Review Cromwell from Foxwood Miniatures

[Nap]

Hi
Name a ECW leader and the Cromwell will certainly be right up there , from a rich landowning family in Cambridgeshire , he is often known as "The man who killed a king" , of course this was Charles 1st in 1649 by beheading .
No real military education before the ECW , he led from the front at battles like Edhill and by the time he fought at Naseby he was a Lt General
In 1649 he led the invasion of Ireland , his troops killing 3500 including religious and civilians , in 1657 he was made Lord Protector
Dying in 1658 from suspected kidney failure, in 1661 his body was exhumed and the head cut off , this remained on a pole outside Westminister Hall till 1685 where it was fell... off in heavy winds and taken home by a guard !!! ........appearing at a private exhibition in 1710, sold and resold eventually being reburied at his old Cambridge college in 1960...in the original 1815 box !!!, Cromwells body remains at Westminister

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Books are of course many , all providing interesting information not only on Cromwell but also the ECW itself




Details of the figure

Title: Cromwell

Scale: Approx 1/9th

Orginal Sculptor: Rob Hardwick ( released by Imperial Gallery ) ..information from Foxwood

Material: Gray Resin

No of parts: 1

Box Art: N/K

Casting: Richard Wharton (the same of Oakwood Bases fame )



I will deal with any prep as we look at the resin

Continued in next part

Nap

 

[Nap]

Lets look at the rein ....

Firstly I would like to say that Foxwood tell me the master was amongst many other subjects in a box they bought up , this is in my opinion a fairly old sculpt and obviously sculpted using traditional methods .

Prep....
Casting/slip line on lower arms to remove
Some rework on the hair is recommended and where it falls on the collar
Under the chin a small bit of filling is needed
Cleaning up the edges on the armour straps
The swordbelt/buckle would benefit looking at
Sanding on the underside and filling tiny air holes

The sculpt shows Cromwell with facial hair , the hints of which you can see in the death mask but as yet not seen in accessible portraits, so I feel this is him later in life .

He wears a buff coat under a breast and rear armour , a large collar , in the middle we see a neck gorget , above the collar a neck scarf .

The head is bare with the head turned to the left , long hair sitting on the right shoulder and hanging down at the rear , the distinctive warts are sculpted on the forehead

Facial features are not the best , the nose seems too full , the mouth lacking definition as does the eyes which also need levelling up , however access for painting is no issue

The hair will benefit some putty work , tidying up the strands ...you will see this in the pictures

The sash has some good folds but there are tiny air blows to fill

Underneath there is a fitment point for a post to fit ...nice touch

Click on pics for larger images if needed











Final thoughts.....

A good subject but I have seen better sculpts since this was first available , however I have really looked at this and feel time spent reworking details you can have some fun producing a finished piece

to contact Foxwood :

Email: [email protected]

www.facebook.com/Foxwood-Figures-100808079085192

Thnaks for looking in

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[OldTaff]

It looks awfully like the actor Nigel Davenport to me.

Alan

 

[valiant]

With considerable work, this could be made to look OK, as a generic ECW subject, but bears little resemblance to Cromwell, IMO. Just my two penn'th