Review WW1 Photographer Lt Malins released by HQ Models

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Nap

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Aug 7, 2006
Messages
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Hi everyone

Time to share the latest release from
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...its been a while since a release from them or should I say him as this is very much a hardworking member of this forum ...I refer of course to Felipe Margem ( use ID fmargem )


Felipe has released previously including a WW1 bust that I looked at here:

https://www.planetfigure.com/threads/ww1-german-home-guard-from-hq-model-kits.79011/

Now I don't know about you but I am not aware of too many casters in Brazil where Filipe lives so sensibly items are produced and despatched from Florida in the USA , under licence.

The release was announced by Felipe here

https://www.planetfigure.com/threads/lt-geoffrey-h-malins-1-9th-scale-bust.129528/


The last bust was a WW1 and so is this one , but something different again ........depicting a man who created perhaps the most famous of depictions of WW1 newsreels/films


Lt G.H. Malins
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But who was Lt Malins (curtesy of Wiki )

Arthur "Geoffrey" Herbert Malins (18 November 1886 – 1940) was a British film director most famous for camera and editing work on the 1916 war film The Battle of the Somme, which combined documentary and propaganda, and reached an audience of over 20 million viewers.

Filmed using a cumbersome Moy and Bastie 35mm Cine Camera ( 16"long, 9"wide , 18" high , heavy and with a awkward tripod






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Malins published an account of his wartime filming in 1920 entitled How I Filmed the War.
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The book conveys the extremely dangerous conditions under which Malins worked .

In it Malins described his own feelings towards the Battle of the Somme's initial reception in Britain:

"I really thought that some of the dead scenes would offend the British public. And yet why should they? It is only a very mild touch of what is happening day after day, week after week, on the bloody plains of France and Belgium ... the British public did not object to these realistic scenes in the film. They realised that it was their duty to see for themselves."

In June 1918, Malins was awarded an OBE. The citation commended his work as official photographer "in circumstances of great difficulty and danger

Filming was also carried out by other nations:

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Other film unit members showing camera used

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Lt Malins
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The later shows Lt J B McDowel on the right again with the M & B camera

The bust is sculpted wearing a trenchcoat , of course there were many variations , issue and private purchase

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Shown wearing the Mk1 helmet

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Continued in next post

Nap
 
Details of the release:

Title: Lt Geoffrey H Malins - WW1 Photographer

Reference: N/A

Scale: 1/9th

Material: Lt Gray Resin

No of parts: 8 plus 2 small

Sculptor: Carl Reid

Caster: Joel Nelson

Box Art: Milan Dufek

Produced by Felipe Margem


As you can see we have a couple of very well known names , Mr Carl Reid for the sculpting and for the HQ models boxart Milan Dufek

Shipping was quick from the US reaching me in just over 7 days

On first looking I thought there was a slip on all around label ...its not ..it is a wrap around sticky one so to get into the box you need to carefully cut across and peel back

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On opening the box : HQ 013.jpg

Whats in the packing HQ 014.jpg

  • A total of 8 parts the Torso , 2 arms ( the right with camera ) head , helmet , camera lens and strap and a base
Prep

  • Torso....A very fine casting line to sand away up the middle at the sides , general cleanup underneath
  • Left Arm.... Again the casting line needs sanding off , putty is needed to the shoulder area
  • Right Arm...General clean up on arm
  • Camera...remove 2 small casting plugs on top and 1 on front
  • Head....Slight air hole on left side by strap , general clean up
  • Helmet.... Fit to headtop ( there is a shape inside matching the head top ) small amount of putty around edges of head when helmet fitted
  • Strap and Lens ...fit into position on camera
In this part I will show the torso and the arms


Torso

Wearing the trenchcoat , suitably well creased , with the additional shoulder material hanging horizontally at the back and angled on each shoulder at the front , nice undercuts on the lapels and the epaulettes

There is a strap running across the the body front and back pulling well into the coat material

At the neck there is a collar and of course a tie ...standards are maintained by this fellow

Around the lower edge a belt with a buckle

On the left side there is a cast on clenched hand fingers folded in , the hand will need a little tidying up with filler when meeting the arm


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Arms

The left is bent at the elbow with the material well creased as becoming the material used , there is a armband sculpted around the upper arm

At the lower edge of the coat there is the strap , nicely done with the uniform jacket sleeve peeking out

Fit to the torso at the shoulder and the wrist will need a little filling but nothing drastic

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The right is again bent at the elbow holding onto the camera box itself , a bit of excess resin to take away where the camera meets the arm

Filling is needed when the arm is in position

Detail on the hand is good with the thumb on top , the remaining 4 fingers working their way around the camera corner .

Details on the camera is an area you could really work on adding something even more to this part

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Continued in next post

Nap
 
Onto the remaining pieces

Head

Getting a likeness to a known person is always difficult but I think Carl has done a good job , it's not 100% like him! the eyes might look a little offset but they are not , the angle of the helmet perhaps increasing the illusion

As with other faces from Carl a good sculpt , high cheekbones , mouth clenched shut , the nose is shaped when looking from the side , eye and nostrils are well defined

Hair is textured , a little rough perhaps

Along the forehead top there is the hint of the helmet lining and a helmet strap under the chin

Fit to the torso neck area is clean and easy to do

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Helmet

A good shape here with a nicely done outline in the underside for the head to fit in , you could also detail it up as per the pictures here in the review with the blip on the top and a edging

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Fitting the head and helmet together ( a little bit of filling inside as said earlier )

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Strap and Lens

Basic shaping in this piece , it will benefit a lens being added using something like Micro Kristal Klear

The handle is a good shape as per the photograph I think was used ( this differs from the reference pics in style being more basic looking )


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Base

This is the usual pedestal design used by many companies , textured but more than suitable , some like me will use a brass rod

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Final Thoughts

An interesting subject from HQ here , not seen before , little bit of prep needed but nothing too drastic , painted up it looks very good , not colourful for sure but will certainly add a great display piece to the cabinet.

RECOMMENDED

For more information contact them by e mail at:

[email protected]

FB Page being HQMODELKITS

Or you could message Felipe via PF


Thanks to for the review piece

Cheers to you all for looking in ..Enjoy your modelling

Nap
 
Nice though the sculpt is, Im still not convinced that it resembles Malins, even after looking at the unpainted sculpt. I think it may have been a better move to have marketed it as "war photographer", IMO.

Just my twopenn'th!(y)
 
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