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Miniart 1/16 French Dragoon

Discussion in 'vBench (Works in Progress)' started by Peter Day, Jul 21, 2021.

  1. Peter Day PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    100_0511.JPG

    While away on holiday I picked up this kit from the excellent Porthmadog Models in Snowd0nia - well worth dropping into if you're in the area. I first made a version a few years ago, but am keen to see if I can make a better job of it.

    The box contents:

    100_0512 (1).JPG 100_0513.JPG 100_0514.JPG

    The two horse heads are the result of one of the sprues being generic, though only one fits. I seem to remember that quite a lot of filling and sanding is required, but the horse is well proportioned and certainly better than the Dragon nags in this scale.

    Lots of colour options for the uniform of course. I think I'll go for the 14th regiment:

    trooper_of_the_16th_rgt_dragoons__france_1812_by_stocax_d6wc4rk-fullview.jpg
  2. Banjer A Fixture

    Country:
    England
    Hi Peter,
    Following this with interest as I have the Miniart Samurai on the bench where it has been, on and off, for a year. The bad fit fit of the parts keeps putting me off but I do a little bit then move over to something else.
    Hope you have more perseverance than me.

    Bill
  3. Peter Day PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Hi Bill

    I've tried to build the samurai twice, but have binned it each time. The fit is indeed appalling and the finish is very bad - no soles to the shoes etc. I'm full of admiration for anyone who manages to get it to the finish line.

    This is much, much better - it rewards the work put in.
  4. Peter Day PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Neddy and his various accessories are done:

    100_0515.JPG 100_0518.JPG 100_0519.JPG

    The fit for the horse was not too bad at all, though there was a fair bit of sanding and some filling to do. The various joins are cleverly hidden as construction goes along, though the rider looks as though he might be more problematic.
  5. Redcap A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    'Kudos' to anyone who can make it past construction of this range of kits, much less paint them as well. How most of these 1/16 Miniart figures ever passed QC in the development and (presumed) trial fitting stage before being launched on the market escapes me.

    Watching this with interest.

    Gary
    Chris Oldfield likes this.
  6. Marcin Morawski A Fixture

    Country:
    Poland
    A horse! Something new. I'm watching carefully!
  7. clrsgt A Fixture

    Country:
    United-States
    Agree with Redcap. I have one of the mounted kits. The horse halves are warped and the head does not fit well. Back into the box without working with the rider. I hope you have more success than I did. I will follow your progress.
  8. Peter Day PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Gary - Some are better than others, but overall they can be a bit below par. Having said that, they are inexpensive, and if you're willing to put in a bit of work they can scrub up reasonably well. The finish will never be competition standard, but they are fun to do. At the end of the day, I like a bit of a challenge.....

    Marcin - Yep, a horse. It's been ages since I've painted one and I think I'm going to go for a chestnut bay:

    chestnut-stallion-galloping-in-pasture.jpg

    Lots of rich red-browns.

    Michael - The horse went together reasonably well - no warping this time and quite a good fit. I've also put the rider together, which did take more work, but I have seen a lot worse from better known figure manufacturers.
  9. Stephen Hutchinson PlanetFigure Supporter

    Morning Peter

    Good to see you back at the bench and back on the painting "horse" again LOL

    Better have a large pot/mug/stein/bucket of water for hydrating yourself and the paints!

    Its too hot to even think!

    Have as good a day as you can

    Regards

    Steve H
  10. Henk A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Hi Peter, good to see you doing another less regarded kit, you show that,with a bit (or a lot..) of work and skill, even below par kits can be turned into nice pieces. I build one of these (French Currasier) when they first came to market, there was a terrible gap between the horse's torso halves along the belly, but overall, especially compared to resin equivalents, it was a good kit for a reasonable price. I still have it, it didnt survive the years in the wilderness unscathed, but I may just dig it out of the void and put it back together. I'll be following this with interest.
  11. Peter Day PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Morning Steve

    Certainly too hot to paint at the moment, but lots of construction still to go, so the painting can wait.
  12. Peter Day PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Henk - I've made all of the Miniart mounted kits and fortunately this has been the least warped. I like a bit of a 'modelling' challenge occasionally, and this has certainly fitted the bill, but I'm reasonably confident that it should paint up OK. For all the fit issues, the Miniart horses are nice sculpts - the Dragon horses in this scale have a more complicated construction and need a lot more filling to knock them into shape.
  13. Peter Day PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    The figure is built and everything is ready for painting:

    100_0520.JPG

    A lot of sanding and filling, but the fit could have been a lot worse. The finish on the smaller parts was slightly compromised by having to clean off flash and mould lines, but hopefully any lost detail can be painted in.
    Babelfish, Andrew Belsey and Martin64 like this.
  14. Richard Baxter A Fixture

    Country:
    Scotland
    How well did the legs fit the saddle?
  15. Peter Day PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Hi Richard - He fits very snugly into the saddle - no gaps at all:

    100_0521.JPG
  16. Andrew Belsey A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    I'm enjoying this one Peter! Watching closely.
    Andy
  17. Peter Day PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Hi Andy - Don't watch too closely!

    A good part of the horse is done:

    100_0530.JPG 100_0531.JPG

    Still the saddle to do and quite a bit of touching up, but I think it's getting there.
    Babelfish, Henk, MCPWilk and 6 others like this.
  18. Andrew Belsey A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Lovely Peter.
    Please remember that I’m your friend, not a critic! And I love what you do!
    Andy
    Peter Day likes this.
  19. Fransab Active Member

    Country:
    Spain
    Beautiful work Peter, as always.
    Have you painted it with airbrush?

    Cheers,

    Francisco
  20. Peter Day PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Andy - Thank you, though friendly criticism is fine.

    Francisco - Many thanks. It's all brush painted. I started with a black base, then used mixes of Vallejo German Camo Black Brown, Cavalry Brown and Flat Flesh. I started by dry-brushing to bring out the details, then worked wet on wet to modulate the shading. I've since worked it over with some dark brown shoe polish, which I buffed to give a soft shine, then toned down with white spirit.
    Henk and Andrew Belsey like this.

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