Hi to everyone ,

The mention of the Battle of the Bulge and one name leaps out "PATTON" a leader of such brave men who were fighting in such aweful conditions .

The next release from RP Models is the man himself , a follow on from the Sgt John Basilone release I previously reviewed here:

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/rp-models-presents-sgt-john-basilone-usmc.66120/watch-confirm


Patton was a very strong character ,leading from the front expecting all to give their all , a lover of uniforms throughout his career from the Virginia Military Institute to West Point and finally to a 4 star General before his untimely death as a result of injuries from a car accident in 1945.
His military life was not without controversy (in particular him striking a soldier) , he was always aware of his image from immaculate uniforms to his famous pistols he carried.

In this the 70th anniversary of his most famous action the Battle of the Bulge what a fitting tribute we see both to him and the men who served under him by the release of this from RP Models.



Continued in next post:

Nap

Here we go then folks:

Before we open the box the model was primed in a gray resin for the purpose of the review as like the previous it was cast in a black resin , I am pleased that after listening to customers and the comments fom PF the next will be in a more suitable colour . I am also pleased to say that the work on the website is progressing well something I look forward to seeing up and running.

Lets see what we are looking at :

Title: Gen. G Patton Commander of 3rd Army - Battle of the Bulge (1944)

Scale: 100 mm

No of parts:10

Material: Black with 1 clear part

Concept: Hugo Miguel Pereira and Joao Carvalho Rebelo

No of castings: 500

As before the model was received in the distinctive black labelled box , holding the contents securely being held in plastic bags as well , surrounded by foam chippings (I am not a fan of these and would prefer something else ..a personal thought perhaps soft foam sandwiching the contents)

The parts consist of 9 in black resin the torso ,the head , the 2 arms , 2 hands , 2 pistols , the helmet , the remaining piece being the distinctive cane he carried. No base is included as before.

We also have a insert , one with the history of the battle and one acting as a Authenticity Certificate

Prep consisted of soley checking the parts for flashing and casting plugs , very fine ones were seen on the neck sides as a result of the primer , easily dealt with , then just a little bit of sanding on the undersides of the torso and away we go ..time to swirl those kolinsky.

Patton is modelled in a typical thrusting pose as seen in the previous post point with his swagger stick

Begining with the larger of the pieces the torso , we see him wearing the instatly reconised flying type jacket , fur collar and cuffs , a leather material ( it has been commented that the surface looked too clean hopefully the pictures will show that the surface is textured finely ....painting will
The collar and edges are fur lined lovely surface details the different sections of the jacket being well defined , of particular note IMO is the zip at the front and the side straps at the lower waist level, good undercuts are seen .

At his waist is the famous leather belt which holds the even more famous pistols he carried on the belt we have a small pouch (for a compass I believe) at the rear we have the line of ammunition all bullets are wonderfully worked , moving to the front again we see the buckle again well done and the whole thing looks like it is being worn.

On to the arms now , both are without hands the wrist area's are ready to receive with ease, again on both we have the same great details we see on the torso , fit of these into the shoulders are spot on .

On the left one we see the badges of the Hell on Wheels and also the 3rd Army , both are well cast if perhaps a little too low in relief ..but painting will again bring the details out with a bit of patience .

Continued in next post:

Nap

Now to the final bits:

The hands now , both are wearing gloves , the right holding the binoculars these are well done and are being held tightly , fingers are a real grea pieces of work separately done , the bino's will give you the chance to practice the painting of lens. The left grips the swagger stick he is thrusting forward , well shown , fit of both hands into the wrist area's are very good .

The remaining part of the swagger stick was cast in a clear resin the swish on the end being bendable !!! fitting will require careful work I suggest redrilling the provided hole found on the piece in the left hand.....once fitted it provides a very distinctive part of the pose .

Looking at the head now and thankfully and giving the modeller the option of a bare headed version it is a full head sculpt , I think this is a very good representation of Patton good facial features are there to be seen with all the wrinkles we see in pictures of the man , as mentioned there are fine casting lines on the neck but easily removed , the mouth is open as if giving orders to his men , the eyes are as before small holes but RP have again taken notice and in the next release will be full ....well done to them .

We now have the helmet fit onto the head is perfect the surface being super smooth , shape being good with the rank of a 3 star general on the front , these are nicely defined.

On now to the final 2 piece the pistols , both are cast in the holsters and both fit tightly to the waist belt and the man is alive ..the holsters both have anice texture , with good strap details , stitching is to be seen in all the right places .

The pistols themselves are cracking pieces of work we have the rotating chamber , the trigger and cocking handle , as with the swagger stick these are what Patton was famous for and he could use them to great effect .

Final thoughts :

This is a good 2nd release I have no doubt it will be well received particularly in the US (its aimed market in particular) , the casting is really good , RP Models are listenig to customers thoughts and reacting accordingly so I salute them for this .

As in the previous release a donation of 5% is made this time it goes to the Patton Museum Foundation ...a nice touch

For more details contact:

Sales@rpscalemodels.com

Thanks to them for the review model and thanks to you all for sharing this with me .

Nap

Adrian ,

The website is in progress , I did mention it in the review .....don't forget it will be in black resin not gray as in the review ..I am sure you will be happy . I hopefully plan to do an article on this for a magazine

Enjoy the model

Nap