Hi to all ,

They say nice things comes in small packages ...well have a look at the range of releases from Elan13 Miniatures ...a company whose founder and sculptor is one of our members ..Rob Lane .

Rob has a particular interest in WW1 Aviation in particular the brave men who flew those oh so fragile early warbirds ..on all sides that took part .

We are going to be looking at 2 of the latest from the range which includes an RFC and a German Pilot .

As always lets have a bit of information on the formations that they fought in :

Aviation was indeed in its infancy in WW1 but such a lot had developed from the Wright Brothers flight but even then its was all very much a hit and miss affair ...weapons were being developed by the air crews thems selves ..initially pistols, shotguns , machine guns were then trialled with the most important thing being the way they could mount these to fire forward through the propeller ..truely amazing stuff ..and truely amazing men .

Pilots particularly prior to joining the RFC often paid for a civilain licence to begin flying .

All Nations were also developing flying clothing as the war progressed with warmth being the prime concern when fighting at such high altitudes .

Books are many but here are some I found particularly useful and I recommend them to all especially the Warbird Volumes ..with fantastic pictures of these brave men

Continued in next post:

Nap

Now then on to those magnificent men in their flying machine:

What are we looking at :

Title: "Henry" RFC Pilot
Ref:EL 22
Scale: 1/32nd
Material: Resin
No of pieces: 3
Sculptor: Rob Lane
Box Art: Mark Taylor


and the 2nd one:

Title: WW1 German Pilot
Ref:EL 24
Scale: 1/32nd
Material: Resin
No of pieces: 3
Sculptor: Rob Lane
Box Art: Rob Lane



General Comments:

Both were packed in a simple clear envelope with a colour picture of the finished moel , both painted in a really nice style and presented well on great baswork ..I am lucky enough to have seen these close up and they do portray the period so well .

Packaging is kept to a minimum to avoid any unneccesary additional cost to the modeller ..nice thought really ..after all we buy the figure not the packing to paint and display .

Lets look at the RFC figure first ..cast in a grey resin consisting of 3 pieces the main torso the head and the little dogs head ...minimal prep was needed on the actual casting apart from the removal of a casting line and tiny casting sprues ...one cut and that was sorted .

Henry is depicted standing very naturally holding his dog ( a spaniel I think..no dog expert here!!!) , he wears a sidecap at a jaunty angle.

Looking at the main torso , this consist of a full length body , fully clothed in typical RFC uniform, the long coat ..leather with sheepskin linings , collar turned up high , the jacket is a maternity style often seen , the trousers are bloused out at the thighs with high full length socks being worn , on his feet we have boots .

The arms are sculpted held close across the body clutching a real cracker of a fur ball ..a dog ..perhaps the family pet ..a reminder of home and loved ones.

Clothing details are truely really wonderfully done ......all well formed , natural and looking great, undercuts are tight, the long coat hangs to the knees with the belt hanging down at the back ...also really well detailed..

The sheepskin lining is also well detailed with really nice texture being shown...all details are really well sculpted ..all credit to Rob for this and to the casting .

The folds on the trousers are very smooth sitting very naturally and they and all the clothing looks looks like its being worn.

The dogs fur is nicely sculpted with the dogs facial features looking the part...a really nice addition to the piece and very much in keeping with pictures seen from the war.

The head is sculpted with the sidecap being worn at an angle , our Henry sports a moustache , well formed with the face having high cheekbones and chinline well sculpted ...Rob has a natural ability when sculpting these figures particularly with WW1 subjects...compare the sculpt with period pictures.

This is a lovely piece of sculpting depicting the typical RFC aviator .

Continued in next post:

Nap

Now lets have a look at Henrys enemy now:

Rob has chosen to sculpt a generic german pilot , standing upright wearing a leather coat , a fur collar around his neck , his uniform jacket is worn , around his legs he has puttees from the knee down .one hand is in his coat pocket the other hangs down holding onto his leather flying helmet.

Consisting as with Henry of 3 pieces , this time the head , torso and hand with flying helmet .

Again details are great with folds on the jacket hanging so well ,this coat is being worn open fronted showing the uniform underneath , undercuts are again very sharp with the puttees being of particular note.



The head is a gem of a sculpt he looks straight ahead , stern.... with nice details on the facial features(ears etc) , perhaps he is thinking of the forthcoming combat as a knight of the air ..will he return or will he go down in a ball of flames ??

The cap he wears is nicely sculpted sitting naturally on the head , the 2 cockades are good as well .

The hand holds the flying helmet , very well done as well ..which will benefit careful painting .

As stated this is not any particular pilot but based on many pictures...could be any of the Aces perhap von Richthofen maybe .

Final thoughts on these 2 pieces

Rob seems to have an affinity with these men and has captured those who flew so bravely , you can almost smell the engine oil , and see the character in the pieces

...remember these are 1/32nd Figures and IMO really well sculpted , minimal prep needed.. they will add that something special with any model plane or as stand alone pieces .

They both offer the opportunity to do leather and cloth effects ..and have an immense amount of painting enjoyment......I do hope we will see further releases from Rob perhaops from the other combatants ..the USA or France maybe ....what about some groundcrew as well Rob .

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Rob will. be at Salute this weekend so why not pop in and meet him or if you cannot get there go to the website at:

www.elan13.co.uk

Thanks for looking in

Nap