No Pasarán, CNT Militia woman Barcelona, 1936 from FeR Miniatures

I'll put my hand up and admit that I know nothing about the Spanish revolution or the militia women, the "libertarias" who broke traditional conventions and took up arms along with their male counterparts.

This bust is part of the 1/12th scale Magna Historica bust range from FeR Miniatures and really stands out among many of the female busts available on the market.

This sculpt is instantly recognisable as the work of Pedro Fernández as it has the almost trademark face that he has become known for. Luckily the strong facial features really fit this design well.

As you can see from the photos above; the packaging is quite standard. Sturdy plastic with a high quality image showing the information, box and excellent box art from Marc Masclans.

Flip it over and you can see all four parts held within a zip lock bag inside and a piece of foam stopping them from shaking around.

Nothing tricky to work with assembly wise at all. The rifle simply attaches to two points and then you have a choice of having her with or without hair. Simple, clean, and well crafted.

Hair is another area that shows Pedro's style with it's fine strands and defined shapes.

Getting those strands into a bun like that isn't something I've often seen but here it looks excellent.

Casting is top quality on these parts. Just a slight trace of a line in a couple of places which were east to carve out as the resin is hard and not rubbery or brittle.

The only excess parts are at the bottom of the bun which is actually hidden by clothing after assembly, and a little bit inside the brim of the hat.

Both parts when put into place give a well defined hairline which frames the facial features.

Her hat shows great attention to detail and is a common design seen in photos from the time so research has been put into this bust as expected.

The main part is again cast in high quality with a slight line running along the sides of the head which will mostly be obscured by her hair. Along the top of the shoulders and her left side are really faint, though the right under the frills needed a little scraping work.

However; while i was looking over the lines on her jacket I noticed that part of her gun strap had snapped off.

Now, the fact that I hadn't really noticed this before now has made me think that I won't really notice it missing. In fact I checked a recent one Marc Masclans has painted for the Banshee Miniature Art Academy Patreon and either his was the same or he chose to remove it.

If you do want this detail I'd recommend changing it for either a piece or brass or other metal.

Looking at it, that little detail must be a headache to de-mould and clean up.

I'm not sure what type of bolt action rifle she is carrying but the details do look well crafted and an already hollow barrel is always welcome.

There is a slight mould join on the top and bottom of the part which was easily removed, and it fits well to two contact points so there's no room for error on placement.

Overall, a great looking bust which has been created from historical references rather than just copying one image directly which often seems to be the case.
She has different materials to paint so you can play around and of course the excellent face and hair, or hair and hat too.

Really high standard of sculpting and casting as is to be expected from Pedro and FeR Miniatures and the 45.00€ price is about right for the size and quality.  

No Pasarán is available from the FeR Miniatures site and their official stockists.

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Thank you for looking.