Review Sir John Falstaff

[Nap]

Hi everyone

Its not often we are able to show something from a PF member , the fellow in name being GARY HIGGINS ( he has sculpted in the past with releases from other companies ) .

What Gary loves doing is sculpting character faces , both historical and fictional , this one being purely fictional from the quill of England's great bard Shakespeare ....​

Sir John Falstaff​

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Who and what was Falstaff.... (curtesy of Wiki)​

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Falstaff (Italian pronunciation: [ˈfalstaf]) is a comic opera in three acts by the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV, parts 1 and 2. The work premiered on 9 February 1893 at La Scala, Milan.

Verdi wrote Falstaff, which was the last of his 28 operas, as he was approaching the age of 80. It was his second comedy, and his third work based on a Shakespeare play.

The plot revolves around the thwarted, sometimes farcical, efforts of the fat knight, Sir John Falstaff, to seduce two married women to gain access to their husbands' wealth.

The portly delussional romantic has been played by many famous artists including Simon Callow

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with updated versions by Bryn Terfel in 2018​

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As expected the character has featured in books



and as public houses signs

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One of his great quotes being:​

Lets have some more pictures of the hero ...a lovable fellow for sure , one for the ladies and the ale





Continued in next post

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[Nap]

Lets look at the model

Details as follows

Title: Sir John Falstaff

Scale: 1/10th

Reference: N/A

Material: Lt gray resin

No of parts: 6

Sculptor: Gary Higgins using traditional methods ..no 3D

Casting: Steve Crisp from Darkstar Miniatures

BoxArt: N/A

I received this from Gary a while back , the box is sufficient to hold the contents securely and has a unpainted version of the piece on the top , inside the pieces were in a small bag with the larger pieces being in bubble wrap

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Parts consist of the Main torso, head , 2 parts to his head scarf, a cooking pan, and a base​

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Prep

• Torso Small casting remnant to sand away on underside
• Head: Tiny resin "blip" in fitment lower edge
• Head scarf: Slight sanding
• Cooking pot: Casting line to remove around pot and flashing on top
• Base: Casting line to remove

General Comments

• Resin material is of a good quality
• No air bubbles
• Textures rendered well in casting
• Minimal Prep with a little filling needed

Lets look at the resin

Torso

The largest of the pieces for obvious reasons , sculpting is very good indeed with the sheer bulk of Sir John being well shown , the clothing has textures with good undercuts and natural folds with the stomach straining to escape !!! ...shirt material billowing out from the centre , the actual cot edge torn ...nice touch.

Underneath there is a accurate cutout for the base to fit into

Head


This is where Gary's sculpting style comes to the fore IMO ...the characterisation of the subject , a cheeky fellow , portly in size , double chin , mouth wide open, teeth and tongue showing ........ grinning ..perhaps he is looking at a lady ( Mistress Quickly in the opera) , leering with thought of what might be .

High cheeks , bags under the eyes , his left eyebrow raised to emphasise the sheer suggestive thoughts of the character

Hair is nicely sculpted , not kept for sure , and he sports the best pair of side whiskers I have seen , very full , this is topped off with a upturned moustache

On his head we have a hat of material , all around with nicely shown folds .

On both the upper and lower parts there are substantial fitment posts , these are accurate to the cutouts on the pot and the torso neck area

Scarf pieces

Both have a lot of form and both have nicely done folds hanging naturally when in position , a little filling will be needed.



Cooking pot

This is Gary having fun after seeing a still from a early version of the opera ( see my references) , the pot sits well on top his head sufficing as his knightly armour ...protection from a serving wench's ladle striking him after unwanted advances......LOL

The pot itself is a good shape and with the handle having rivets holding it to the pot with the fit to the head being no problem.



Base

Again this is an area where Gary has cleverly thought of something relating to Falstaff.....and what better than a large jug of ale

A good shape , nice work on the handle with fitment again by means of a very strong post which you can see in the picture.



Final Thoughts

The hobby should be fun , both for the sculptor , caster and the customer and this is whats happened here ....Gary's fun outlook on life , always happy and laughing shines through in the sculpt .

The piece will give many a chuckle to the painter as well as a lot of fun at the bench

Casting and prep are good and minimal so its quick to get it to the bench .

Its great to share this lets hope we see more from Mr Higgins..no matter what the subject


For more details on this contact Steve at Darkstar Miniatures

E mail: [email protected]

Thanks to Gary for the piece and also Steve for casting and to you all for looking in

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[polyphemus]

Noticed the stills of Orson Welles in the film Chimes at Midnight;
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Falstaff-C...754768&sr=1-1&keywords=chimes+at+midnight+dvd

Geoff

 

[grasshopper]

Funny, although a favourite character, most critical assessments of him are hardly the jolly elf..nice piece..and apply illustrates how we have a minds eye image of how such figures should appear..I just like the personality of the piece..less the Falstaff..I like the design for assembly. If our mail ever improves...on my list

 

[polyphemus]

Further to my previous post;



Geoff

 

[grasshopper]

Nice Geoff thanks..

 

[Nap]

Hi Guys

UPDATE on availability

Steve Crisp will have it on his website very soon so go to Darkstar Miniatures website

Contact for Steve : [email protected] ( message page on website )

Review amended

Gary himself is currently in hospital so we all wish him the very best and get well soon mate

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[Ned Ricks]

Hope Gary gets well. A "Prince Hal" would be a fitting companion bust.
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[garyhiggins]

Hi Ned, first of all welcome to PF, hope you enjoy being on here with us. About the idea of a Prince Hal, my idea was for either Ancient Pistol or Bardolph, but at any rate Jimbo is already agitating for a Sancho Panza to go with my Don Quixote bust! Well, we'll see!

 

[grasshopper]

Am obviously on the outside looking in at this party...who is Jimbo...and the Don Quixote maker?

 

[arj]

Am obviously on the outside looking in at this party...who is Jimbo...and the Don Quixote maker?

Don Quixote maker is Gary himself:-
https://www.planetfigure.com/threads/don-quixote-de-la-mancha.70557/
'Jimbo' is the one who keeps adding legs to busts .... e.g.:-
https://www.planetfigure.com/threads/sergeant-bernard-mccabe-sobroam-1846.118856/

Cheers,
Andrew

 

[grasshopper]

Thankyou...Quixote is excellent subject, but depiction per Nuts Planet are rather cartoonish ..so always looking for one that comes closer to my minds eye image

 

[grasshopper]

I looked at your reference..wow..that’s a proper Quixote...I’d love to have a go at it

 

[garyhiggins]

Hi Grasshopper, the Quixote bust now comes with two heads so you can do him either bare headed or wearing his peculiar helmet!
Best wishes, Gary.

 

[grasshopper]

Thanks..no mails accepted for shipping to Canada for next month at least..Canada post not expecting to deliver mail put in the system in October from overseas until March. At the earliest..someday..but no urgency I am afraid..