75mm Nubian Palace Guard from AVE Miniatures.

[Martin Philpott]

AVE Miniatures 75mm Nubian Palace Guard Figure


Catalogue Ref: Nubian Palace Guard.
Sculptor: Oleg Pogosyan.
Scale: 75mm.
Price: €30.
Availability: Direct from AVE – www.ave-miniatures.com/

Forward.
I have to say this is a subject choice I had never come across before, ‘Nubian’ had never popped up on my radar until I received this delightful looking figure and therefore a little research was in order. Sounds easy right?

There is actually very limited information to be found in terms of text that covers the late 1800s which is the era this figure is set in. Therefore I will keep this brief, here is what I found out……..

Nubians are an ethnic group originally from northern Sudan and southern Egypt. They have a long, mysterious and intriguing history dating back to dynastic Egypt. They founded a dynasty that ruled the upper and lower areas of Egypt during the 8th century BC and are famous for their skill and precision with an assortment of weapons including among others the lance, knifes and pistols and bows. Their bravery and loyalty to their masters was undisputed and great respect was given to the position of guarding the palaces from thieves, intruders and any other unwelcome visitors.

(Below)
Black and white sketch of a Nubian Guard showing how heavily armed and protected they were in order to defend the palaces they helped protect.

The incredibly talented artist Ludwig Deutsch produced exquisite pieces of work in stunning colour that beautifully portrayed Nubian Palace Guards, originals of these paintings rightly demand huge sums of money.

(Paintings below)
Nubian Palace Guards By Ludwig Deutsch.

(Photo below)
Original belt used to hold various weapons. This has been beautifully sculpted and copied in resin for the figure.

(Photos below)
More original artefacts and pieces of uniform typical of those worn by Nubian Guards and portrayed wonderfully on the resin figure.

Introduction.
AVE Miniatures are relatively new on the scene and are based in Tula Russia. The company has been the vision of Andrey Arhipov who is the owner/operator with the aim of producing resin miniatures in a number of scales that cover a highly diverse and unusual subject choice. The figure I have for you today is actually the very first released from them. Will it have enough about it to get people interested?
My review sample arrived without any box art but the parts were very well packaged and in first class condition upon arrival.

Continued on next page.....

 

[Martin Philpott]

The Figure
Consisting of 11 individual parts the figure is produced in a light grey coloured resin. The quality of that resin on each of the pieces that make up the kit is consistently high with very few blemishes. Having removed the small casting lugs from the feet of the figure in order to place it upon the supplied base I found the workability of the media to be just right being neither to soft or hard.

Head

Starting with the head we instantly see the exceptional standard of detailing and production. Looking at the separate areas everything appears sharp, crisp and well defined. The face has been beautifully captured showing superbly powerful highlighted features, all perfectly matched and in keeping with the distinctive ethnic appearance of a Nubian Guard.

The metal helmet has been accurately reproduced and will need two additional decorative pieces from the kit adding for completion. The chainmail moulded around the helmet looks fantastic as does the head robe with its ruffled appearance. Only minimal amounts of cleaning and preparation required on this piece, all easily achieved with the gentle use of scalpel and sanding sponges. I test fitted the head to the main body and the fit is perfect.

Body
Adorned in chainmail and robes the main body part looks glorious from whatever angle it is viewed. A very proud, relaxed and natural pose has been produced. There are the usual seam lines and very small amounts of clean up that need to be performed but this really is at a minimum and should take no time at all.

The chainmail looks superb and will be a real standout feature once painted with appropriate wash added to make it really ‘pop’

The robes look awesome with their ruffled and layered appearance.

From the back the detail flows through, here you can see the belt which is delicately detailed. The footwear is equally well defined as are the legs.

Shoes
Not an awful lot to mention here! Below are the ‘curled ends’ of the separately cast shoes. Only a small amount of attention needed to tidy them up once glued to the main parts.

Arms

The right lower arm has been moulded as a separate piece. The front of the arm is protected by means of metal armour which has been very nicely represented here. The hand itself is fabulous with very fine detail right down to the finger nails. The metacarpal bones highlighted so prominently on the back of the hand are a really nice feature and again show the hugely impressive quality of finish in the production process.

The left lower arm is actually moulded with the hand gripping to the spear. Once more the detailing is sublime showing great depth and tone in the arm muscles and in the hand structure.

Robe
Produced as a separate piece is this robe which simply fits snuggly and precisely to the back of the figure.

Accessories
These guards were heavily armed and were masters of the weapons they had upon themselves. No exaggeration has been used in the amount of weapons our figure carries, looking at the illustrations and drawings from that time our figure perfectly mimics what evidence provides us with.
Included in the kit is this one piece part that shows flintlock pistol, sword and knife, all encased in the beautifully decorative belt. The level of detail is intricate and superb.

Now I can’t be sure but it is my guess that the individual piece shown below would have held the gunpowder for the flintlock, wonderfully detailed and another superb example of attention to detail.

Lance
These were often beautifully ornate and colourful as can be seen from paintings. What we have here is a wonderful representation in resin. To protect it in transit the item was taped to thick, heavy card. There is some warping as you might expect of something so finely produced in resin but this will be rectified very easily by placing in a bowl of warm water. No other defects were found and only the very basic clean up will be required.

As we see from the photo above, the left lower arm is sculpted as part of the lance, a clever idea I felt.

The detail is very fine and intricate, care will be needed. Amazing attention to detail that captures real authenticity, wonderful stuff.

More of the stunning detail shown above for the lance.

In the photo above and below we see the two additional decorative parts that will need to be added to the helmet. Care will be needed in the removal of these from their casting blocks and subsequent cleaning.

Base

Nothing to spectacular but a nice inclusion is the resin base. With some work on your part it could easily be improved upon and is capable of performing its function. I did test fit the figure to the base and it was a reasonably good match.

Continued on next page.....

 

[Martin Philpott]

(Photos below)
The assembled figure, courtesy of AVE. I think you will agree its an imposing and very pleasing piece that once assembled and painted will make for a very nice display figure.

(Photo below)
I have included a reference photo below of the completed and painted figure as depicted modeller Vyacheslav Rusyaev. An exceptional representation I’m sure you will agree.

Synopsis.

I like it, I like it a lot. This was the first figure released by the company and it should set them nicely on their way to greater things. If subsequent releases keep in line with what we have seen here then I’m sure AVE are set firmly on the road to success.
75mm certainly seems to be the scale of choice right now, the price in my opinion is justified matching well the quality of the piece, and having seen in the photo above the highly appealing finish that can be achieved I feel confident there will be others wishing to do similar justice, the subject choice should appeal to a wide audience.
All in all a wonderful first release that was a joy to review, my sincere thanks to Andrey of AVE Miniatures for this opportunity which in my estimation is well worthy of a highly recommended rating.
The company have a website and Facebook page, I strongly recommend visiting both, I have included links below. I look forward to future releases and seeing plenty more from AVE Miniatures.

Martin Philpott.

AVE Media:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ave.miniatures

Website: www.ave-miniatures.com/

 

[Nap]

Martin,

A fine review and figure.......a hard subject to research .

Nap

 

[Martin Philpott]

Thanks Kevin, I must admit I do like to put in a fair amount of research, it gives a real feel for the subject. However this was a nightmare of a subject to get information on!

Martin.

 

[Blind Pew]

Quite possibly the best figure review I've ever seen. Well done and thanks.

 

[Martin Philpott]

Thanks indeed for the kind comments Blinds Pew, very much appreciated.

Martin.

 

[Krest063]

Очень интересная и красивая миниатюра !
Very interesting and beautiful miniatures!
Andrey

 

[Babelfish]

Good review of a nice-looking figure.

- Steve

 

[megroot]

That's a great revieuw and in my opinon a really exceptional sharp casting of this beautifull figure.

marc

 

[Nap]

Quite possibly the best figure review I've ever seen. Well done and thanks.

Got to agree with Mr Pew here ..but I am better looking than Martin!.....

Currently packing to move hope to get some stuff done before the big day!

Nap

 

[Martin Philpott]

Thanks so much for the feedback on the review and the figure guys, really do appreciate your comments.

@Kevin, good luck with the move, hope the new place has a room set aside with your name on it for the bench ;-)

Martin.

 

[kenshin393]

Great review, very thorough, an interesting piece too. I look forward to someone tackling it in earnest.

 

[Helm]

Excellent stuff very interesting too nice one
Steve

 

[davidmitchell]

Fantastic review Martin of an exceptional figure ,one which on the strength of this review I will be buying.


Cheers David

 

[AVE.M]

Excellent visibility, Martin! Thank you so much for the work done! If you would be interested to do subsequent releases of our figures, we are happy to provide them for you.

Andrew

 

[Martin Philpott]

Hi Andrew, thanks so much for the kind words, I am very pleased you liked the review.

Credit to you for producing such an interesting and beautifully crafted figure.

I will be in touch regarding other releases, bless you my friend and kindest regards,

Martin.

 

[ATTİLA the HUN]

Great sculpted Fİgure,
Martin thanks for review...