Review Erich Hartmann

[Nap]

Hello out there ,

Released in December by MJ Miniatures and announced here

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/another-new-release-of-mj-miniatures-for-dec-2016.81755/

with the box art being shown also here a little later

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/erich-hartmann-boxart-mj-miniatures.82023/

Continuing in the bust series this time we have aWW2 fighter ace who was without doubt the top flyer ace during the conflict with an incredible 352 kills .

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Erich Alfred "Bubi" Hartmann was known as the Blonde Knight flying over 1456 combat missions engaging in combat 850 times resulting in 352 kills being awarded the Knights Cross , with Oakleaves, swords and Diamonds at the age of 22 it is thought the youngest ever to receive the diamonds.

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Born in 1922 with his father wanting both his sons to become doctors but Erich knew from an early age all he wanted to do was fly....that's what he achieved by being taught to fly by his mother (an avid pilot herself) then joining the Youth movement becoming a glider instructor at the age of 15 .
In 1940 he joined the Luftwaffe doing flight training till 1942 when he was commissioned as a Lt
fighting on the Russian front with the nickname of "Bubi" developing flying skills all the time , liking to get as close as possible to ensure a kill .

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After the end of the war he was sentenced to 25 years and was imprisoned in a Russian Gulag , being starved and humiliated but his determination and discipline made him survive and he was released in October 1955 joining the Bundesluftwaffe retiring from active duty in 1970 passing away in 1993.

Of course we have books not only on the WW2 Luftwaffe but also on his life itself .

Continued in next post

Nap

 

[Nap]

Now to the release details

Details of the release

Title: Luftwaffe Ace Pilot in WW2" Erich Hartmann"

Reference: MJ09-010

Scale: 1/9th

Material: Lt brown/flesh coloured Resin

No of pieces: 5

Sculptor: Ho, Seo

Box Art: Man-Jin, Kim

As with previous releases parts are in a good box with colour pictures on the top and ends , parts were held in bags and packed again in bubble wrap .

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One thing I would like to say is that the box was signed by MJ himself and on opening on the flap of the lid there is a stamped on "Thank you" ..both nice little personal touches.

Parts consist of 5 pieces , the torso , a choice of 2 heads , the cap and a basing post.

Prep

Torso...Casting plug from under right arm and remove a casting line from the rear of torso
Heads...Sanding underneath the neck and fit the one you choose
Cap...Casting plug from the back and fit
Base ...Sand the edge and fit

The parts are in the flesh coloured resin and are very smooth indeed , particularly seen on the undersides after prep.

There are the 2 heads , one for the cap the other bareheaded

Torso

Wearing a leather flying jacket , the details are exquisite , the movement of the material of the jacket is really well done , this is a painters piece if leather is your thing ...plenty of scope to add wear and tear all over .

Sculpted as seen in many pictures ( see above ) the collar is folded down sitting naturally on the shoulders , the undercuts are sharp and well worked .

The jacket is worn zipped together , these are nicely formed both up the middle and on the 2 pockets with the pull ends also being well depicted.

Under the jacket we have the collar of his working shirt , nice lining on the shirt edges. and at the centre his Knights Cross at the top we see the Oakleaves and Swords, well sculpted , not all the cross is visible but the swastika in the centre is there ..

On the shoulders on both sides we have the rank epaulettes of a Lt , again sculpting is sharply done with the style being well shown including of course the rank " diamond" with the waffenfarbe edging being equally as good, at the top we have the button , the surface slightly textured as issued .

Underneath we have a very well formed and accurate in size hole to take the post.

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Head

As you can see we have a choice of 2 both have the extremely life like features of the subject , suffice to say its a great representation , all facial features are excellent even unpainted it looks like him....well done that sculptor.

The half head is cut angled to take the cap

The other head is exactly the same but with a full head of hair , this is so lifelike I could comb it and looks so much like the pictures we see IMO ., the hair detailing is very good and the hardest choice with this pieces.......

.......Which head to choose ?...an option might be to have the bareheaded one and put the cap on the base itself .....or paint both versions and pin each one so you can change when you suit.

Fit to the neck area will be easy and no problem will be encountered , for some perhaps the neck might look a little too long but if you feel this then easily to deal with by sanding.

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Cap

I like this ......a lot .......a "crusher" style , well worm crumpled into the shape we have seen , fit to the appropriate head is easy and no filler needed ..excellent casting quality there .

Details are well done with the eagle being cleanly worked with the shape being very good underneath we have the swastika , around the edges we have the piping , again well defined and making painting very easy .
The central design is again spot on , the central boss being surrounded by oak leaves and then the luftwaffe pattern wings coming from this.

The cording is also nicely sculpted with a nice twist the ends fitting round a smaller button , the peak is a good shape and was not damaged .

Base

A simple post type suitable fro purpose and well fitting , some like me will use a brass post ..but the choice is yours .

Final Thoughts

Without doubt the sculptor has captured the look and features of this ace of aces , sculpting is sharply done with the casting being equally as so , presentation is well up to the usual MJ Miniatures level of quality.

There is another ace that has been released and I look forward to sharing that as soon as I can


Highly recommended

For more details on this and all the other great releases in all scales why not visit the website at:

www.mj-miniatures.co.kr

e mail: [email protected]

Thanks to

for the Review piece and all of you for looking in

Nap

 

[Nap]

Lets have a couple of pictures from Mj

Unpainted

And now MJ's box art ...ENJOY

Nap

 

[TERRYSOMME1916]

Nap, as always an in depth excellent review all I can say is that the sculpting on this bust looks great, I especially like the way it has been cut away under the collar of the jacket as I usually start my prep work on resin busts butchering them with a scalpel to emphasise folds and recesses etc, this is one for Matt who recently put his B-17 crewman on PF.
TERRY

 

[Viking Bob]

I totally agree with Terry, great review.

 

[Wings5797]

Thanks for a super review Kev.
Keith

 

[swralph]

Cheers for doing what you do best Nap.

 

[alexandre1]

Awesome portrait,specially the eyes, the quality and fine engraving and thanks for the historical biography.

 

[storm_zh]

Great review! thanks for sharing with us.