Benito Mussolini

[fabrizio19691969]

comimg in november in my store,54,75,and bust…..please in this post i present history not politically ideas!!!!!

 

[Babelfish]

Nicely done and a good likeness. I'd paint it.

It's funny isn't it: There are people who'd think nothing of painting Genghis Khan or Attila or Caesar or Vlad Tepes (all of them let's face it perpetrators of historical atrocities on a massive scale), but would come out in a rash and reach for the smelling salts at the mere suggestion of painting a Mussolini or Hitler figure. I've never understood that logic.

Each to their own I guess, but as you say it's history. And this hobby is all about painting history. Painting it doesn't mean you're endorsing or glorifying it.

- Steve

 

[fabrizio19691969]

Nicely done and a good likeness. I'd paint it.

It's funny isn't it: There are people who'd think nothing of painting Genghis Khan or Attila or Caesar or Vlad Tepes (all of them let's face it perpetrators of historical atrocities on a massive scale), but would come out in a rash and reach for the smelling salts at the mere suggestion of painting a Mussolini or Hitler figure. I've never understood that logic.

Each to their own I guess, but as you say it's history. And this hobby is all about painting history. Painting it doesn't mean you're endorsing or glorifying it.

- Steve

exactly my friend

 

[MCPWilk]

Painting it doesn't mean you're endorsing or glorifying it.

I'm not sure that's true. A well known company's release of Richard Heydrich didn't go down very well, and the majority of dioramas and vignettes do tend to show the 'glory' of war than the reality. I suspect that a diorama showing the surgeon's tent during/after Waterloo or the Orlop deck at Trafalger with a pile of amputated limbs in a bucket would be regarded as rather tasteless. There's also the time dimension - there are still many people around whose families suffered from the wars of the last century who may wonder at the popularity of some figures and consider them, if not offensive, then inapropriate.

As regards this figure, the likeness is excellent and appears to capture the nature of the man, mainly bluff and swagger with hopes of grandeur.

Mike

 

[Dr Bison]

I wonder, how popular a model / bust of Osama bin Laden, Muammar Gaddafi or Fidel Castro would be....

But like Mike wrote, the likeness is very good.

Karl

 

[Babelfish]

I wonder, how popular a model / bust of Osama bin Laden, Muammar Gaddafi or Fidel Castro would be....

Well we won't know the answer to that until and unless someone brings one out. Andrea did Che Guevara (Castro's right-hand man) in 54mm which I have in the cabinet, and I'm sure I've seen a bust of him from some other company (not recent).

- Steve

 

[Babelfish]

There's also the time dimension - there are still many people around whose families suffered from the wars of the last century who may wonder at the popularity of some figures and consider them, if not offensive, then inapropriate.

That would pretty much rule out anything and everything post 1900 then!

- Steve

 

[Martin64]

It is to be expected that these discussions pop up when we have the miniatures of the villans of history to be released regardless that some of them sell quite well. IMHO it is most of the time overlooked that the people we see as the counterparts of the villans are let's say controversial in the eyes of others. Everyone is free to decide what bust or figure of a historical personality populates his shelf.
Cheers Martin

 

[Ernie]

It is a free personal choice of course, as an Italian I'm not proud of the past it represents. Moreover, let's not forget that the fact that we are here free to debate and pick our choices as we like, is due to the men who in their time fought the likes of Mussolini

 

[Martin64]

Yes and therefore freedom to debate, dislike or like should be valued.

 

[Blind Pew]

This is an old, but nonetheless very interesting discussion. I'd say the chief reason is economics. I was talking to a manufacturer at a show and this topic came up. He said that depictions of Nazi hierarchy simply do not sell well at all. Contrast that with sales of SS figures, of which there's no shortage. We depict military history, and therefore some events that are awful.
Anyway, without getting bogged down, this is a very good likeness and a good figure.

 

[Steve Ski]

I'll throw my two cents in on this one, Excellent figure, Fab, very good likeness. This is history and IMHO, must be kept alive.

Case in point, I was at a BBQ in early summer and met a young lady who was discussing her art work. When I showed her mine, she went full “woke” on me and just about had a mental break down. She flipped out on seeing the German Military flag on two of my dios and asking how I could do such a thing. I had to politely remind this 26yr old that it’s called “History”, and that she should invest some time in learning it, regardless of the crap her college professor has fed into her feeble consciousness.


Nothing wrong with a “polite” discussion on these matters, but we all do paint history, because we love it.

 

[VerSacrum]

Case in point, I was at a BBQ in early summer and met a young lady who was discussing her art work. When I showed her mine, she went full “woke” on me and just about had a mental break down. She flipped out on seeing the German Military flag on two of my dios and asking how I could do such a thing.

That's pretty funny, maybe you should've included a trigger warning.

 

[Blind Pew]

That's pretty funny, maybe you should've included a trigger warning.

In fact, I've just changed my mind. I am triggered because you made a joke of Steve lack of a trigger warning. I'm so triggered in fact, I'm never going to paint another figure again. Ever. And neither should you. I'm so traumatised, I'm going to have to lie down in a dark room and listen to a tape of whale noises.

 

[Nap]

Hi Fabrizio

Thanks for sharing this , agree with the comments above and all in the right context as well

It’s a nice looking Figure , good facial work and a bit of a challenge to paint up

It’s a personal choice of subject to buy so enjoy it if you do , if you don’t respect others views and versions of it

Thanks for sharing

Happy releasing

Nap

 

[Nap]

Hi folks

If I may .......

Did a search around out of historical interest , you might know I like a ribbon or medal ...or two !

The above military decorations were taken from the uniform of Mussolini, the wartime Italian dictator, on May First, 1945 by Lieutenant Colonel Halvor O. Ekern and Lieutenant Colonel William S. Lueck. The uniform was found in Mussolini’s summer palace on the shore of Lake Garda in North Italy

These below were sold for $6000 in 2010 in USA

These are I think the ribbons on the actual model

Theses below are from a repro uniform on flea bay

Nap