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Review ALH & GALLIPOLI from Dolman Miniatures

Discussion in 'Reviews , Video Reviews and Open Book' started by Nap, Apr 20, 2021.

  1. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi to one and all

    Following on from the announced kickstarter which was successfully funded Dolman released WW1 characters in various scales including 2 busts that I will look at today

    https://www.plane tfigure.com/threads/ww1-characters-now-all-available-on-the-website.293241/

    Dolman 2.jpg Dolman 1.jpg


    I asked a friendly Aussie for his thoughts so a BIG THANKS to PF Member Tony Dawe for these comments

    "Depicting characters from the Australian forces including Lt Horse and a ANZAC at Gallipoli
    the later is clearly based on a young Mel Gibson from the Peter Weir movie Gallipoli, however that’s where it gets a bit confusing.

    Mr Gibson only appears in light Horse uniform once in the whole movie, and he wasn’t dressed as he appears within the bust (hat bream down and goggles). The alternate head version of this bust (with the bream up) looks much more like Mel as he appears in the movie.

    It could be an attempted mash-up between Mel’s character from Gallipoli, and another character played by Australian actor Gary Sweet from the movie The Lighthorsemen.

    IMG_7542.jpg IMG_7541.jpg

    The bust itself is pretty accurate and the uniform details are spot on. Perhaps the colour patches on the top of each arm are a little large but only by a fraction.

    The biggest problem is the thickness of the bream of the slouch hat. It’s almost approximately 1mm thick, which if scaled up would make the bream 10mm (1 centimetre) thick. If I was inclined to thin it down, I would sand it down by about 50% "

    Cheers Tony

    Note : both pieces are released individually but they both use the same torso with no difference


    Referencesa;

    A great website to look at :

    http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-badges/patches/inf-ww1.htm

    Couple of good books

    x.jpg xx.jpg

    IMG_7544.jpg IMG_7543.jpg xxxxx.JPG xxxxxx.JPG xxx.jpg XXXXXXX.jpg XXXXXXXX.jpg
    xxxx.jpg xxxxxxxxx.jpg


    Details of the releases:

    Titles: ALH and Gallipoli

    Ref : N/A

    Scale: 1/10th

    No of Pieces: 4 in ALH and 4 in Gallipoli

    Material: Lt Gray Resin

    Sculpting: 3D

    Casting: In house

    Box Art: N/A

    Received in a good flip over containerwith the pictures as above of the unpainted version

    Parts consist of torso , ALH hat plus emu feathers , these are white metal ( brim turned down ), Gallipoli hat (with turned up brim ) head ...slight variation on hair on each

    Dolman ALH and ANZAC 001.jpg


    Prep

    Torso: Sand away casting line and excess from underneath and drill to fit post , remove tiny excess resin on shirt edge , remove casting line on rolled sleeve

    Head: Remove casting line from rear and under chin

    Hats: Sand away excess resin from underneath and fit ....see Ton's comment ref brim thickeness which I concur with

    Feathers: Slight sanding on edes and fit to hat side ...I suggest pinning as well

    General Comments

    • Very minimal prep is needed no matter which version you purchase
    • Casting is very good indeed
    • Detailing is accurate , particularly of note are the badges and the feathers
    Continued in next post

    Nap
  2. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Lets look at the resin

    Torso

    As stated the same is used no matter which you purchase, the sculpting being 3D is of course very good indeed with the creases and folds all looking the business , pockets are buttoned down on the breast and also up the middle leading to a open collar with a sweat scarf

    Particularly worth noting is the well cast collat ends sitting naturally onto the body , on the ends we have the rising sub badges ( as in references )

    Epaulettes are sitting well onto the should with the badges of AIF and AUSTRALIA in place on both ##on each arm there are small oblong patches that can be painted to represent which Regt you wish


    Nice to see that the seams are well defined and detailed ...painting will bring this and all the details out even more

    Across the torso front and back is the distinctive double strapped bandolier , 3 pouches at the rear and 5 at the front , all are secureddown with each looking full

    Dolman ALH and ANZAC 002.jpg Dolman ALH and ANZAC 003.jpg Dolman ALH and ANZAC 004.jpg Dolman ALH and ANZAC 005.jpg Dolman ALH and ANZAC 007.jpg Dolman ALH and ANZAC 008.jpg Dolman ALH and ANZAC 006.jpg Dolman ALH and ANZAC 009.jpg


    Continued in next post

    Nap
    Mike - The Kiwi, Perseas and Martin64 like this.
  3. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Onto the remainder of the resin

    Head and Headwear

    ALH


    Both heads are the same with a chinstrap cast on , not over defined with the ALH having hair showing , nice texture on it , as expected the facial features are very good , mouth is shut tight , good definition on the mouth and eye area's

    Fit is simple and easy into the neck area of the torso

    the slouch hat has the brim fully down and is a my favourite , nicely shaped on the crown , with some good shaped sand goggles

    On the underside the badge is in position , it doesnt show much but vital it is there

    The feathers are the only piece cast in WM , something Dolman likes to do with some pieces on their releases...casting is sharp and with nice surface detail


    Dolman ALH and ANZAC 023.jpg Dolman ALH and ANZAC 021.jpg

    Dolman ALH and ANZAC 022.jpg Dolman ALH and ANZAC 020.jpg

    Dolman ALH and ANZAC 019.jpg Dolman ALH and ANZAC 018.jpg

    Dolman ALH and ANZAC 017.jpg Dolman ALH and ANZAC 016.jpg

    Dolman ALH and ANZAC 015.jpg Dolman ALH and ANZAC 014.jpg


    Gallipoli

    The head is the same as the ALH so the same comment apply

    I think the heads as they are so similar can be swopped about if you buy one of each version

    The turned up slouch hat is clever casting and slightly unshapen which adds more interest to the subject , the brim is turned up with the badge visible

    There is the option to fit feathers as well on this headwear , fit being easy due to accurate cutout

    Dolman ALH and ANZAC 013.jpg Dolman ALH and ANZAC 011.jpg

    Dolman ALH and ANZAC 012.jpg Dolman ALH and ANZAC 010.jpg

    Dolman ALH and ANZAC 029.jpg Dolman ALH and ANZAC 028.jpg

    Dolman ALH and ANZAC 024.jpg Dolman ALH and ANZAC 027.jpg Dolman ALH and ANZAC 025.jpg


    Final thoughts

    A good subject without a doubt popular and good casting , personally I would have preferred something less film related, but the finished piece will look extremely good whien painted

    Talking of a painted version , this is from artist and PF member DAVID LANE

    Dolma Lane.jpg

    Dolman Lane 1.jpg Dolman Lane 2.jpg Dolman Lane 3.jpg
    RECOMMENDED [IMG]

    Dolmans website is : www.dolmanminiatures.com

    They also have a social media page of course

    and also a member of Planet Figure

    https://www.planetfigure.com/members/eduardo-sanchez-barbero.7541/

    [IMG]

    Thanks for looking in

    Happy benchtime

    Nap
    dfmoss, Ryan_bg, Scotty and 9 others like this.
  4. callmehobbes Active Member

    Country:
    England
    This is now at the top of my wish list.
    Nap likes this.
  5. Mike - The Kiwi A Fixture

    Country:
    New_Zealand
    Got it on the way & plan some changes when it hits the bench.
    David’s version is sublime!
    Face painting of Mel on another level.
    Thanks Tony & Nap for details.
    MikeTheKiwi
    Tony Dawe and Nap like this.
  6. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England

    Look forward to seeing what you do Mike

    Agree ref David's artwork ...big thanks to him fir permission to use the pictures

    Happy benchtime

    Nap
    Mike - The Kiwi likes this.
  7. Chrisr PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    Australia
    Hi All,

    For those wishing to paint this fine bust below is a colour photo of the LH AIF slouch hat of the Great War. Note the colour and style of the puggaree (not pleated as often shown and appear to be in the work above) and that the badge is black oxidised (shown on the hat beside the LH version) rather than brass AIF Slouch Hat.jpg

    Additionally, here is a link to the various LH colour patches. https://www.lighthorse.org.au/4-regimental-colour-patches/

    Note the 6th ALH Regiment wore a wallaby fur skin puggaree, while some LH regiments did NOT wear the emu plume but simply the slouch hat without a plume. Those that didn't wear the plume included the 4th (Victoria - often erroneously shown with the plume), 6th (NSW) and 7th (NSW) LH regiments, and it appears other NSW regiments didn't - a photo of the 1st LH Regiment prior to departure in 1914 shows them without emu plumes.

    The Queensland LH regiments (2nd, 5th, 11th- part raised in South Australia, and the 14th) wore the plume, and when the 3rd Light Horse Brigade (8th (Victoria), 9th (South Australia) and 10th (Western Australia) LH regiments) arrived in Egypt in February 1915 wearing emu plumes it caused a furore amongst the Queenslanders who saw it as their distinguishing mark. Article on the subject here https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/lhplumes/feathers

    Hope this helps with the modelling and painting.

    Cheers
    Chris
  8. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi Chris

    Thanks so much for the details , very interesting and welcome and great reference material as well

    Nap
  9. Jimbo A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    Great review Kev, must admit I'm tempted with this one, another on the ole "I wanna get" list
    Cheers
    Jim(y)
    Nap likes this.
  10. The only thing I want to put on Mel's face was to put an Australian character and I liked the idea of Mel.
    The hat if I put that thickness that you say does not come out even a copy, as we all know in modeling these types of details are always expanded
    Tony Dawe likes this.
  11. nig-g Active Member

    Once again a great review Nap.
    The “distinctive double strapped” bandolier as you call it Nap, is of course, an error in the sculpt. These bandoliers were only double strapped under the individual cartridge pouches (to save leather) but were solid (single strapped, if you like) elsewhere. See the photo provided by Nap for reference.
    This doesn’t detract in any way from an otherwise great bust and is after all easy to put right with a little putty.
    Nap and Tony Dawe like this.

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