Review "Rolf" from Castle Miniatures

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Hi everyone,

The mere mention of the name Viking conjours up an image of seafarers , explorers , traders , pillagers , battle hardened warriors , a social life , settlements , beautiful artifacts ( a lot thankfully in the museums around the world , the British museum amongst them) , in UK we have the famous settlement at York which is celebrated by the amazing Jorvic centre in the city where you are transported back though a timeline to the Vikings , sharing the sounds and smell of life itself.

More recently we have had the excellent TV series called the Vikings

The warrior is naturally a very popular subject and we have seen all types of releases including busts and full figures , this is what I am sharing with you a full figure from the company called

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The subject is of course this

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I will share some pictures as usual but Alex from Castle Miniatures has posted many in this thread here on the forum http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/castle-miniatures-news.74214/​

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Feared warriors using the famous tactic of interlocked shields in a shield wall with designs being varied

We see much skill in the making of weapons​

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helmets ​

and in the mail shirts they sometimes wore.

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Books are plenty here are a few I like​

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Continued in next post​

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Lets see what we are looking at

Title: Tales of the North - Rolf

Reference: C75 06

Scale: 75mm

No of pieces: 12

Material: Gray Resin

Sculptor: Yury Serebgyakov

Box Art: N/A

The resin was in a light but suitable white box with a picture on the top on opening the lid we find the 12 pieces split between 3 separate plastic bags .
Parts consist of the top of the torso , the lower torso with left leg, the right leg , 2 arms, , head , the helmet , sword, dagger, axe , shield and a base.

Prep

Top of torso..Tiny bit of flashing between the wolf pelt and arm, plug from inside of neck at back
Lower torso ....Sanding the plug that fits to the cutout in the upper torso
Right leg...Minute casting line to sand on thigh , fit to lower body and base
Arms...Remove from former , slight casting lines to sand on clothing lower and fit to body
Head..Remove casting plug from underside of neck and fit to torso
Helmet...Remove some of plug from back of helmet( remainder used to fit to torso , confirm no flashing from eye openings
All weapons....Remove small casting plugs from axe and dagger , and sword from former
Shield...Slight sanding around edge
Base...2 plugs from underneath and sand round edge

I would like to add that I was using the optivisor when checking the pieces , all are very easy to remove

We will split the review looking at the torso , leg and the arms , the remaining in the next part.

First impressions ....a figure that looks the part and is packed with detail work , the review item was in 2 different coloured resin , one darker than the other.

The Top of the torso this is shown wearing a mail shirt very nicely worked , the links are spot on , underneath we see the shape of the actual body , the shirt is half sleeved with the padded under garment peeking out .

Rolf has a fine beaded necklace and a belt , the buckle on the belt is sharply sculpted.

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Across his shoulders draped naturally we have a wolf pelt , the texture on this is excellent , allowing for you to get the best when painting.

On now to the Lower Torso consisting also of the left leg we have a continuation of the mail shirt with a cutout for the sword , a lovely purse various belts all detailed with designs , the lower edge of the padded undergarment is also there with holes as well ...nice touch . the legs is well shaped with clothing sitting well the lower leg is wrapped in " puttees" these show really nice wear and tear.

The same comments can be said for the Right leg , fit is fine with a smidgeon of putty being needed




Now to the Arms these both show strong folds with texture of the armlet of leather on both the lower arms, both have 3 straps and buckles in place . , the left is up high with the handle of the shield , fingers are well sculpted on both , the right is ready to grip the axe itself.



Continued in next post

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Now to the remaining pieces in a lighter coloured resin


The Head, bareheaded , strong looking and brave , good muscles on the neck , facial features are that of a warrior , , forehead furrowed slightly, the nose a little hooked but all the face is full of features.

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The Helmet this has the eye protection piece and looks the part , nice shape and delicate so be careful!! the crown is raised slightly .the helmet sits nicely into a cutout of the lower torso.



The Shield , as seen in shield walls this is round , strengthened around the edges ,its battle damaged with good rivet details , the front is plain which allows you to choose your design , in the centre we have the distinctive metal boss , well shaped again, on the back we see the make up of the shiled the palnks of wood are nicely formed and shows the graining of the wood itself .

The Weapons these consist of a dagger , an axe and a sword , all fit in place easily

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The sword has good shape on the pommel itself and the grip surface texture, with the scabbard having the securing straps under a securing bar ..nice attention to detail here.

The Axe is a good shape a shorter version and fits well into the right hand, the Dagger is sheathed in a leather scabbard with a bone ( antler) handle the fit is good and both look well in position on the figure

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Finally the Base this is suitably textured to depict groundwork of stones and grass/moss , simple but very effective , there are locating holes for the figure itself , the base is not solid but hollowed out underneath .



Final Thoughts

This is another nice bit of sculpting from Yury , full of details and I am sure it will be popular , the prep is minimal with fit being good , looks good on its own or with another Viking figure .


The subject has a slight fantasy feel to it as well as the historical so good option there as well.
The scale is the best in my opinion for this subject allowing easy painting of the piece. if the ancient world is for you get it .....if not..... get it anyway as its a great figure !!!



For more details on this and other releases from Castle Miniatures why not go to the website:

www.castleminiatures.com

or of course there is the FB page at www.facebook.com/Castle-Miniatures

or PM here on PF

Thanks to Alex at Castle miniatures for the review piece and for you all for looking in

Finally a couple more views of the figure

Happy modelling

Nap

 

[mortier]

Again a very good review of a very good figure
Thank you

 

[ATTİLA the HUN]

YURY Serebgyakov MADE masterpiece.
I lıke all details and specially FACE SCULPT.

 

[ATTİLA the HUN]

Thanks for REVİEW,

 

[Mark S]

Nice looking figure very tempting.....some of the casting looks a bit rough to me, but nice piece all the same.
I wonder why the shield boss is depicted differently in the promotional pics.
Thanks for the detailed review Kevin.

 

[Oda]

Just the very name of Yury Serebryakov conjures up images of perfection,needless to say anything more.

Oda.

 

[Macca G]

See, you say you've got enough Vikings and a guy like this comes along. Great review Nap

 

[vorennaal]

Amazing!

 

[megroot]

Looks a great figure to me.

Marc

 

[davidmitchell]

Got this figure ready to paint, has to be one of the best Viking figures around.


Cheers David

 

[Mac1966]

I have this figure (all the yuri's vikings) and for me the casting is not top. But these figures are great.
Ciao
m

 

[MrBMB]

Nice review
I like this figure