Open Book Para Padre bust and 3 more from Stormtroopers

[Nap]

Hi folks ,

​

We hear much about a certain online auction site so its nice to be able to share some good news about a seller on there ...and he is from this forum ....namely Mark Bennett aka gothicgeek .

Those that went to Euro last time would have seen behind the Stormtroopers stand a rather tall gentleman working with Stu , not only is this lad a rather nifty painter but he has taken on selling the busts we will look at on e bay after Stu decided to taken them of his site in a revamp.

In addition to the 1/16th he also has the 1/12th that Stormtroopers released previously as well as listing some of his great boxart pieces.

This review will concentrate on the Padre but I will also provide pictures of 3 other pieces , being the French Infantryman AWI, Coldstream Guard at Waterloo and the PaNzerjager from WW2.

Lets start with the main subject

As always lets have some information on our review ...........on one chaplin in particular that served in the airborne and jumped with his "flock"​

​

CHAPLIN DANIEL McGOWAN MC​

Reverand (Captain) Mc Gowan , Army Number 287572 was billetted with 133 Fd Ambulance attached to HQ 4 Parachute Brigade as the Roman Catholic priest . He jumped into Arnhem and from the time he landed under fire was putting his own life at risk to help the wounded and bury the dead , saving the life of Brigadier Hackett by helping him to escape from a military hospital.

He found a store of weapons namely twenty Sten guns, three Brens, a German Spandau, grenades and ammunition , placed them between 2 stretchers , put a blanket over and proceeded to give them the last rites after which he buried them with full religious detail , for them to be exhumed by the Dutch resistance later.

For his bravery he was awarded the Military Cross

After the war he left the priesthood and entered into a career in education

Lets look at the piece :

Title: British Para Padre WW2

Scale: 1/16th

Material: Gray resin

No of pieces:2

Sculptor: Moz Corry

All the pieces we will look at are held in small ( obviously due to the scale!!) with the resin being in a plastic bag , the boxes either have a black and white picture or a painted version by Mark.

All the pieces come also with a small insert giving painting details

Prep...very simple for this piece just the bottom to sand level and removal of a small casting plug from the back...all very easy.

Looking at the resin now our subject has been sculpted by Moz wearing the black shirt with the white collar over which we see the smock , open showing the shirt . the collar is nicely worked with the shirt having nice folds .
The smock is rather nice and a good representation with the large collar , nice folds and the pockets are well defined . on his shoulders we see the rank of a captain .

Facial features are nicely done with a rather fine turned up moustache , in the corner of hsi mouth we have a hole to take the cigarette ( this is easily lost to the carpet monster !!!...but easy to replace )

The hair is longer than normally seen nice surface effects , with the ears being well shown .

The beret is full and shaped good leather band around the bottom with the cap badge being a really nice representation.



Final Thoughts:

This is a nice subject and not often seen , for the scale details are great , prep is minimal and painting will be quick in relation to the size , the final result a very interesting display piece .

For more details why not visit Marks e bay site at:

User id: gothicgeekminis

or you could Pm him here on this forum as gothicgeek

Nap

 

[Nap]

Lets look at the others now:

As with the para we find all in the same style boxes with an insert , this piece has the same prep needed as the Para

Title: Coldstream Guard Waterloo 1815

Scale: 1/16th

Material: Gray resin

No of pieces:1

Sculptor: Moz Corry

​

This subject depicts a guardsman at Waterloo , fully laden up the crossbelts are nicely textured showing wear , straps across his body are sharp in shape , with the belpt plate having the badge on it , easily recognised , nice work on the epaulettes and collar the lace edging being well done . The face is a determined one looking straight ahead sporting a fine pair of side whiskers and hair texture . At the back we see the blanket roll but no pack is sculpted , like this it seems to make the piece flow . The shako has the wet weather oilskin cover , nice to see this , I like the way the material has been done with the ends being pulled and tied with a nice cord at the front .



On to the next :

Title: French Infantryman AWI

Scale: 1/16th

Material: Gray resin

No of pieces:2

Sculptor: Moz Corry

​

Again an insert is included giving painting suggestions


Prep ...this time we have a simple blip to take off on the underside and level the base , on the tricorne we have 3 casting remnant to take off the side ...careful !!.

Looking at the torso our soldier wears his uniform open halfway to the middle of the chest , under this we see the waistcoat and under that a neck cloth , all the clothing has the appropriate folds , the left shoulder has the single epaulette on it , across his chest we have a belt , like the buckle details on this.
The face is well in character with him gritting his teeth , nice facial features are in place as well , the hair is straggly , being pulled round the back and held by a ribbon, all looking good.


The bicorne itself is as it should be , nicely shaped , like the edging lace and the cockade/bow , the crown of the hat is well formed.

Continued in next post:

Nap

 

[Scotty]

Beautiful but too small for me.

 

[Nap]

On now to the final one in this review:


Title: Panzer Jager Kharkov 42/43

Scale: 1/16th

Material: Gray resin

No of pieces:3 plus insert

Sculptor: Moz Corry

​

Prep...the torso has 2 small blips to sand away and level the base , other than that its perfectly smooth ..nice casting here, on to the head , the underside needs smoothing out to let it sit fully into the torso and a small bit of work on the underside of the fur cap , finally the binoculars will need to be carefully cut away from their formers.

The Torso is a depicted with a large fur collar possibly sheepskin as seen in pictures , this is an officer ...lucky as well to have such good protection from the bitter cold encountered.
The uniform has the pockets done well with the bino straps hanging down from around the neck , collar details are sharply done , no collar insignia has been included but easily ( honest) painted in , at his neck we have the Knights Cross , good shape .
What really stands out is of course the coat and the surface work on the collar , very well done , this will benefit washes to bring out the details.

On to the Head , this is good representation of the subject , good facial features , with nice fur effects on the hat and the badges of a eagle and the skull being very clear in detail and adding interest to the piece, when fitting dry fit first to check its sitting into the collar nicely.

The Binos are a nice representation of the real thing and will need to be fitted in the right position on the chest and in line with the straps , in place they look effective.

Conclusion

There you have it why not treat yourself to these lovely pieces , there are others on Marks e bay listing ...good models and good service from Mark at his e bay listings under gothicgeekminis

Thanks for looking in

Nap

 

[Babelfish]

Top review Kev. These are great little busts, I picked up the Frenchman myself at Euro. No doubt the rest will be added in the fullness of time.

- Steve

 

[Viking Bob]

I have already got the busts from gothicgeek and they are very good indeed. I have already painted the Guardsman and he is superb.
Great review Nap.

 

[peedee]

Good work here Kev.

Paul

 

[lbfactory]

Hello Nap
great review on these busts
just one thing the french AWI have not been sculpted by MOZ, but by .... I let you find his sculptor
Also the padre 's face
cheers
Laurent

 

[Adrian Cowdry]

The padre is an excellent subject.

 

[Nap]

Hello Nap
great review on these busts
just one thing the french AWI have not been sculpted by MOZ, but by .... I let you find his sculptor
Also the padre 's face
cheers
Laurent

Ooops sorry I will change it !...hanging my head in shame ..took the details from Stormtroopers FB initially

Nap

 

[DUBRISMARINE]

Working on the Padre figure at present. A nice figure of an unusual topic. However, there are some things that make me think that this should be dated for a later period [Suez/Cyprus?] I know the word 'Arnhem' sells figures and 'Suez' doesn't! I am not trying to count rivets, but the basis for my view is:
a. The Beret is well shrunken, few folds/creases and right hand edge is above the top of the ear, more like the 50's. During the 40's the beret edge was supposed to be half way down the ear and shrinking was discouraged.
b. The Smock has a full zip to the front. Without further research, I can only think of 3 people, shown in photos, wearing such a garment during WW2 [Monty, Gale and Browning], all Senior officers, so who's going to tell them off for wearing unofficial kit tailored to fashion! I believe this style was more common in the mid to late 50's for the Paras and eventually became the norm for a new smock pattern. During this time, I served with 45 Cdo RM, 1957-59, who also wore Denison Smocks, and I cannot recollect ever seeing, nor in my photo albums, a full zip version being used.
c. The photo of Padre McGowan unfortunately shows him without smock, just BD. I believe at time the Black Cloth and white dog collar was a front bib with an elasticated strap around the back. A collar less, khaki, officers quality shirt was worn under this. I think full shirt and dog collar [as depicted on the figure] are a recent innovation amongst the Clergy, I'm not a expert on this!
Therefore, you have two choices as to how to finish this figure a. Leave as be and caption as circa Suez/Cyprus 1956 or, b. make the beret fuller, add BD Top detail and close up the zipper gap, as per your photo of a Denison Smock, for a 1944 Arnhem figure.
Hope this is of some interest and value.

 

[swralph]

Great reviews Nap.

 

[smudger1960]

Excellent review Kev,some great pieces here,I was lucky enough to pick the Coldstream up from stu at Euro this year,it's a beautiful little piece