Review War Pigeon from DG Artwork

[Nap]

Hi to all resin fanatics,

Its your scribe with another action packed review of a release form the Korean company of DG ARTWORK , the release was announced here on PF

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/dg-artwork-new-release-for-april-2016.77598/


I am of course going to be sharing this

As you can see its a WW1 subject depicting a soldier releasing a message carrier pigeon from his position in the mud and grime of the trenches .

Pigeons are amongst many animals that provided such vital communications where the telephone lines laid were more than not totally destroyed by Artillery fire.


Their valuable service was recognised by the award of many valour medals from all those fighting , including german, british , american and french troops .

There is also the Animal VC ..the Dickens medal and this is being awarded to brave animals even now in today's modern wars .

The sculptor has chosen to depict a soldier from the Duke of Wellington's Regt with the shaped outline of the the divisional sign of a rams head and also a brigade insignia of a red square (as on cover of the middle book)

Books are of course plenty here are a few

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Lets fly with the resin

Details of the release

Title: British Army Great War series , War Pigeon , Duke of Wellingtons Regiment

Reference: DG09B001

Scale: 1/9th

Material: Gray Resin

No of parts: 15

Sculptor: Dae-Hyeong, Kim

Box Art: Dae-Hyeong, Kim


The subject is one I have thought needed to be released as a tribute not only to the pigeon but to all the animals that served past, present and future.

For me it seems a small 1/9th in scale almost a large 1/12th ....but that is me comparing other busts I have

As with all of the releases it came in a strong box with the parts in clear bags then surrounded by bubble wrap envelope, the box has colour pictures of the painted figure on both front and back.

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Parts consist of the torso , 2 arms , the head , helmet, backpack, the small haversack, waterbottle , 2 strap ends, rifle sling and helmet strap, a rifle , base and of course a pigeon.

Prep

Torso...Sanding on the underneath
Arms...Slight sanding again around the shoulders and excess resin on the inside to enable fit .
Head ...Nothing
Helmet...Casting plug to take off underneath rim
Backpack, small haversack, waterbottle...small casting plugs to remove then fit to bust
Strap ends and Rifle slings....Remove from formers and fit ( soften slightly in hot water to get shape...CAREFULLY)
Rifle....Excess resin from Stock
Base...Sand down the underneath
Pigeon...Cut away the resin from the edge of the tail feathers

We will look at the torso, the arms and the head in this part

Torso Our pigeon fancier is sculpted fully loaded with all the 08 webbing , all the pouches , these are extremely well worked with the lower ones having the additional securing strap which was added as ammunition was found to be falling out , not he has an earlier version ( without these on his right side) ....not all issued sets were the same.

the waistbelt is well detailed with the brass ended being in place , this can be found on all straps , I mentioned the scale but as I look at the piece everything looks right , on his chest we have a box respirator with the securing string held together at the front.
We have nice undercuts with the belts all biting into the uniform as it should be .
Of particular note are the epaulettes with the brass badges as in the picture in part 1 , and yes you can read the letters .
All equipment location areas has a hole ready to receive the item...fit is extremely good, as are the shoulder areas with excellent cut outs ...no chance of wrongly positioning anything

Arms...after the prep fit to the shoulders are really good the arms are raised high and outstretched raising the pigeon to freedom with that vital message .

One thing away from the bust the arms IMO looked long but when fitted looked fine , we see very good folds on the clothing with the shirt cuffs peeking out from the lower edges , all the seams are in place , sharply worked , the fingers are fine bits of sculpting but be careful not to remove the beautifully detailed pigeon feet sculpted on the right hand, the left is more open ...the bird is about to fly .

On the shoulders we have the divisional and brigade patches


Now to the Head...a young looking face , beautifully sculpted as with previous releases , we have hair strands hanging down inside the helmet , facial features are wide eyes ( in hope of the message getting through) well formed ears with the mouth wide open teeth showing wishing the bird good luck on his journey.

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Onward in flight to the rest of the resin...

The Equipment and straps , first thing to say is that the fit to the torso is spot on minimal if any filler was needed , the backpack is well sculpted full with a groundsheet/blanket held under the flap , straps and buckles are nicely done , the lower part of the backpack billows out with the weight of the contents., in the haversack we have the same high quality with fit being very clean to the cast on straps, the water bottle is a little gem with all the details as in originals , the straps are good comparing in size to the torso one exactly , the helmet strap is also the same high quality.

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Helmet ...a really good representation of this , great shape with the addition of the helmet strap it looks really impressive, fitting this is a little fiddly but the end result is excellent looking .
Inside the helmet we have the liner ....an item sometimes missed .


The Rifle this was something I looked closely at , it does look a little bit overscaled but again looks good in place , needless to say the work on this is really well done from the working mechanism to the sights (folded down) and the magazine , all are there in full glory, if you choose not to fit it , then its a easy matter of just filling the locating hole on the rear of the torso.


Now its that Pidgeon....well its certainly easy to see it is just that the wings outstretched , tail feathers spread , seconds away from one flap of those wings and he is away , feathers are well sculpted , the individual feathers in particular are very well done , the bird has the right shape , painting of this will be a challenge but what a result you will have.
On the underside we have 2 locating holes that match perfectly to the feet sculpted onto the figures hand.



Finally the Base, as with previous a pedestal shape really smooth surface , if you use it I suggest pinning as well .

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Final Thoughts

This is a great tribute to all the brave animals often forgotten but who also gave their all in their job to deliver vital messages . The bust is well sculpted and nicely thought out , particularly the way the pigeon has been done , lots of happy bench time here .
Well done DG Artwork for releasing this a nice WW1 addition to the display cabinet

Thank you to DG Artwork for the review piece

For more information why not visit the website at

www.artworkdg.com

or
email : [email protected]

or PM them via PF .

Finally some pictures of the superb box art by DH Kim .....ENJOY

Happy modelling

Nap

 

[Macca G]

Great review Nap, the last flight of Speckled Jim

 

[Oda]

Took the words right off my mouth Macca.

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Great review, with attention to the day to day details, such as webbing, belts, and few other details that were essential bits of kit to the soldier in the trenches!!

 

[dm. mitchell]

Really like this one. something different!

 

[Jamie Stokes]

On the strength of this review, I've picked up a box at the Melbourne Model expo.
I can agree with the points covered in this review, and also endorse it if you want a character study or a different form of bust: a but expressing hope in a grim situation.

warmest regards

Jamie