1. Copying kits is a crime that hurts original artists & producers. Help support your favorite artists by buying their original works. PlanetFigure will not tolerate any activities related to recasting, and will report recasters to authorities. Thank you for your support!

Princess Grace of Monaco from Life Miniatures

Discussion in 'Reviews , Video Reviews and Open Book' started by Nap, Dec 6, 2016.

  1. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hello everybody

    Announced a while back and landing on my review table recently is this from Life Miniatures .

    http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/life-miniatures-august-2016-new-release.79926/

    The release was back in August and depicts a representation of possibly one of the most beautiful and inspirational woman who went from Hollywood film star to Princess ...... a true fairy tale which ended so tragically .

    Wearing fabulous gown and jewels and loved by all once she had settled into the life of a Royal ..she was IMO an iconic woman of the time.
    00aa.JPG
    It is of course Grace Kelly , born November 12th 1929 as Grace Patricia Kelly
    Grace was introverted and always seemed to be fighting colds . She enjoyed making up stories and reading, feeling like a misfit in the sporty household
    In 1947, Grace Kelly was accepted into the US Academy of Dramatic Arts She headed for lived at the Barbizon Hotel for Women, and earned extra money by modeling for the John Robert Powers modeling agency.
    With her blonde hair, porcelain complexion, blue-green eyes, and 5’8” perfect poise,....
    Grace Kelly became one of the highest-paid models in New York at the time.
    Kelly returned to acting on live television dramas and Broadway plays. She took more acting classes in New York with Sanford Meisner to work on her voice.
    In the autumn of 1952, Grace Kelly tested for the film Mogambo (1953), enticed by it being filmed in Africa and starring legendary film star Gable. After the test, Kelly was offered the part and a seven-year contract at MGM. The film was nominated for two Oscars: Best Actress for Ava Gardner and Best Supporting Actress for Grace Kelly. Neither actress won, but Kelly won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.
    By the 1950s, the director Hitchcock had made a name for himself in Hollywood making suspenseful motion pictures that featured very cool blondes as his leading ladies. In June 1953, Kelly got a call to meet Hitchcock. After their meeting, Grace Kelly was cast as the female star in Hitchcock’s next motion picture, Dial M for Murder (1954).
    In 1954, Grace Kelly was handed the script for The Country Girl, a role that was completely different from anything she had played before, that of the wearied wife of an alcoholic. She wanted the part badly, but MGM wanted her to star in Green Fire, a film she felt was full of clichés.
    Kelly was never really happy in Hollywood and wrestled with MGM with firm resolve, threatening to retire. The studio and Kelly compromised and she starred in both movies. Green Fire (1954) was a box-office failure. The Country Girl (1954) was a box-office success and Grace Kelly won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
    While Grace Kelly turned down multiple motion picture offers, to the studio’s displeasure, audiences revered her everywhere. One film she did not turn down was Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief (1955), filmed on the French Riviera with Cary Grant
    In spring 1955, while at the Cannes Film Festival, Grace Kelly was asked to appear in a photo session at the Palace of Monaco with Prince Rainier III. She obliged and met the prince. They chatted lightly while photos were taken. The photos sold magazines worldwide.
    To finish her contract, Kelly starred in two final movies: The Swan (1956) and High Society (1956). She then left stardom behind to become a princess.
    The royal wedding of 26-year-old Miss Grace Patricia Kelly to 32-year-old His Serene Highness Prince Rainier III of Monaco was held in Monaco on April 19, 1956 0aa.jpg
    The Prince and Princess of Monaco had three children: Princess Caroline, born 1957; Prince Albert, born in 1958; and Princess Stéphanie, born in 1965.
    In addition to being a mother Princess Grace as she was known, supervised the renovation of a crumbling medical facility into a first-rate hospital and founded the Princess Grace Foundation in 1964 to help those with special needs. Princess Grace of Monaco became loved and cherished by the people of her adopted homeland.
    Princess Grace began suffering from severe headaches and abnormally high blood pressure in 1982. On September 13th of that year, Grace and 17-year-old Stéphanie were returning to Monaco from their country home, Roc-Agel, when Grace, blacked out for a second. When she came to, she accidentally pressed her foot on the accelerator instead of the brake, driving the car over an embankment

    The day following the accident, she was taken off the life support and Grace Kelly died on September 14, 1982, at the age of 52.

    She was portrayed by Nicole Kidman in the films , a beautiful woman in her own right , this is in my opinion the subject of the sculpt Nicole Kidman as she is in the film.
    aaaaaaaaaaa.jpg aaaaaaa.jpg aaaaaaaa.jpg aaaaaaaaa.jpg
    0a.jpg
    0aaa.jpg a.jpg aa.jpg aaa.jpg aaaa.jpg aaaaa.jpg aaaaaa.jpg 0aaaa.jpg
    Continued in next post

    Nap
  2. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Lets look at the resin now

    Details of the release


    Title: Grace of Monaco

    Reference: LM-B021

    Scale: 1/10th

    Material: Gray Resin

    No of parts: 4

    Sculptor: Hyunji Kim

    Box Art: Sang Eon Lee


    All parts are held in a black cardboard box which then has a slip over surround , on the top we have a view of the box art and there are 4 smaller colour views on the longer of the side edges.
    Grace 001.jpg

    Parts are held in between several pieces of foam so all is safe and sound , consisting of the full torso with head , 2 arms and a pedestal base .

    Grace 002.jpg


    Prep

    Going to be easy to say the least ..., remove a casting plug from the underneath and one on each arm at the top and then fit the arms and the base if you wish to use it .

    Wash , Dry , Prime and Paint and Enjoy

    Before we look at it unpainted this is not a bust for the faint hearted , with the female flesh and the white of the evening dress to work on , together with intricate details of embroidery , delicate painting is the call here.

    Saying that however it will give the painter the opportunity of pushing his bench work and as the process progresses learning all the time.

    Main Torso

    The subject is wearing the long low cut evening gown , to the hips , looking at the overall sculpting the details included are excellent , the hair itself is held up very fine detail on the strands , pulled back to a bun.
    Grace 004.jpg
    Facial features ..is this Grace , perhaps not certainly more influenced by Ms Kidman's film portrayal , saying that the female features are delicate head turned to the left m good work on the ears which have earrings cast on , again delicate , nasal and eye work are the same , a long neck sweeps down to a rather delicious female form.

    At her neck we have a necklace , all finely worked ..nice challenge to paint this and other jewellery.

    The dress is full of very intricate pattern , flowers abound forming around the shaping of the body , moving down there are nice folds again all the way round , smoothly done by the sculptor

    Across her dress we have the Sash and star of the Monaco Order of St Charles , the sash was silk and as in the pictures , the star has been created very accurately and sits nicely on her left hip

    As with all of LM castings the surface is totally smooth devoid of casting lines , underneath we have a locating hole fro the base.

    Lets look at the pictures ...

    Grace 005.jpg Grace 006.jpg Grace 007.jpg Grace 008.jpg Grace 009.jpg Grace 010.jpg Grace 011.jpg Grace 012.jpg Grace 013.jpg Grace 016.jpg Grace 015.jpg Grace 014.jpg


    Arms

    These are wearing long sleeved gloves and they both fit very cleanly to the torso , its right over left ...but dry fit first.

    The gloves are tight to the arm with delicate wrinkles and folds where appropriate, finger work is well up to LM standards .

    The arm looked a little long but seemed to settle down when in place on the torso .

    On the left wrist there is another piece of jewellery ...well you can never have enough "bling" !!! , again nicely sculpted .

    Grace 019.jpg Grace 017.jpg Grace 018.jpg

    Base

    A simple pillar of resin , fitting tightly into the underside , use it if you wish but I will suggest use of a brass rod if you so wish .
    Grace 003.jpg


    Final Thoughts

    A nicely sculpted piece , not quite Princess Grace but more a lovely and closer depiction of the film portrayal
    Quality is well up to what we expect from Life Miniatures , super smooth , minimal prep , full of intricate details , a challenge to paint but giving a lot of satisfaction when completed.

    If nothing else you have to admire the sheers skill in the sculpting and the painting of this piece.

    Lets have some pics of the sublime box art from Sang Eon who owns the company Life Miniatures...a real talented master with the brush.

    00a.JPG 00aaa.JPG



    For information on this and others from LM go to the website at:

    www.lifeminiatures.com

    Or of course why not follow on FB

    Thanks to LM for the review and to you all for looking in

    [IMG]

    Nap
  3. Viking Bob PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Not my thing but it is beautifully detailed. Nice bust
    garyhiggins and napoleonpeart like this.
  4. swralph A Fixture

    Great review Nap:).
    garyhiggins and napoleonpeart like this.
  5. Nemo Member

    Half Kelly half Kidman?
    napoleonpeart likes this.
  6. megroot A Fixture

    Country:
    Netherlands
    Really nice looking bust.

    Marc
    napoleonpeart and Wings5797 like this.
  7. Wings5797 A Fixture

    Country:
    France
    Amidst the puns this is a great piece ( not too sure what this is called, half figure maybe?) front Life Miniatures.
    As is your trademark Mate, super additional information and detailed photographs.
    Many thanks and keep up the good work, we love it Kevin.
    Best regards
    Keith
    napoleonpeart likes this.
  8. clrsgt A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Great review as always of a great looking kit, but much more Kidman than Kelly.
    Nemo and napoleonpeart like this.

Share This Page

planetFigure Links

Reviews & Open Box
Buy. Sell & trade
Articles
Link Directory
Events
Advertising

Popular Sections

Figure & Minis News
vBench - Works in Progress
Painting Talk
Sculpting Talk
Digital Sculpting Talk
The Lounge
Report Piracy

Who we are

planetFigure is a community built around miniature painters, sculptors and collectors, We are here to exchange support, Information & Resources.

© planetFigure 2003 - 2022.