Artel W. Miniatures: Red Angel bust

Artel W Miniatures offer a range of interesting models that can be used as proxies in Warhammer games, and also other, wargaming, RPG related minis. They also have a small range of busts. There are a couple I would love to have,  but when the Red Angel came into the store I just had to buy it right away. (They have a 28mm version of this character, too, which I also reviewed here.)

The packaging is really impressive – you do feel you have a premium model in your hand. The bust comes in a black box with foam packed parts. Now I finished the model I really do not know what to do with it, because it would be a shame to discard it.

The assembly is simple, and the model fits well.  The head fits in wonderfully: the bottom is rounded, and fits into its “socket” in one way only without the use of locating pins or pegs; I found this solution pretty neat. The detail is very impressive: veins, folds of the skin, the scars, the damage on the armor, all look very real. I found the number of skulls to be a bit of an overkill, but that is a personal opinion. The face is sculpted to show the constant pain the character is in and the facial twiches he is known for in the lore. It took me a lot of time to gather up the courage to start this bust... three years to be exact.

I painted the armor using Vallejo’s gold, then gave it depth using several layers of AK Interactive’s True Metal gold, old bronze and copper.

Most of the other colors were achieved with oil paints (with some acrylic help when I needed a strong coverage). I hoped to achieve a grimy, dirty effect on the skin, as someone who spends most of his time in a gladiatory arena would be. 

Overall I am pretty pleased with the results. Absolutely recommended; this bust will most definitely stand out on any model collection… Now I just need to get a stand for this guy. (Seriously. I can't find any local sources, hence the makeshift plinth.)