Review "Grogoth" from Galapagos Miniatures

Nap · Mar 5, 2017

A happy day to you all

Its been far too long since we have seen anything from Ju -Won Jung who runs

previously we have seen releases of only busts which I reviewed in these links:

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/velaf-dragon-hunter-from-galapagos-miniatures.78346/

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/amaryne-from-galapagos-miniatures.71244/

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/seige-giant-from-galapagos-miniatures.67554/

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/volkan-lostblood-from-galapagos-miniatures.65088/

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/kyle-heir-to-the-blue-sun-from-galapagos-miniatures.62923/

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/kazhatdram-war-drum-of-doom-from-galapagos-miniatures.60202/

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/the-messenger-from-galapagos-miniatures.58417/

So what has JU-Won been up to ...well this time he and "Team Galapagos" have released their 1st figure in a fantasy mode.

I give you:

Grogoth

Our Hero's story:

As you see its a dramatic looking piece or should I say pieces as you get a figure "Grogoth" our hero who was attacked as a baby in the garden of hell when he was a baby and now with his bloodstained hammer he has vanquished the beast called Lemora which is the 2nd piece in the box.

On turning 19 he became the 5th owner of the "Stone Hammer" as a mark of his coming of age , he didn't mind what others called him the blood from the kill reached out for his next conquest ...for the dragon he would become Grogoth's pillow for the night while he rested in the deep dark garden before moving on to other battles .

Details of the piece are:

Title : Grogoth -The 5th Owner of the 'Stone Hammer'

Scale: 75mm ( actual human size 80mm)

Parts: 13

Material : Gray almost light Lavender Resin

Sculptor: Ju-Won Jung

Box Art: Ju-Won Jung

Concept and production: Team Galapagos

The release was announced here on PF and in Social media:

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/galapagos-miniatures-new-release-grogoth.81876/

With the box art being shared as well :

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/galapagos-miniatures-new-release-grogoth.82098/

Galapagos continue to use the same good quality box with sharp colour pictures on the top and side , parts very nicely secured in thick foam layers held in well cut out sections

Parts consist of main figure , 2 arms , hammer , 2 horns for helmet, a knee piece, a rear piece of clothing, axe handle , axe blade , dragons body and the head piece/horn , also included is a story card ( as in previous releases ) and a base.

Prep

Main Figure...remove small casting blocks from under feet and dry fit ( there are cutouts that match the ones on the soles ( one on the head part and the other the tail of the dragon )

Arms...remove small plugs from top of arms and fit

Hammer...Casting piece on flat end and fit ( I would pin both arms)

Axe ...Casting lug from base of handle and fit

Axe blade...sand away small excess where it fits to handle and remove slight flashing

Knee armour/Back piece/....fit to left knee , remove casting remnant from back piece and fit, remove horns from former and fit.

Dragon.....Remove large casting piece from under mouth and one from edge of head top as well as a tiny bit of flashing on the shaped bony structure and then fit together .

Note :

Perhaps a better location for the casting plug at the front as removing might damage the actual teeth so be careful .

The rear piece is cast separate to allow for ease of casting to avoid a awkward infill

Minimal filler will be required when fitting parts , I would suggest pinning the figure as well

Lets look at the largest resin pieces first

Dragon

Consisting of 2 pieces a front and the head "horn" , fit of this is accurate with good joints and edges match well , little if any filler is required .

The head piece is packed full of textures , from bubbling skin and scales to the horned pieces it lays static with the head over to the left front slightly , eye area slightly open revealing 2 eyeballs ...even when unpainted looking sinister , the other eyes are not seen due to the position of the head , and of course we have a wicked set of teeth and claw as all with nice surface work and all well thought out ...these guys at Galapagos sure have some imagination.

Again textures are the name of the game here , skin. bone and armoured plating as well ( running along the top of the back into the centre of the head , very sharply cast and defined as are all areas of the beast.

The top piece has the armored plates continuing to appear with all showing nice work on the edges , there is a lines of crowned pieces as well ..no doubt giving a heck of a whack in battle ...but not with our hero !!!

Continued in next post

Nap

Nap · Mar 5, 2017

On now to the heroic Grogoth himsel:

Main Figure

Our brave fellow is positioned standing on top the vanquished dragon , left knee bent , working my wa up the figure he has armoured boots on with the individual plates being nicely defined on his shins we have some greaves at a "V" angle with the right knee having a rather nice skull wrapped round it , good work again here , the greaves are held on by zig zag strapping , worn on the edges and sitting over some fur which peeks over at the top of the calves.

Armour continues in te same pattern on the thighs again over a fur textured backing , this shows good sculpting and movement understanding by JU-Won.

At the front we have his groin protectors similar to that seen in the roman arms again well detailed one sitting underneath the others due to the left raised leg .

Around his waist a thick studded belt leading to at the front another skull ..no doubt one of the conquests in battle , nice undercuts , at the back we have a cut out to take the separate piece.

The chest area is well muscled with these being very well shown in respect the body's slight movement to the left .

Across his chest we have a strap leading to shoulder armour ( similar in style to gladiatorial ones) , nice strap work is evident, this continues around the back of the figure

Onto to the face , he has a determined look , a very strong jawline , nice neck muscles are shown , facial features are good , mouth held shut , hair is very long and flowing naturally onto the shoulders with well done hair detail.

On top his head he wears a skull helmet very different animal possibly like a ram , looks a bit like the one Jason wore in the golden fleece film , slanted eye sockets with fearsome teeth at the front , horns are sculpted on with the end pieces to be fitted

Both arms have connection holes ready at the shoulders

These are a nice pair with much detail again we have the armored plates well engineered , nice undercuts and again very good muscletones , fit to the torso is good with only a little filler needed , neither arms have the hands cast on .

Hammer/Axe and Blade

Bothe the weapon handles have the hands cast on them showing really good finger work with the hand top having a bit of armour on , the hammer is massive and with great textures on the head , one end is flat the other has small pyramid sections , 3 on each edge with 3 smaller ones between ...whichever he uses is going to give hell of a headache!!! the casting a definition is good handle is wrapped around in strapping maybe leather over a fur inside , at the end there is another set of points perhaps teeth

The axe handle is textured as wood with wrap around strapping held in place by rivets , the hand is gripping the weapon well , the top of the axe has a cut out ready for the blade ( you could fill this and have it as a mace ) , one side has skull on it well sculpted and again well cast , the other side has a diamond shape piece

The actual axe is a dangerous looking blade like an enlarged circular saw with good surface decoration and a very sharp looking edge , fit might be a little delicate , there is a cut out to fit to but if you can pin I would say do so.

Rear/Knee pieces/Helmet horns

The rear par continues in the same way with fur textured and at the top a piece of armour , sharply edges , fit is simple and good . The Knee piece is armored plate again with 2 very sharp looking horns , fit to the left knee is again no issue with the cutout etc , finally we have the 2 smaller horns for the helmet, one is slightly larger and fits to his left side, a tiny bit of filler might be needed.

.

Base

A large well shaped piece with a little scattering of groundwork and bit of the dragon , there is a part of the dragon which fits well when the dragon is in place , this is by way of 3 roundels of resin which match well the cutouts underneath it.

Final Thoughts

Its good to have Galapagos releasing again , continuing in the fantasy mode , a well sculpted subject love the work on the dragon with the heroic figure on top , both working nicely together , prep is fairly easy with a couple of small parts so be careful .

A good release that will I have no doubt please the fantasy painters in the hobby

The bust is available from both SK Miniatures and El Greco Miniatures where customer service is equally as important as it is to Galapagos .

You could also contact Ju Won by e mail [email protected]

or by going to the websitewww.galapagosminiatures.com

Thanks for looking in and thanks to Galapagos for the review piece

Nap