Kit Review – Captain Garfio (Spira Mirabilis)

PRELUDE

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the kit in full

Captain Garfio is the latest, highly sought after, limited edition (136 copies and almost SOLD OUT) creation from the ridiculously talented Lucas Pina Penichet aka Spira Mirabilis. It arrived in a delightful little black box, tied with paper string and finished off with an authentic wax seal.

“I always wanted to model my own pirate version”.

Inside the box we find the pieces sealed in ziplock bags, nestled in high quality, shredded art paper along with a stunning certificate of authentication. Mine was 58/136 and signed with a personal message, a nice touch! This is a traditionally sculpted bust, sculpted with Super Sculpy Firm and cast in six polyurethane resin parts.

First impressions? I am holding a piece of art!

Here we see some of the various steps of the sculpt and Lucas gave a little insight into the volumes of the beard process:

“I’m trying to search for basic volumes, and develop the volumes of the beard more and more. Just like to draw the shape and movement of the beard first so it works with more freedom and not afraid to ruin the work that’s underneath”.

Now, let us have a proper look at this delightful character!

SCULPT AND CAST

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stunning detailing to the brocade jackets and that beard!!

Lucas ability to create engaging and charming characters is probably only equalled by the master Romain van den Bogaert. Captain Garfio and his somewhat shy travelling companion is a stunning masterpiece, a sculpt so full of character, details and textures it will surely be an absolute pleasure to paint.

The Captain is presented, hook handed and carrying a chest of treasure. The head has some wonderful details to it (reminds me a little of Bruce Forsythe) and depicts a rather swarthy rapscallion, complete with teeth baring grimace.

The slight curls to the moustache adds a comic feel to the sculpt and the beard is simply wonderful. The bandanna to the head has been fully sculpted and detailed which means the tri-corn hat that comes with the kit, can be optional.

The brocade fabric of the open jacket is full of details complete with nice seams, trims and buttons, some of the seams are slightly torn and the creases to the sleeves are nicely rendered and not overdone. The ends of the sleeves are of the oversized bourgeoisie variety, with nice button details and showing the exposed ruffled cuffs of the shirt.

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super details to the treasure chest

Beneath the jacket we have the waistcoat, again lavishly detailed. The waistcoat is straining at its’ buttons, pulled tight over his bulging pot belly. I can’t quite tell if below this is the shirt or sash but once again there are nice folds here too.

The hand that carries the chest is quite simply one of the best I have seen rendered in resin, details such as the creases, nails and the bejewelled ring are delightful.

The iron bound, wooden chest is full of details including the handles and the small clusters of barnacles. The textures and grain to the wood once again shows incredible attention to detail.

There is a wonderful rodent that accompanies the kit, carrying a key to the chest in his tiny paws, just a case of attaching his curly tail. Another nice touch and nod towards the slightly comic feel of the sculpt.

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the hand is a work of art in itself

The other parts are the tri-corn hat and its’ accompanying feather and the hook! The hat looks worn and has nice textures. The feather looks nicely detailed, belonging to a parrot or some such. Then there is the hook and that’s it!

Preparation and assembly of the kit should be pretty straightforward. The cast is extremely good, capturing all those brocade details, sharp undercuts throughout and the crispness to the beard is exceptional.

The mouse will need removing from its’ little sprue and there are one or two resin plugs left over from the casting process that will need removing from the hat. There are no defects to the cast such as air bubble holes for instance and I can’t see any moldlines either.

All in all a very impressive kit!

DESIGN AND ORIGINALITY

Lucas has taken a favourite genre for figure modellers, the pirate and added his own special ingredients to create a truly unique sculpt. The design is well considered, the composition balanced and there is nothing that shouldn’t be part of the sculpt.

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even the rodent has an eye patch!

There is nothing redundant in the sculpt, nothing that has been left because of the whim of the sculptor. Everything works and the kit like many of his other works is unique and original. The only downside to this is that only 136 people maximum will get to own and paint one of these!

DESIRABILITY

What can I say, the Spira Mirabilis range is probably the most sought after range of sculpts currently within our hobby and the extremely limited run of casts makes them relatively rare too. If you want to own one, make sure you get updates from their page to avoid disappointment.

The quality of the sculpt and cast, the limited run, the originality and quirkiness of the subject matter all make the work from Lucas particularly desirable. He is also a freelance sculptor, so it is also possible to pick up his other works for instance Kellath the Dark from Hera Models and many more besides!

AFFORDABILITY

Let us just say that the quality is of the very highest standard, the presentation is sublime, the sculpt and cast as you have seen are exquisite. The kit will cost you around €44 plus shipping, in my opinion worth every penny but you will need to move quick as there are only about half a dozen pieces left!

If you want one you will need to contact Lucas via email: spiramirabilisminiatures@hotmail.com

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed the review!

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