Orc 111

By Adrian Hopwood Full gallery at the end of the Article Company - Roberto Chaudron Price – £25.50 Scale –1/12th scale Material – Resin Code – RC-BU04 Sculpted by – Roberto Chaudron A brand new range being brought into the U.K. by El Greco Miniatures, from the hands of a very talented French fellow, these are all fantasy orientated, but absolute little gems. For some reason I’m thinking this is based on the Games Workshop game – Bloodbowl. The spikes, blades, helmet and shoulder pads just make him look like that somehow. Not a bad thing, because there’s enough there to difference him from anything that GW have done prior to this anyway. The title also makes me wonder what happened to the first two – did they die horribly under the feet of some marauding Ogre linebacker ? Perhaps we’ll never know. What I do know is that this is a really nice little piece. It’s got lots of parts for a bust – eight in all if you don’t start counting all the little spikes ( I think that there’s five or six of these too ). Sculpting is good, there’s skin detail over all of the Orc, looks like it’s been put on with a very fine scraper or toothed object, and really works well. It might be a bit of a beggar getting rid of the mould line that runs up his right shoulder to the area around the ear, but I think most, if not all of this will be hidden by the shoulderpad on that side anyway. The face is going to be a joy to paint – all those wrinkles to play with, and whilst the more adventurous might think of cutting out some of the larther fangs and replacing them with home made replacements that stand away from the face, I’m pretty sure that the ones already there will look good once painted. Moulding is good, and the parts split is very logical. It’s done so that the maximum detail and undercuts possible can be rendered, and works very well. The other advantage is that you can have the option of discarding some of the add ons in preference for something scratch built, thus personalising the piece. I’m not sure if this has been done by design, or is simply the sculptor and mould maker tying to make things easy for themselves; either way though, it saves the budding converter from having to do major surgery to a part, just to be able to try adding something individual. The stylised, almost swooping stance of the bust ( can a bust have a stance ? ) is also very eye-catching. There’s actually not all that much of a model here, it’s just a head and shoulders, but the way that he’s been posed gives the illusion that there’s so much more. Very clever, and very well executed. If I was to point to something I’m not sure of, it’d be the little spikes. It’s the only part of the kit I can say this about. I see why it’s necessary to have them in the kit, and having them as an integral part of the kit would be a moulding nightmare. But they are rather tiny, and I think a lot of people will probably go down the route of adding their own custom made parts; and because he’s an Orc, the additions will probably be larger ! Another good kit released by this emergent company, and one worth getting hold of. The model is available from Matt and Celine at El Greco Miniatures at the address below, or by visiting their website. Adrian. El Greco Miniatures 63 Glebe Drive Brackley NN13 7BX United Kingdom Phone: +44 (0)1280 840364 Email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Home Page: http://www.elgrecominiatures.co.uk