[Open-box Review] Julius Caesar from Nuts Planet by Kevin
Hi to you all , There could be no more different piece to review than this in comparison with my last one of the Legionary , from one end of the social scale to another , this piece is of course an Emperor , probably the most famous of all ...Julius Caesar.
The release has been available for a short time but lets have a bit about the man himself : Gaius Julius Caesar was born on 12th July 100 BC a in Rome ,son of Gaius and Aureli and assassinated in 44 BC by being stabbed 23 times He is said to have been tall and fairhaired and well built suffering at times from epileptic fits. The historian Suetonis tells us that he was embarrassed by his balding head , being the subject of jokes and comments by his political opposites , so much that he used to comb his hair forward from the back !! he was happy to be able to wear the laurel crown as it hid the area!!! The subject of many books of course and a world famous play by the Bard himself Shakespeare.
There are lots of statues and images of him and he continues to be a name that invites further research by all .
Now then onto the box: Details are as follows: Title: Gaius Julius Caesar Reference; NP-B016 Scale: 1/10th Material: Gray resin Qty of parts: 3 Sculptor : Jun-Sik Ahn Box Art: Myeong-Ha Hwang As with all of the products from Nuts Planet they are in the instantly known coloured boxes of blue with full colour boxart on the top and sides , needless to say superb painting as usual.
On opening the box we find the resin , 3 pieces the torso , the head and a base , all held between foam sheeting , providing great protection to the treasured resin.
Prep was the first thing I look at , on this release ( well the review item ) 2 casting plugs/excess to deal with on the underside of the torso , , careful though when removing them as they are below the cloak folds , but it should be a simple operation to sort these. On the head there is a casting plug to take off , this is again on the underside , easy to do , the base needed nothing doing . Once this bit of work has been done the result is a 100% super smooth casting ( can I add that all of the actual bust is like this anyway)
Lets look at the pieces now: Lets look at the Torso first , this is a big chunk of resin our subject is depicted wearing a very volumulous cloak with armour underneath .
What can I say except the sculpting is absolutely awesome the cloak folds are amongst the most natural that I have seen , The cloak is held in place by a decorative brooch.
The decoration on the armour beautifully detailed and defined , around his armor we see a sash , again very correct in its position and the way its tied .
The shoulder armour are held with a tie onto an embossed lion leading down to another depicting an emperor , again great work on the ties and the actual area itself.
The hanging shoulder pieces again are all perfectly well done the tasselled ends sitting well over each other , these are only on his right side the other being hidden under his cloak.
Onto the Head now , this could only be Caesar , looking slightly right , he looks determined with strong features , inspired by various sculptures seen in museums, needless to say all features are wonderfully done from the eyes to the ears , all finely worked , the mouth is held shut , with the face showing good muscle features , with the neck ones being of note , all these details and care taken in sculpting can only assist the painter in enjoying the bust.
The hair is a good area with the strands being defined (no sign of baldness though!!) , around his head we have the laurel crown, tied at the lower neck at the back , as with the hair well represented .
Fit into the neck area needed no filler whatsoever
The Base is the standard pedestal type well formed , nice and smooth and a perfect fit into the recess on the underside , I would advise pinning as well .
Final Thoughts: This is another really nice addition , a popular subject that I have no doubt , well sculpted and cast as always with Nuts Planet to such a very high level , once painted it will be a fine talking point when you proudly show this to your colleagues. Thanks to Nutsplanet for the Review model and to you all for looking in .