Review Velaf (Dragon Hunter) from Galapagos Miniatures

[Nap]

Hi everyone ,

Its been a while since we have seen a release from so its with much pleasure to be able to receive this and be able to share with you all.

Those that know Young miniatures stuff will recognise this original release from them and the face sculpting style , originally by called Dragon Hunter sculpted by Ju-Won , this was received back by him who added details and changed it slightly to fit into the Galapagos scenario.

Galapagos would like to show their appreciation to Young Miniatures and Young B Song for providing this wonderful opportunity to launch this meaningful bust.

Why so long you might ask well after the so sad passing last year of that great sculptor Greeny Ahn his good friend decided to take a break ..quite understandable and our thoughts were with them all ,

I would like to dedicate this review to Greeny Ahn , a great guy sadly missed by all.

Gentle folk I present :

Velaf

Setting the scene

....From the stinking sulphuric gases of the gaping craters that spew lava and fire alongside choking dark sinister ashes out of the mountain called Zigba there is a hero called Velaf , a Dragon Hunter roaming the mountain , muscular and contented in his work , the mountain had reveled its secret one of many on the Galapagos continent...with more horror and legends still to be awoken.

Lets see what we are looking at

Lets have a look at the details:

Title: Velaf The Dragon Hunter of Mt Zigba

Reference: GP-B007

Scale: 1/10th

Material: Resin (gray and beige)

No of parts: 18 plus insert card

Sculptor:Ju-Won Jung

Box Art:Ju-Won Jung

A special thanks to Sang-Eon Lee from Young's Miniatures


As is normal from this company we have the distinctive dark red/brown box colour with immaculate colour representation of a painted model , packed well between foam pieces held in cutouts

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Box Art is great with colour on the top and one of the sides ( more views on the website of course)
The parts consist of the Torso , a choice of 2 heads , arm , a skull helmet and the back of the helmet , 4 horns , the pieces to fit to the jawbone ( x6) the weapon blade , and a base.

There is also a card with the story on it , perhaps a little hard to read due to font and colouring but it all adds a something extra to the presentation , one side has the concept drawing which is always nice to see.

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Prep
Torso...Small casting plug to remove from underside
Arm... Small plug to take off from upper arm
Head#1(with headwear) ...Casting plug to remove where horns fit at back
Head#2 (bareheaded) ...small plug to remove from lower neck edge .
Skull helmet and back piece ....tiny casting plug to take off from edges
Horns..Casting plugs to take away from ends and fit in place
Helmet pieces ..remove from formers and fit to cutouts
Weapon Blade...Remove remnant and bridging piece and fit to handle in the hand ( I would pin it) .Base...Cut round lower edges to remove excess
In this part of the review I will look at the main body only the remaining pieces being in the follow up.
Note: The gray resin has a slight mauve colouring
Torso the first thing to note is that the surfaces are all super smooth as with previous releases , the torso is sculpted at an angle which is nice to see , the body is well muscled and extremely well done , with the muscle shapes being very good .

The left arm is cut a 1/4 way down with a triangular cutout ready to take the actual arm.

Velaf wears a furs cape around and over his right shoulder , suffice to say the texture looks very good sweeping around and defined well .

Around the neck he wears a necklace this is full of Runes and charms , the runes have a wording on each , all together a magic spell protecting him from the dangers he faces.
Across his chest there is a belt again with really nice details , a skull clasp and straps , all with good undercuts.
The belt holds in place an awesome looking bit of shoulder armour , heavily studded hanging from this we have some mail links , some missing , obviously lost in the battles he has fought, the actual links look like they are all joined ...nice details.
Moving down the arm we see the veins straining with a arm band around , finely worked with a horned skull in the middle.

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Continued in next post
Nap

 

[Nap]

Now to the remaining resin

The Arm fitting into the cutout perfectly the lower arm screams strength with muscles again straining at the wrist we have a very nice protector over a fur base ( protecting his skin then a leather surround all held in place by straps well done worn and with cuts , nearer to the hand we have a bracelet with decoration sculpted around .
The hand also has the veins straining well defined with with the fingers looking really good and he has pointed fingernails as well !!!, in the hand there is the handle of the sword nicely done with designs on it


Now to the Blade this is not a little weapon to say the least , a great shape , and the edge is sharp!!! the cutting edge is distinct with the remaining areas having various sculpting work on it .

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Now to the Head with the helmet the larger of the 2 choices you are given , its s horned skull ( the horns are separate to be fitted , the work that has gone into the skull is very very good , eye sockets look fearsome and deep set , teeth erupt from the upper jaw various shapes , some damaged , some pointed , the jawline continues to his cheeks where it ends with a razor sharp pointed incisor .
The back of the headwear is a mass of writhing snake like lengths , the box art has these painted as snakes but obviously the choice is yours!!
The face is smiling in anticipation of another slaying of a dragon , as expected the features are really well done , a strong jawline , eyebrows raised , a slightly upturned nose, well formed nostrils as are the eyes themselves...all making painting easier and enjoyable
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Fit into the neck area of the torso is very clean a tiny bit of filler might be needed (this goes for both heads)

Now to the Head #2 this is just the head itself ready to receive the skull and jawbone helmet , suffice to say the same high quality of the features are there .

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The Skull and Jawbone these are in a beige resin this time we have a different style skull , you will need to fit the horns the skull is sitting on a fur base which peeks out the lower edge , teeth are pointed and piercing , eye sockets are more beady looking but just as sinister, nasal area is also showing good detail.
The other piece is the back of the helmet , this fits well into the cutout at the back of the head after which you will need to fit the hanging pieces (these have blade like edges well done) to the cut outs, there is also his hair in pigtails , nicely shaped as well and sitting well onto the bust
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These are the horns and the pieces for the helmet backpiece

Now to the Base as this is an angled bust , the base has been carefully engineered and when in place looks good the surface is slightly textured .


Final Thoughts

This has been a real interesting bust to review packed full of details well sculpted and well presented , it is a fitting tribute to Ju Won and his sculpting and indeed the painting , all I can say is if fantasy is your thing ...get this and have a look at the others previously released by Galapagos .....

A BIG WELCOME BACK to Galapagos Miniatures

For more box art pictures :http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/galapagos-miniatures-special-edition-velaf.77718

For more details go to:

www.galapagos-miniatures.com

or contact by e mail to :

[email protected]

Thanks as always to Galapagos for the Review model and to you all for looking in

Happy Modelling

Nap

 

[Jimbo]

Great review Kev as always, nice one mate
Cheers
Jim

 

[MalcC]

Agree with Jimbo , another helpful review.

Cheers
Malc