Review Polish Lancer from CGS Military Miniatures

[Nap]

Hi to you all

One of the smaller yet impressive companies that are in our hobby are CGS Military Miniatures , run by an ever quality concious fellow called GRAHAM SCOLLICK , so I was more than pleased to be asked to look at this piece by him.

Those that go to the show at at fun filled Euro in September will have seen him there on a trade stand along with his father ( both ex RM ) , and talking with either will certainly rekindle any lost mojo!!!

Announced here on the forum and in social media:
http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/200mm-polish-lancer-on-website.91088/

The release: Polish Lancer​

​

​

​

​

​

Details of release:

Title….Polish Lancer, Waterloo 1815

Reference….CR 13

Scale; 1/9th

Material …Gray Resin

No of pieces…17 in Resin , piece of wire, roll of wire , lead sheeting , 2 brass rods plus information sheets

Sculptor: Carl Reid with additional work on Czapska by Graham Scollick

Casting …In house by Graham

Box Art …None available.


The resin was received in a larger than normal ( to allow for the rods to fit) cardboard box , strong and parts held in bags and wrapped in bubble wrap , on top of this was the information sheets, no picture was on the top of the contents.

Parts consist of Torso , Head, Left arm , Right gloved hand , Pouch , Belt , Plume , Tassels , hanngers x 2 , 2 straps for reins in left hand , Weapon clip , Lance ends x 2 , Pennon , Lead sheeting , coil of wire , single piece of wire . 2 x brass rods for Lance and a Base

Also included are 4 sheets of A4 sheets with build advice and references



Initial Thoughts

A lot of resin for the money

A big display piece due to the lance itself

The pose is full action with the lance being in use

Fit the brass rod (for the lance last !!)

Those that know Graham are only too aware of his dedication to aspire to quality casting and this is clearly evident in this release .

Absolutely tiny flash lines to deal with and with the fit of all parts is excellent.

There are small parts to assemble so careful removal from the casting blocks is the order of the day ...no feeding that carpet monster!!!

There is a small sheet of lead foil for the hand grip plus some lead wire for the cords and also a small single piece of brass wire which will need to be cut and shaped and used for the chinstrap hook on the Czapska.

2 pieces of brass rod for the lance itself .

Of course the lance is the focal point of this bust and due to the length ( just over 290mm ) a lot of thought needs to be done when considering the base we all will have their own thoughts on this including using a lager base to let you position more to the rear and with the lance angled as much as possible ...this is what our very own smudger1960 chose to do.

You might wish to fit the right arm separately to allow access and fit the lance last .

The initial sculpt was done as usual in Carl's distinctive style with graham reworking and detailing up the actual helmet itself ....both sculptors work is as expected very high qulaity and works well together.

Conversion to other Regts ie ( Red Lancers ) are very much an option with minimal work .

​

Prep

Due to the quality casting on the sculpt this is an area that poses no issues , casting plugs are easy to access and any flashing very easy to sand off , dry fitting of the parts will be a benefit before committing I suggest fitting the lance fully through the hand , you might like to consider using a one piece brass rod .

Minimal filling is needed around the arms with holes being in place to fit the straps, pouch , plume etc.

You will need to use the wire as stated for the hook and the tassels and aiguillette ends

Fit the reins one either side of the left hand.

References are easily available including research plates ...there are many more !!!

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

continued in next post

Nap

 

[Nap]

Lets charge forward

Books are naturally quite easy to come by as the period is so popular , here are a few from my shelves



This is a really informative read as well


Good website to visit: www.polishlacers.com

Plus a couple more references...well you can never have enough!!!

​

As I have a lot of pictures to share in this part I will look at the main torso only continuing with the remaining resin separately.

Torso

The largest of the pieces and as with Carls sculpts the details are very good , well defined , with the shoulder cords and piping being worth a special mention here , he wears the kurta with the plastron front is a good shape and with the buttons well worked , across the body there is the belts , good undercuts , the lace edging again is well shown , as you can see a fine casting line is there ...a quick rub and its gone .

On the shoulders there is the shoulder cords on the left as I said the definition and style is very good , of particular note is that just under the arm we have 2 small holes , these are for the wires to go in, on the opposite side we have a small part of the epaulette , raised up in relation to the action pose of the piece , you might want to drill this through at the shoulder .

The belts are well done , these had a edging , this can be easily represented by painting , sitting nicely onto the left shoulder running over the back to buckles and ends , again sharply worked .

There are locating holes for the pouch and the belt at the right side , and also for the left hand ( gloved) all very well thought out , making build very much easier .

Around the lower edge is the waist belt with the belt plate having the eagle sculpted on , working round there is a retaining strap , bayonets are seen worn but not included in the piece .


The underside has 2 round and a oblong casting piece to easily remove .


One thing to say that throughout this review the quality of casting and thought that has gone into the piece is clearly evident.

Continued in next post

Nap

 

[Nap]

On to the remaining resin pieces

Head

This is the uncovered Czapska with the head , for the release Graham reworked the headwear totally and its is excellent result , the cords are singularly defined wrapping round where the base of the plume fits , , under these we have the rosette/cockade with the polish cross , spot on for the shape , the helmet plate ( sunburst ) together with the central " N" and crown looks sharp and is cleanly cast , the peak is nicely done with the brass edging scaled correctly .

The flounders and raquettes are a credit to the artist , there are 2 holes on the underneath of these for the tassels to fit to .

The upper part of the helmet has the lined surface as we see in originals , all are the same size ...must have been a very quiet time doing this !!!, on the 4 corners there are protection pieces , on the lower edge there is the hook cast on , behind this we have the lions boss this leads us on to the chin scales , again a really accurate representation .

We now look at the face itself ...this is where Carl shines its great , shouting with the mouth wide open showing the tongue and upper teeth , the features of the face are impressive to say the least , jowls and the upper cheeks are very good , eyes are well shaped and despite the peak quite easy to get at when painting , just above we have the eyebrows .

​

Our Lancer has a fine moustache , side whiskers and hair at the neck , this comes out of the lower edge of the helmet showing off the textures of this hair and whiskers very well .

Moving down we have the collar another nice touch here is the way the material is done with the head position pushing it open , we have some lace edging , well shown .

Fit to the torso is accurate and easy to do after slight sanding .


Arm/Gauntlet

Carl continues to maintain his very good work on these pieces , the left gauntlet is a good style , the hand firmly holding the rein ends , hand work on the fingers is good , fit to the torso is no issue by a well place cutout and matching bit on the back of the glove .

The right arm is positioned holding the lance , bent at the elbow with there being a cutout at the rear o the arm for the rod to snugly fit into , the arm is positioned high to the shoulder raised with there being the epaulettes cords slightly splayed open at the top of the arm ,the correct clothing folds are in place with the back piping on the sleeve all nicely done. fit to the torso showed no issues .



Belts/Pouch

The belt has been cleverly sculpted and cast to show movement away from the body ..as it should be with the dramatic movement of the piece itself., at the lower edge there is a buckle piece which ready to take the clip via a nicely positioned hole on the outer lower edge of the belt fit to the torso is easy ..yet again well thought out ( use the upper of the 2 holes on the torso rear.



The pouch is a typical shape with the fitments in place at the sides , together with a securing strap underneath , part of the right strap is sculpted on which leads to a ring ( also on other side)

We see the napoleonic eagle on the cover , good in style , fit to the torso is by using the lower of the 2 holes on the piece , there is a lug that fits into the hole , some slight filling might be needed but very minimal .



Plume/Tassels/Drops/Clip

The plume is part of the full dress and not worn normally but as with all regulations they were mostly ignored and seen in use.... after all it cuts a rather dashing view for the ladies !!! , the texture of the plume is great its slightly bent over at the top , nice touch , fit is good into the hole provided by the cords on the helmet , I would be also inclined to pin it as well .

Same high quality work on the tassels , you could separate these for more movement , again the texture and details are very good indeed.

The drops fit to the end of the shoulder cords , they are delicate so be careful!!! , in place they look good
to the left of the pictire there is the clip , slight flashing to remove from the centre , fit into the hole on the strap.

Lance ends/Pennon

The lance ends look dangerous and I certainly wouldn't want to be on the receiving end !!! they are a good shape , fitting will need to be carefully done for both ends of the lance.

The pennon is what you expect with a lancer , its good to see that its not fully open but wrapped round the lance , like this is goes well wit the pose , you will need to increase the small hole to take the brass rod and also drill and pin the actual point as well


Reins

These are in 2 pieces one fitting either side of the left hand and look fine in position .



Base

The base is textured and rising up as a plinth , fitting to the underside of the torso easily , pinning is of course recommended , there are also the initials "CGS" on the side .



Final Thoughts

Well its a lot of resin and a lot of lance !!!! , a really well engineered piece of sculpting from Carl and ofcourse from Grahams , extremely well presented , excellent casting quality which has brought out all the details.

I am really happy I got the chance to review this with you

A great choice as a subject and as a company CGS have a very high respect for their quality and customer service...a 5* company IMO

Thanks to CGS for the review piec and for you all for looking in

For more information on this and other products from CGS why not visit the website at:

www.cgsmilitaryfigures.co.uk

Email: contact@cgsmiliary figures.co.uk

or by PM on this forum

Happy bench time

Nap

 

[Nap]

Hi Guys

As we have no box art as such I would like to share with the painters permission pictures of his build

Going for the weathered look as is his style producing awesome results .

So a BIG THANKS to PF member smudger1960 for letting me

Cheers Brian

First some WIP unpainted ones

and now dome painted ..

Enjoy

Nap

 

[Tonton]

Terrific review, pics, refs and, of course, Smudger's distinctive paint job.

Overall… outstanding.

Jeff

 

[Nap]

Thank you Jeff

Glad you liked the review , the subject is a good one and in a action pose as well and sculpting by both artists on par .

Nap

 

[polyphemus]

Well done Kev. I have this one tucked away but there are a few other projects in progress first. One observation I would make is that I would replace the brass rod with equivalent size brass tube. This would allow for very fine pins to be inserted in the lance ends which could then slot into the ends of the brass tubes. Very fiddly I know to drill fine holes in the resin parts but this method does give stronger joints on otherwise fragile connections.

Geoff

 

[Nap]

Hi Geoff

You and me both mate ...thanks for looking in , the use of a brass tube is a good idea as you explained so thanks for that

Thanks for looking in

Nap

 

[smudger1960]

Many thanks kev for a great review and many thanks for the kind words and also to my fellow planeteers who supported me through the project.

Can you please make the cheque payable to smudger1960 :smile:

 

[Nap]

Hi Brian

thanks for commenting as for the cheque .......it's in the hands of my accountant ......good luck there then !

Nap

 

[clrsgt]

First rate review as always. I also like the idea of using brass tubing; May try it when I get to mine.

 

[Wings5797]

Super review Kev.
It looks like a great casting and more info that you can shake a stick at.
Good to see Brian's great rendition again.
Many thanks for pulling all this together Mate.
Keith

 

[smudger1960]

Hi Brian

thanks for commenting as for the cheque .......it's in the hands of my accountant ......good luck there then !

Nap

Your accountant !
That must be jim,I'll need to speak to jimbo then

 

[smudger1960]

Super review Kev.
It looks like a great casting and more info that you can shake a stick at.
Good to see Brian's great rendition again.
Many thanks for pulling all this together Mate.
Keith

Thanks keith

 

[swralph]

Excellent review Nap.

 

[CGS military figures]

I cannot comment on the review but thank you kev for your honest comments and the time you have given for reference .
Best wishes
Gra

 

[Tommi]

Thanks for the review Kev. All I can do is second your comments on this amazing piece. I was sent one of these from Graham upon release and was blow away by the outstanding quality of the casting, detail and fit of the parts. It's worth every penny and as seen in Brian's painted piece a true masterpiece.