Review 5th Bengal Cavalry C 1910 - New Release Fromhawk Miniatures

[Nap]

Hi to all ,

I have always been a fan of colourful uniforms ...well who does't ...and what better could you get than the native style ones the British Officers wore in India at the turn of the 20th century .

Following on from the owner of Hawk Miniatures (user name Hawk_Uk) recent post showing the great painting by Eddy Vandersteen of this review subject.

Here is that link : http://www.planetfigure.com/threads...s-5th-bengal-cavalry-office-circa-1910.51448/


Its my pleasure to be able to show you my review of the subject .


First though lets have a little bit of history about the 5th Bengal Cavalry .

Raised at Bareilly in 1841 as the 7th Bengal Irregular Cavalry , becoming the 5th Regt BC in 1861 , by 1903 the word Bengal had been dropped to become the 5th Cavalry eventually almagumating with teh 8th to become the 3rd Cvalry ...when the new Indian Army was formed in 1947 the Regt joined its order of battle .

British Officers adopted Native dress uniforms style for full dress , this together with the rank and file proved to be an eye catching spectacle at the many parades held in India .

References you might want to look at include:

Tradition Magzine No 50 which was dedicated to the Indian Cavalry Regiments ...a gem of a magazine .

From Osprey series:MAA No 91 Bengal Cavalry Regiments 1857-1914 - ISBN 0 85045 308 9

The Indian Army by Borris Mollo - ISBN 0 7137 1074 8 (covers all units)

An assemblage of Indian Army Soldiers and Uniforms - by Michael Glover (1973 Perpetu Press)

Continued in next post:

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[MCPWilk]

The link provided shows a head and shoulders bust, the box top illustration a half figure.

Awaiting further views with interest.

Mike

 

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Let crack on and have a look at the precious box we have just bought :

What do we get :

Subject : 5th Bengal Cacalry Officer in Full Dress Uniform c1910

Scale: 1/10th

Material: Resin (Gray)

No of pieces; 3

Reference: RL/10

Sculptor: Rob Lane


The model comes secured in a bubble wrap and sealed plastic bag within a strong cardboard box , in addition to the actual pieces you also geta insert with a regimental History , a colour picture (same as what is on the box front) , uniform description with website details for more pictures and information

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[Nap]

M

The link provided shows a head and shoulders bust, the box top illustration a half figure.

Awaiting further views with interest.

Mike

Mike,

You are indeed correct the picture on the box art and insert is a half figure and the actual model a head and shoulders sculpt ..thank you for pointing this out (the box and insert is I presume merely for reference), I had received this bust before Eddy had done any painting for Hawk Miniatures .

I am unsure if they are going to change any box picture etc perhaps Hawk_Uk can advise , although my thoughts are it does not affect the model...off now to finish the review!!! .

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[Nap]

Looking now at the main piece the torso :

Our Officer is sculpted wearing the full dress kurta with full dress pouch belt , the collar and centre being heavily laced in regimental pattern , on his shoulder he wears chains (these could be removed if needed) .

I have had the privaledge of seeing Rob sculpt this froma blob and I have no doubt the lacing caused him many a sleepless night , being done individully ..has it been worth it when its cast ...a DEFINATE YES .

The same amount of care has been lavished on the shoulder chains and pouch belt as well ..cracking work Mr Lane ...

.....my only comment is I would be tempted to put a bit of rank on the chains in keeping with the older face (possibly a Captain or Majors rank badges)

Our Officer has been given 2 medals as well (I love these) full of intricate detail with reconisable relief on the medal . ...these add a lot of interest to the piece ..which is already a colourful subject .

As expected from this wizard with the putty sculpting is finely defined , particularly around the pockets (these have an edging on them as well) , the collar sits high and proud with wonderful raised lacework being sculpted on .

The shoulder chains will benefit from careful painting ..high highlighting and washes being particularly useful to bring out all the minute details that Rob has done .

Prep is absolutely minimal , the only thing to deal with is a small casting remnant on the very base of the piece.

The clothing has very natural looking folds something Rob works really hard at achieving on all his sculpts , the line between the arms and shoulder area is well done making painting a lot easier .

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[Nap]

Now onto the head and the lungi (turban scarf end)

The head is a real cracker of a character (I can just imagine him and his good lady in the mess at Tiffin) , strong cheekbones and a wonderful curly moustache together with a small "goatee" beard ..all very "Indian" , facials features are strong with great cheekbone definition , a strong chin line , ears are poking out from under the turban . as is the base of his hair , all of which again is nicely detailed .

The turban itself is a great piece of work , the folds all look good and are again nicely dealt with , the decroative ends hang at the back in a paloo , the centre piece or Kulla has fine details on it as well ...this turban is being worn and adds to the whole atmosphere of the bust .

The Paloo fits snugly onto the back of the turban resulting in a great finish with no filler being needed when I put it together in the dry run .

The actaul turban has no regimental pattern lines on it ..a good idea as this opens the bust up to many conversions ..after much research of course !!!

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[Nap]

Hi Guys ,

Final thought from me ...to be honest I have followed this from nothing and its became a labour of love for Robert I feel , its paid dividends ..the details and the subject matter are 1st class .

This is a painters bust with plenty of potential options using this bust as a starting point or if you choose to tpaint as it was intended then you will have a cracking display piece .

I for one look forward to future releases from Hawk Miniatures ....perhaps we shall see British Officers in Mess dress or Indian troops .

No base is included ..but IMO not a problem ..I look forward to having this on my bench ...in the meantime lets enjoy the painting of Eddy Vandersteen once more .

For more details why not vist the Hawk Miniatures website at www.hawkminiatures.co.uk ...and enjoy the products on offer .

Nap

 

[Jazz]

Hi Kevin. Nice review as always. Great little bust. Very similar to one that I painted up recently.

 

[Helm]

It's a great bust and a cracking review Kev only thing I think is a shame is the monocle on the box art didn't make it to the model

Steve

 

[Hawk_Uk]

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for your reveiw of the kit, the original box picture was only used on the intial few kits as I had not arranged the box art with Eddy, but all kits from now on will include the photos of Eddy's finished bust.

Steve,
I use some very talented casters but I thought the monicle would be pushing the limits, though there is nothing stoping you creating one from wire and clear plastic. In fact I have been practicing on making one for myself to use on this bust.

Anyone wishing to take a closer look please drop by the stand at Euro next weekend.

Regards

 

[Mirofsoft]

Just imagine the pleasure to have it ( even in smaller scale 120mm ) and have the pleasure to paint also arms, gloves, belt, legs, boots
Best

 

[Jimbo]

Just imagine the pleasure to have it ( even in smaller scale 120mm ) and have the pleasure to paint also arms, gloves, belt, legs, boots
Best

What a pointless comment!.....Daahh!
This "Bust" is in no need of any legs/arms/boots or to be in a smaller scale or anything else come to that!...it's perfect as it is!..as a true bust... and a very good one at that!
Jimbo

Great review Kev, as always your the man when it comes to quality reviews.
Cheers
Jimbo