I have recently bought my first bust and what would be more fitting than giving it my first review.

I wanted something that isn't so militaristic but still historical and when I saw the Verid bust a few weeks ago https://www.planetfigure.com/threads/giuseppe-verdi.157091 , I decided that it would be the place to start on larger scales. Because from the pictures posted the bare-headed version seemed to me to have a somewhat exaggerated volume of hair and beard, I chose the version with top hat (but see below).

The bust comes in a nice cardboard box with foam to prevent shaking and a few stickers as extras. The box art is apparently just a photograph of the model. The model comes in three pieces (trunk, head and hat) that have nice big slots to connect them. The dry fit is good, with just some very minor cleanup inside the slots needed.

(I did have a frontal shot but out of focus, sorry). It took me a while, then I realised that I got a top hat, yes, but with Verdi wearing a bow tie and without scarf. Anyway, on the bust the beard is of good proportion, so I don't mind. I'll paint it up and have a unique model. (Please note: I have only noticed this when taking pics for this review. I have not informed teapotminiatures. No doubt they would be great in settling such issues but in this case I am the one chosing to leave it as-is).

Ok, let's start at the top: the hat. Like the reference painting, the sides of the hat are not straight, letting the cylinder flare towards the top. The curved rim adds more dynamic. There are remains of casting blocks on the rim and top, with a mould line quite visible. However, this should be quite easy to remove.


Next, the head. The face is really nicely sculpted, with a very strong nose, lines in the forehead and from the sides of the nose, and a cocked eyebrow. The eyes have laughing/squinting lines from the corners and very detailed bags underneath. A very thick moustache that, like all the hair, is indicated somewhat sketchy. Half of the ears show, with the holes incredibly deep (is that an ear drum I see there?).
While the sculpting is nice, I'm a bit concerned about clean-up of the casting block that is on the hair, with a mould line extending towards the neck of the figure.



Finally, the torso. He is wearing his overcoat, featuring four buttons and one visible button hole. Around his neck is a finely detailed bow tie that should give a nice splash of colour against the black overcoat. The coat has the folds you would expect to see in thick cloth. I note though that the turned back collar is much thicker on the front than on the sides and back of the figure. Also, and perhaps a little disappointing, there is no undercut to visually separate the different layers of cloth. Looking from on top, the seam lines in the coat are well visible but to my eyes seem oddly aligned. Again, the casting line is very obvious but being on a flat surface shouldn't present any problem. The 'pilot hole' in the bottom is a nice help to locate the pillar.



So in all, The sculpt is nice, with a variety of details to paint. The casting is good, with no bubbles or surface defects except for those mould lines and the rather unfortunate (in my eyes) placement of the casting block on the hair. I'm surely going to enjoy painting this as my first bust and am looking forward to give it a nice place in my office.

Nice review and great to see something a bit different.

Gary

Hello Henkm. Thank you very much for this detailed review of Verdi's bust.
We really appreciate your effort for writing this helpful article
Our apologies that you received a version without scarf.
This was a mistake from the caster that combined parts from both versions.
We hope that was not a significant problem for you and you did not disappointed from your purchase.
Very glad to hear that was your first work on a bust.
We hope that you enjoy so far the painting process.
Looking forward to see the final pics.
Thank you very much for your support!

Oh, as I wrote: no problem at all (or else I would have complained to you directly before posting the review). This way I have a unique bust. Painting is progressing slowly, will put more pics after the weekend.