Emperor's Royal Guard -- Pre-prep (III)

Hit a bit of detour this week, but it was all for the best. The one-piece erstwhile undermantle, now tunic, was bisected just below the waist in order to rework the drapery of the garment, as well as accommodate what is in effect a cummerbund. The upper portion (with cummerbund) has now been permanently attached; the lower portion will probably be permanently attached as well once the drapery has been finished. 

 

The separate left panel of the mantle has been reworked and fitted. Still a bit more to do on this before it can be set aside for priming and painting: I intend to paint the interior surface first; attach; address any visible seams; re-prime; and then paint the exterior of the garment en suite. 

 

This weekend, I hope to have the helmet all-but-done before I begin to work on the force pike. I also hope to have an ip pic (or two) up for your appraisal.

Emperor's Royal Guard -- Pre-prep (II)

By way of update, the helmet's reworked state is now roughed-in, and final fitting issues and clean-up have begun to be addressed. All that remains to be tackled is the force pike and the right forearm. Re: the latter, I may have to extend the the forearm distally, depending on how I elect to position it.

For those that have not guessed by now,  this will be part of a vignette with the figure of the Emperor Palpatine, tentatively titled, "Imperium Sith". 

PS -- If anyone has this figure and would like to replace the helmet, please contact me. If I receive sufficient requests to warrant molding, I will consider it. Please note that this will require some work on the part of the end-user to adapt the helmet to the torso, but this is well-within the skillset of the average miniaturist.

Knight Models' Emperor's Royal Guard -- Summation and Pre-prep

In the concluding comments to the introductory review of this piece, I pointed out three major issues that will have to be addressed:

• the helmet
• the force pike
• scale/size

For the die-hards, sartorial deviations from the canon will also be apparent:

• absence of an opening/vent on the right side of the voluminous mantle (i.e., the mantle opens on the left, not the right)
• the presence of a purplish undermantle mirroring the crimson outer garment

Again, I am amazed at not only how this figure was sculpted; but that it was ever approved!

Last night I began my journey with this piece: I haven't generated this much dust on a com- mercial figure in a VERY long time(!), but the overall scaling issue has been successfully dealt with.

As has the ad hoc undermantle. What was Mr. Rhee thinking? IMHO, it appears that the volu- minous drapery (and by "voluminous", think bantha shelter!) was an artifice by which to add interest and depth to what would otherwise appear as a crimson-draped helmet stand! This is unimaginative showboating at its worst!! While I am glad the subject matter was done, how it
was done is a different matter altogether.

There is still quite a bit of work to be done with the erstwhile undermantle (hereafter, tunic), and its integration with the mantle, but at least the heavy grinding is behind me. 

To echo my earlier comment, I am glad that this subject was released in miniature. And in spite of all the work done and to be done, I am enjoying it very much. When it is completed, I will effectively have a one-off of an OOP figure. . .

ip pics to follow!!

Knight Models' Emperor's Royal Guard (KST018)

Anybody who knows me is well aware of my passion for Royal Guard units at least through the 18th c. It should come as no surprise then that I would eventually acquire KM's rendition of Emperor Palpatine's hand-picked, personal unit.


The "history" of this elite unit can be found in any number of places on-line, so let's get straight to the matter at hand. This figure was sculpted by Rhee Hyun, who, if you recall, also sculpted The Destroyer in KM's Marvel series. Unfortunately, Mr. Rhee's work in his first commission for KM leaves much to be desired. In fact, the real questions here are: 1) why did KM feel compelled to release this figure? And 2), why did Lucasfilm approve it??

The figure is cast in 5 pcs. + a rectangular plinth (base). It is essentially a resin figure, with 2 white metal "accessories": the helmet and the right forearm-force pike unit. The design (i.e., engineering) is very well conceived, and the resin casting, while hardly state of the art, is actually quite good. The metal casting. . . not so much.

Actually, the castings themselves are fine. What is inexplicable to me is the severe distortion in the helmet, and the design of the force pike. This figure is but a couple of years old, and there is a cornucopia of references--on-line and in-print--for this iconic weapon. Needless to say, I will be scratch-building a replacement force pike!

But back to the helmet. I would like to blame the production team for the grotesque distortion, but given the clean casting and the seamless fit of the same to the torso, some (most?) of the blame must lie with Mr. Rhee. Again. . . what references, if any, did he use? Even if we were to disregard the apparent distortion, the lines of the helmet are inexplicably wrong! Is he familiar with helmets with extended, attached bevors? Or. . . did he understand that this was an inflexible piece of equipment?? As with the force pike, this piece will be extensively reworked.

Finally, there is the question of scale. We all know that KM purports that their lines are done to 1/27th scale, or roughly 70mm. We've also seen countless examples of deviations from this--but none as severe as this: this figure is 80mm to the eyes/visor, with an overall height of close to 90mm! I have already begun to reduce the height, but am still short (tall?) of my goal.

What with the helmet, the force pike, and the scaling issues, this will be a rather involved recla- mation. Which is fine by me, as the end results should more than justify the time and effort invested!

Stay tuned!!