  9. njwarhead Member

    Great review Kevin

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