Review Rommel from Life Miniatures

[Nap]

Hi everyone ,

Life miniatures have recently released the 2nd in the " beginner series" of busts , with this resin being announced by here and in social media.

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/life-miniatures-another-pdf-tutorial-series.102886/

The first release was reviewed here:

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/panzer-commander-life-miniature-beginners-series.81376/

The series is aimed at the newer and less experienced modeller and provides as with all of Life Miniature releases a high quality sculpt with minimal prep allowing the prep time to be kept to a minimum and therefore the painting is in action quickly ...and as in the previous release a downloadable PDF showing everything you need is available FREE from the website

The subject is another German but this time one of the most recognised and respected officer who fought not only in WW2 but also in the Great War on 1914-18.

A family man seen here at his wedding
and with his wife and son later in WW2

The man is of course: Rommel



Lets have some background on this officer :

Serving with distinction in WW1 , a talented and respected leader he suffered the same hardships as his men .winning the Pour Le Merite and Iron Cross .In WW2 he was again a charismatic leader , liked and rewarded by Hitler with rank and much more , he was as stated a family man and this was his main concern ....he had nothing to do with the plot to kill Hitler and after serving and leading the Africa Corps and as a Panzer Commander in the west he was given the option of a show trial ...and dishonour or suicide and a state funeral with his family being safe ....he chose the later.

Continued in next post

Nap

 

[Nap]

Lets look at the Resin

Details of the release


Title: Rommel - The Desert Fox

Reference: LM-BS002

Scale: 1/10th

Material: Gray Resin

No of parts: 4 ( 3 resin and 1 clear )

Sculptor: Sang-Eon Lee

Box Art: Sang-Eon Lee


As with all of Life Miniatures releases packing is strong and has well produced colour artwork on both the top and sides of the box itself with the resin held safely between thick layers of foam inside , in this case the clear lens was in a separate bag .

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Parts consist of main torso , the head , cap and a set of clear goggles​

Prep

Again as with the previous release prep is very simple and easy to do with just a casting plug on the lower part of the main torso base , one under the neck and one at the rear underside of the cap , the goggles re held on a former which will need carefully cutting away, and then these are fitted ...obviously after painting the cap !!!

Fit of the pieces is excellent with no need for filler in any areas , the quality of the resin and the casting is again very high with no blemishes on any area including the goggle lens.

Torso

This is the top part of the subject including the shoulders , the sides angled nicely down to a point at the front , wearing the leather coat and a scarf with rank epaulettes on the shoulders , there are the straps for the often seen ( but not included here ) bino's ...these would be easy enough to add from the spares box we all have!!!

The leather coat shows good folds with the collar folded back and good undercuts around the edge itself with the buttons holes and the edging well done also

The scarf is neatly folded over showing really well formed folds , making painting easy to achieve , Rommel has been seen in several versions of a scarf including a plain " white" version as well as the patterned one .

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The bino straps are pulling into the coat and end cleanly at the lower edge of the torso .

The epaulettes are not in full size on the shoulders but just over half both have very good definition of the twists and the crossed batons of his rank , in this case Field Marshall

On the torso you have the opportunity to paint both cloth and worn leather as well as detail painting .

The base is cast very nicely into the torso and it certainly looks stylish .

Head

Looking straight ahead with a determined look , the sculpting is sharply done and a good likeness of Rommel , the features are cleanly done with the chin pushed up and forward showing the neck details well , as expected the eyes and ears are well done , nice work on the way the ears have been formed and shaped .

Fit to the torso is simple and easy to do , on the top of the head we have a block of resin which sits cleanly into a cutout in the cap ..very well engineered and cast




Cap

This is the service cap and exhibits all the quality we have seen in the other rein parts , the shaping in really good from all angles , the peak is spot on in size and the badge details on the front are excellent , sharply cast and painting will be easy enough as a result . the details of the cap cords also show good definition in the style , cast on is the goggle strap at the end on each side we have a hole into which a small cast on post sits when the goggles are in place

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Goggles

These are clear cast and its good to see this option and the fact they are separate , a good shape with the lens being very clear and no marks , fit could not be easier by using the holes in the cap provided ..in palce they look really good.

Be careful when cutting away from the formers .




Final Thoughts

A subject that has been done before and will I am sure be done again , but Life Miniatures have given us a well engineered , and very well sculpted and cast product aimed at the beginner but more than suitable for the more experienced painter , this is a nice addition to the series and yes there is another released this time a Russian ...I will be looking at this very soon .

A BIG BONUS with this series are the FREE pdf downloads as well , these are very well produced by a very talented man ...the owner of Life Miniatures....need I say any more !!!

Recommended to all


For information on this and others from LM go to the website at:

www.lifeminiatures.com

Or of course why not follow on FB

Thanks to LM for the review and to you all for looking in

Nap

 

[Nap]

Lets end this review with a couple of pictures from LM box art

Painted by Sang-Eon Lee

Great reference as well !!

Enjoy

Nap

 

[swralph]

Great review Nap.

 

[Joe55]

This Sang Eon Lee guy is one heck of a sculptor and painter!

Thanks for the excellent review Kevin !

Joe

 

[Barrie Harris]

1st class review as always Nap . Nice bust ,box art is excellent ,use as a guide if wanted.
Barrie(Newbee).