Title: "Mad Jack" Churchill
Manufacturer: Pathos Miniatures
Scale: 1/10
Price: 50 euros
Available from: www.pathosminiatures.com

Earlier this year Pathos Miniatures released a 1/10 bust of a British Commando 1941, I was tempted by the great digital renders shown of the figure on PF, but on seeing the images of the figure when cast really made up my mind and I purchased it.

Not only was the subject matter great, but the idea that this might form the basis of a series of Commando releases really appealed to me. So when I saw last month the release of "Mad Jack" Churchill I knew I needed to add it to the grey army.



Background

It's one of those strange co-incidences that two busts of this subject happened to be released at roughly the same time. RP Models released Churchill as he would have looked as part of the BEF prior to Dunkirk, Pathos Miniatures released this one, post-1941 when Churchill was a Commando.

I'm not going to go in to the background of Churchill here, I think its been done a few times on the forum, but if you want to read more his Wikipedia link makes interesting reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Churchill

The figure

Now, you'll spot that I mentioned a digital render earlier. Yes, the figures are digitally sculpted and 3D printed and this subject has been a regular one on many forums.

Digitally, there are only currently (and as I write this) three companies that I would ever purchase a digitally sculpted figure, and Pathos is one of them (I'm not going to name the other 2 on this forum!). For me, digital printing holds no concerns, its another medium in this hobby and it adds a lot of interest.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, so they say, so here are the parts:



Packed in a strong box with a label showing the digital render, the parts are packed in 5 grip-seal bags and protected with bubble-wrap.

The easiest way to check the quality of the casting (and of course the 3D printing) is to check the head and torso, in this case (as with the previous Commando) sculpted and cast in one:



You'll note that there is a little more length in the body of the Churchill figure, but overall the two compare very nicely.



You can see from the close-up that the detail is good, the casting is excellent in a very smooth grey resin. The definition is excellent and there is none of the 'banding' that you sometimes see with digital subjects when they have been 3D printed. Certainly, the 3D printing of these figures is top-notch.

On to the details:



One of the bags contains the parts for the sword in this red material. I suspect (but correct me if I'm wrong) that these are digitally printed. Certainly the clarity and quality is excellent. the material feels slightly more like a plastic, its certainly more malleable - but only very slightly.

The sword comes in 3 pieces, the blade is resin.

The hand is also cast in the red material, and you can see the level of detail in this extreme close-up:



Further accessories include the bow and carry-case and strap (grey resin), then the arrows themselves (once again in the red material):



And close-up:



But my favourite piece has to be the two shoulder titles, supplied separately to the arms and once more in the red material:



Just look at that for detail! You can actually see every stitch on the patch.

And when loosely fitted on the shoulder (not yet fixed):



The figure's left arm is supplied in grey resin and is separate to the body.

The parts figure together well. It's noticeable that there are no casting block on any of the parts (this was the same with the first Commando from Pathos Miniatures) and the amount of clean-up needed is very, very minimal.

There aren't any assembly instructions, but in my opinion none are needed. For painting reference I'm referring to the following Osprey book, which has the added attraction of including illustrations by Mike Chappell, one of my favourite illustrators of military uniforms:



The verdict

I was already sold on Pathos Miniatures figures from the first Commando, and as many figures as they release in this series I'll be getting.

Digital sculpting has its detractors, and I know of several painters still concerned about the quality. My recommendation? Don't worry, the level of quality throughout the process means you're getting a top quality product.

Great review !Thanks !

Nice review Darren, a good read indeed ;-)

Martin.

Lovely sculptures. 3D softwares in the right hands and the magic happens.

Cheers,
Pedro.

No denying the level of detail on these Darren
I'm particularly impressed by the facial features on both individuals definitely a prerequisite for these to break into painters models. Each of these seem to meet the standard for this.

I still find the uniforms a bit tight fitting & flat eg collar on commando, and webbing on both, but am sure this too will be overcome in due course. Will be interested to see how they paint up.

Thanks for both your Digital review certainly got me thinking.

Mike

Great review Darren. These look great.
Gordon

Very useful review - obviously a place for digital sculpting especially for the small details - that commando patch is awesome!