PRELUDE

Hi everyone, so the collaboration with NutsPlanet continues and this time we have a really enigmatic sculpt by Jonatan Monerris. Jonatan is also known for his work with Fer Miniatures and Peter Punk Productions. It arrived safely in its usual sturdy, blue box adorned with the box art by Myeong-Ha Hwang. Inside we find ten highly detailed, polyurethane resin parts, nestled between between shaped layers of foam. The smaller parts are contained within ziplock bags and first impressions are very good. This is a 54mm scale kit, with lots of details and textures, I imagine it will be a lot of fun to paint.

A FEW WORDS FROM THE SCULPTOR

Hi there folks! First of all I would like to introduce myself. My name is Jonathan Monerris. I’m a miniature sculptor in my own line called Peter Punk Produktions. You can find my line in the brand called FeR Miniatures. I’m gonna tell you quickly how I made this scene, and also the personal adventure that this represented for me.

The artistic team from Nuts Planets sent me a really basic illustration about what they wanted for this scene. From here I had to start my work on it . I started using the following materials:

-Fimo classic.
-Wire. 
-Magic Sculpt.
-A little bit of Duro.

The first step was to make a structure from wire for both miniatures. After this I covered the base made from wire with Magic Sculpt, in order to give some more resistance to the wire. After this I started to use Fimo for everything. The process to make the Barrel, was pretty similar. I made a base from Magic Sculpt, and after this I applied Fimo over it.

This is, definitely, the most complex project that I have made until now. So many elements which should fit together. I hope that you liked it! Jonathan Monerris.

SCULPT AND CAST

Big Adventure depicts two pirates, in a comic style, heading into new, uncharted territory, one rowing with a makeshift paddle the other illuminating the way in the dark with a lantern. It makes us wonder what happened to the ship, were they capsized, have they escaped from certain doom?

Beginning with the base which has nicely sculpted ripples and waves, with a depression to receive the two part transport of their choice; an empty Rum barrel. This means that for those of us still not comfortable with water effects, we can simply paint the waves already present, yet it also provides the opportunity to add additional effects with various products if we so wish.

The two halves of the exposed barrel top go together nicely, with a pin and hole assembly but a quick dry fit shows that a little gap filling may be required. The barrel shows nice textures and details to the planking and comes with an iron band for support.

The barrel is finished off with some additional details such as the length of cloth, small cannon ball and rope. Its at this point that I notice the rowers arm which is sculpted to the barrel, it is manacled and chained! So perhaps they have escaped capture or maybe the relationship between the sailor and Captain is not what it first appeared to be?!

The sailor has a comic look to his facial details as he squints and frowns into the sea mist being blown into his face. His clothing is devoid of any realistic folds and creases to the fabric, I am assuming so as to maintain the almost caricature like personality of the sculpt. There are however, nice seams and undercuts.

The left arm slots into a rather deep hole to the pirates shoulder and then the right arm fits nicely via a pin, the positioning of both arms is pretty obvious and can’t be attached incorrectly. The makeshift paddle (spade) then fits nicely to the left wrist via pin with the right hand cupping the end of the handle.

Extra care will need to be taken removing the excess resin from the slender head of the spade, this could easily be snapped or broken when you try to cut and file smooth the area.

So far assembly seems quite straightforward. Next is the captain and I’m not overly sure at the moment how he attaches to the rest of the kit. From looking at the images he just seems to be standing on the top of the barrel with his peg leg resting on the shoulder of his hapless travelling companion. The Captain continues the comedy value of the project, it is a real fun piece, from the top of his tricorn right down to his peg leg.

The Captain is dressed more lavishly with his oversized cuffed long-coat complete with ruffles and a feather in his hat. Facial features are again funny and the eye-patch is a nice touch. The facial hair is nicely rendered and the pistol stuffed into his sash is another nice detail. His left arm is relaxed, down by his side and holds his rather chunky looking cleaver/cutlass, his right is raised high to carry the lamp.

The lamp is another nicely sculpted detail, the handle is partially formed so that it clips over the hand, a good solution to a possible design issue. The lamp by itself will make this a challenging paintjob to do correctly as the figure painter will have to incorporate OSL and cast shadows to the project to pull it off.

The cast is very good as it always is with NutsPlanet with no major defects such as air bubble holes or slippages. There are one or two feint mold lines which shouldn’t pose any problem to remove. There are though some casting plugs and excess lengths of resin that will need removing, take care! (Apologies for the quality of the pictures, these pieces for some reason were particularly tricky to photograph).

DESIGN AND ORIGINALITY

The kit has a great design and the composition is well balanced, there is so much to the sculpting I would imagine this would be a lot of fun to paint. The position of our antagonists is such that the arms of the captain, not only guide us to his face but also to that of his rowing companion. The little details throughout really help to create a strong narrative.

NutsPlanet and Jonatan have taken a popular subject (pirates) and with a little twist and no small degree of humour created something that is so full of life, story telling and charm; this is a very original kit in my opinion.

DESIRABILITY

There is so much to admire about this kit and it is a little different to the other releases from Benny and his team. Jonatan has done a wonderful job of the sculpting and the cast is near perfect. It is a great subject matter, wonderful design and composition and offers the figure painter (fantasy and historical) a great deal of scope to create some interesting projects.

This kit will be yet another desirable release.

AFFORDABILITY

As always affordability comes down to the individual but $60 seems a fair and competitive price point for a 54mm kit of this quality.

DATES, FIGURES AND STUFF

Cost                                       $60

Material                                Polyurethane Resin

No of Pieces                         10

Release Date                        Available Now

Where Can I Get It?           HERE

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