Bushy Run

Company – Michael Roberts
Price – TBA
Scale – 54mm
Material – Resin
Code – 54029
Sculpted by – Alan Ball

Review By Adrian Hopwood

A ready-made vignette here, with almost everything you could need contained within the box, barring a few scatter materials for the leaves and grass.
Alan Ball has been sculpting kits for quite sometime now, and he’s quite polished at getting the atmosphere into small scenes like this. The figures come in several pieces, with logical breaks positioned to make each one as dynamic as possible. My only thought is that the standing figure could have done with a bit more of an anxious look on his face, as though the shot being lined up by his companion actually matters. However, I’m sure that a good painter could rectify that, and as the rest of the kit is filled with detail, I’m willing to let it slide.
The tree stump / base, is cast in one piece, and the figures appear to slot into place on it fairly easily. The standing figure perhaps a little easier, as he’s a simpler casting with both legs, body and head cast as one piece. The seated figure will need offering up to the groundwork before fixing the separate leg, so that he appears to have weight and isn’t left hovering above the forest floor.
I think that the difficulty with both figures is the separation line on the shoulders. Matching up skin to skin without the aid of a natural break line formed by a belt or clothing is always difficult, unless care is exercised with the joint and any filling that is necessary. I think that planning the painting, perhaps finishing the trousers of each figure before adding the arms, then sorting out any mismatch that might appear, before painting the skin, is probably the way to go. Michael Roberts is a very good resin caster, and to be honest, this is bourn out by the components in this and a second kit that I’ve been given by Matt and Celine at El Greco Miniatures. Coupled to that is Alan’s skill at sculpting, so there might be no problems at all with this area. It’s simply that I’m wary of joints like this, and wish to offer you advice in how to tackle problems if they arise.
His is certainly a nice kit, and one that should appeal to anyone who has a liking of Native Americans. Thanks to Matt and Celine at El Greco for supplying the review sample.

Adrian

Review By Mike Harbour

Here we go, this is my blow-by-blow account of this little piece.
What do you get ?
Well two really well sculpted and cast Native American Indians - Huron Indians - to be precise. Sculpted by the very talented Allan Ball.
There is a little flash to remove off the castings, although nothing too excessive, and fit of parts is good. The only tricky part is getting a good join and finish where the arms meet the body, and some careful filling and sanding is needed.
The standing figure I feel would have been better if his head was turned to be looking at the firing figure, but this is only personal taste. It would have given better interaction, but hey, what do I know ?
The base in the kit is good too, making this into a cracker of a vignette. The painting instructions list quite a few variations for the different tribes that where involved in the French Indian wars.
Thanks to Matt at El Greco for supplying the piece for review. I will be doing a painting article soon – so keen was I that I’ve got quite a long way with this already, to the point that I’ve only got one more Indian to paint and the base is already finished.

Mike

Model available from El Greco Models
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Stantonbury
Milton Keynes
MK14 6BG
United Kingdom
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Email: info@elgrecominiatures.co.uk
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