Claude Duvall - "The Gallant Highwayman" - Stormtroopers Review

[Guy]

PPST01
Claude Duval - "The Gallant Highwayman"
1643 - 1670
1/9th scale resin - 7 parts
Sculpted by Carl Reid
Painted by

Stormtrooper has recently released the bust of British Highwayman, Claude Duval. Sculpted by the talented Carl Reid this kit is in 1/9th scale and the rather large size is welcomed. The bust was sculpted with the arms and hands and as you will see, beautifully detailed.

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[Guy]

Arriving in Stormtrooper's sturdy cardboard box the bust parts were sealed inside baggies and surrounded by styrofoam chips for cushioning during shipping. Small parts were sealed inside a zip-lok bag for safety.

Above you can see various angles or views of the torso section of the bust. Amazing lace setail for the belt as well as the neck tie make this bust really stand out.

Above you see four sides of the separate cast hat. There is a large casting block to remove from the right side and once removed can be lightly sanded.

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[Guy]

Above you see the hat dry-fitted to the top of the bust.

Right Arm



Left Arm and Hand



Right hand holding gun

Above you see the right arm and the left arm and hand cast separately. The bottom two photographs show the separate cast hand which holds the butt of a pistol.

Above we have the dry-fitting of the arms to finally take on the character of Claude Duval.

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[Guy]

Above you have the major components of the kit dry-fitted together to form the character of The Gallant Highwayman.

Above is the separate cast bust plinth.

Several months before release Carl sent me the above photo of the Master that at the time just needed some tweaking and was ready for Stormtrooper's casting and release.

Additional Box Art Photography

Conclusion:
A simply beautiful bust with it's pose and casting. I know we will see many renditions of this bust at the shows in the coming years. Highly recommended.

Stormtrooper web-site
click here

R432
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[Michael Tse]

Classic Carl Reid naturalism.

Another incident when the sculptor's work is cast with head attached to torso. Gonna be s little interesting for the air-brush boy.

 

[JasonB]

Agree that its a beautiful bust, but the dimpling on the plinth and backside really detracts from the overall appeal
Nicely painted as well

 

[JGREEN]

I agree wholeheartedly with jburch. I've seen this "dimpling" on several busts lately (I think most, if not all, were Carl Reid pieces) and I personally dont care for it. Otherwise, a nice bust.

Jason

 

[garyjd]

Agree that its a beautiful bust, but the dimpling on the plinth and backside really detracts from the overall appeal
Nicely painted as well

If you look at the plinth it's a separate piece so a piece of brass tubing can take it's place. Really not a big deal after all.


Though texture can add to a plinth it does not always work and should be an effect that's carefully used. ~Gary

 

[gothicgeek]

As far as i'm aware Carl uses these plinths on most of his sculpts.... almost a " signature " methinks..

And a great review, thanks Guy

Mark

 

[megroot]

I'm a big fan and buyer off Carl Reid sculptwork.
First was the bust of the WW 1 Trench soldier. There it is a must that the plinth has the dimplings ( i saw them as a crater).
But with the Greek it disactracts me. Therefore i buy another base.
Life can be so easy.......with awesome sculpted bust's and very nice base's.
This one is also great, not my period of interest. But here the dimplings are giving also nothing more to the bust.
Buy a base and leave the plinth in the box, when you are in love with this bust

Great revieuw Guy. thanks for that.

Marc

 

[JGREEN]

I hear you Gary and Marc, but the dimpling is not only on the plinth, but the backside of the bust. If it were only on the plinth, it would be no problem, I just wouldn't use it. But the backside of the bust - that's a little harder to fix.

Jason

 

[JasonB]

I hear you Gary and Marc, but the dimpling is not only on the plinth, but the backside of the bust. If it were only on the plinth, it would be no problem, I just wouldn't use it. But the backside of the bust - that's a little harder to fix.

Jason

Yep, same here. If it were just the plinth it wouldn't be that big of a deal, though I hate the idea of "having" to replace something that I paid for because of the texturing. I understand its a "signature" of his work, but to me its an unnecessary distraction. Unless the base/plinth is tied into the theme of the bust (i.e. barbed wire on a WWI bust) I think they should basically be unnoticeable. Still, A beautiful piece of work.

Jason

 

[stu]

Many thanks for all your comments and especially to guy for a terrific review.

The matter of the dimples has plagued this bust since release and I cant but wonder "why mine" as there are quite a few out there that carl has sculpted with this effect.

I give carl total freedom in sculptin these busts and allow all his artistic talent to come to the fore and was blown away when I saw what he had done with this, the dimpled effect is purely what carl does and as its on the back doesnt detract from it for me.

The pedestal well thats just in the kit because you put one in and rather like bases are mostly not used .

My next bust has this effect also, so I'll wait for more dimples ,


cheers

stuart

 

[Kirtles]

I agree with Marc here - if you don't like the dimpled base, then it doesn't have to be used. The bust is different & also well up to Carl's usual very high standard.

Steve
www.skminiatures.co.uk

 

[megroot]

When you don't like the dimples at the back of the figure (we had this discussion yesterday evening at our club regarding the Greek bust) you can always fill it with some putty.
Did doesn't effect the bust.

Marc

 

[housecarl]

I don't think that the dimples detract from what is a cracking bit of sculpting.
Carl.

 

[garyjd]

Within 5 minutes you could putty over the dimples and then the only thing stalling a paint job is waiting for the putty to cure. ~Gary