Hi Guys ,

I picked up this little bust from The Basement recently sculpted by Rob Lane its a ficticious character from the Sharpe series played of course by the sadly missed and great actor Pete Postlethwaite OBE



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Hi Guys ,
Thanks for the posts ,. now as I have a couple of hours let go reviewing ............................

First though lets have a look at the actor Pete Postlethwaite , his life and his work and then the character and subject of our model that he portrays in the TV series .

He was born Peter William Postlethwaite in 1946 and grew up in Lancashire, England amid middle-class surroundings. He went to college and while completing his studies developed an interest in theatre, to the chagrin of his family. His father, a labourer, wanted him to find a more secure position in life.

A drama teacher initially, he decided to follow his acting instincts full-time and gradually built up an impressive array of classical stage credits via repertory, including the Bristol Old Vic Drama School, and in stints with Liverpool Everyman, Machester Royal Exchange and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

His highly distinctive features were subsequently put to good use in a number of versatile roles, usually menacing but sometimes humble, and most frequently as working-class types.

By 1993 he had crossed over into Hollywood parts and earned his first Oscar nomination for his superb role in The Name of the Father(1993). Other quality roles came his way with The Usual Suspects (1995),Brassed Off (1996), and Amistad (1997). Television work included Sharpe's Company (1994) ,Lost for Words (1999) and The Sins (2000). Working equally both in the UK and abroad he avoided the public limelight for the most part and lived quietly in England.


He was awarded OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2004 New Year's Honors List for his services to drama.

He continued in films till 2010 and was married and the father of two, this great character actor sadly died on January 2, 2011, at age 64, following a recurrence of the cancer he had battled two decades earlier.

He was an actor who once said :

"At the end of the day, acting is all about telling lies. We are professional imposters and the audience accept that. We've made this deal that we tell you a tale and a pack of lies, but there will be a truth in it. You may enjoy it, or it will disturb you."

It's all in the cheekbones, this career of mine. They are quite whopping, aren't they? Who was it that said, 'He looks like he's got a clavicle stuck in his mouth?'

A great loss to the profession he so loved .

Among his many characters was Obidiah Hakeswill so lets have a bit about Obidiah :

Hakeswill's early history is related in every novel in which he appears. He was raised by his mother, Biddy, in an unknown town in England. His mother died when he was eleven and a year later he assaulted a parson's daughter. To protect the girl's reputation he was charged and convicted of stealing a sheep and sentenced to hang . On the day of his execution the hangman hoisted the numerous victims into the air to die by strangulation, for the amusement of the crowd, and paid little attention to the small boy struggling at the far end of the scaffold. When a heavy rainstorm scattered both executioner and crowd, Hakeswill's uncle was able to cut the boy from the scaffold "for his mother's sake". Hakeswill fled south and enlisted in the 33rd Regt as a drummer .

As a result of this close encounter with death, Hakeswill was convinced that he was unkillable, and protected by God and the spirit of his mother. He extended this reverence to mothers in general, "Mothers were sacred...

The hanging left him with a thick dark scar around his neck, and uncontrollable facial tics.

Hakeswill is promoted to Sgt by brutalising the lower ranks and pandering to the whims and vanity of less experienced officers. Outwardly he is punctilious in his military routine and obsequious towards officers, who find him very useful for keeping order among their soldiers.

After several unsavory incidents he was sentenced to death by Firing squad , refusing a blindfold he survived the initial shots and was finished off by an officers pistol .

To sum the character up who better than Major Sharpe played by Sean Bean from the TV series :

Obadiah Hakeswell, a “liar, a thief, a rapist, and a murderer–that’s not a man, take it away”

What better way to pay homage to both the actor and the character than to have a model sculpted .

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Now then onto the review itself:

Whats in the box I hear you shout....... well :

Subject: "Can you hear me Mother" -Sgt Hakeswill

Scale: Approx 1:12th

Material : Resin

Sculptor : Rob Lane

Box Art: Steve Walker

Casting: Tim Perry


I received the model which was well secured in a plastic bag in a clear snap together container , inside is a black coloured backing card with front and rear views of the box art painted by Steve Walker ...good starting point for reference.

The model itself consist of only 2 pieces both cast in gray resin , these being the Torso and the head .

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Lets begin first with the larger of the 2 pieces :

The Torso is cast wearing the "uniform" that the character wears in the series , accurate in every respect (this I can vouch for after looking at many pictures close up and also watching the TV series again ...the suffering I do for my hobby!!!!)

He wears the Infantry tunic with square loop lace , with the "wings" of a grenadier company , as in the series he wears a "sweat cloth" around his neck tied at the front , over his shoulders he has a cross belt complete with belt plate which would have held his sword (over the right shoulder) and a haversack strap over the left .

There is a very fine mould line on the collar , so very easily removed in seconds using sanding blocks , there is also the residue from the casting underneath the bottom of the torso this again is easily removed with a razor saw and wet and dry OR you could clean it up a bit and use this as a base !!!!

Sculpting is in my opinion wonderful overall , the folds on the jacket are spot on , this is something that after speaking to Rob he pays particular attention to ...so good on him it looks the business .

The lace is very well defined , making the painting so much easier , the haversack starp is nicely detailed , great buckles have been added , the sword belt has a oval belt plate with intricute detail that has to be seen to be believed ....so look in awe at the pictures .

The collar is again well done , true to the series (there is an additional piece of lace on either side , not seen on OR's uniforms till at least the Crimean period I believe)

The wings are well detailed , the wool ends will benefit from washes and dry brushing ..bringing out the details even more , buttons on these and the jacket are right on scale .........

Infact everything looks totally in scale .


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Moving on now to the 2nd piece ..the head itself :

As with the torso there is a casting plug to remove again no problen and once removed the fit into the collar area is 1st class .

Lets deal with the face itself ..this is a really great piece of sculpting capturing the high prominant cheek bones of Pete himself , his very thin face , I kept waiting for it to say "can you hear me mother" ..so lifelike .

He has a bald/shaven head as in the series with the distinctive set of side whiskers , eaxactly like the character , ears and eyes are well done as well ..everything again will aid painting.

On his head he wears the "Stovepipe" shako , complete with folded up neck protector , on the front he has the grenadier style shako plate , there is a cockade but no plume ..you could however add this quite easily (why no plume ..quite simply in keeping with what the character wears in the series) .........

As on the belt plate the detailing on the shako plate is nothing short of frightingly accurate ...have a look at the close up and remember this is only 1:12th scale .

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Hi Guys ,

Well on now to my final thoughts on this one :

2 words really sum it up "Its Great"

Rob has captured the character so well , sculpting is really finely done with some fabulous details especially on the belt and shao plates .

It a cracking piece of work and well presented , and it does not take hardly any prep before you can get those Kolinsky brushes out and produce what will be a gem in the display cabinet .

The piece has also great potential for conversion , take off the collar lace from the middle and reapint to any regiment that had this style lace ..or rework the lace as well .
You could also if you wish move him forward to the Crimean period , change the belt plate and rework the shako ..or take it off and leave him bareheaded ....................

All in all lots of opportunities to produce a great bust .

I recommend this sculpt , its a great little subject the cost of this is a mere £20 plus shipping and is available from:


The Basement itself at www.tbforum.co.uk

and also :

El Greco Miniatures (Phone: +44 (0)1280 840364)

Email: info@elgrecominiatures.co.uk

Home Page: http://www.elgrecominiatures.co.uk

or contact Rob direct at elalane13@tesco.net

Rob is also the sculptor for others in the range from The Basement ...here is the link to that to have a look at this range ...you won't regret it !!!!

http://www.planetfigure.com/forums/s...66&postcount=1

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PS Perhaps we might see a sculpt of one of the other characters from the series