Knowledge from Taro Modelmaker

Welcome back to another instalment of GMR...

Today I am looking at a new venture for Taro ModelMaker. James Taro has been casting 3rd party parts for upgrading titans for some time now and he has decided to take the leap into display bust production. The first two releases are Projection and Knowledge. Both these kits are 1/10 scale and cast in polyurethane resin. Projection is a cyberpunk looking female and Knowledge is a Renaissance style character.

On release I was instantly attracted to Knowledge as I am very much interested in the renaissance style of art and history. I instantly thought that Knowledge has the look of Leonardo da Vinci so I took the opportunity to take a look at one of the dual releases by James.

James has chosen a sturdy box with a printed sticker for his busts with the Taro ModelMaker logo stamped on the side.

Inside the box we have a thank you note which is always nice, and a mystery envelope. Buried in the shredded paper we see a ziplock bag containing 6 parts.

There is a torso, two hands, a connector cable, and a frosted skull cap so you can see the detail inside the head. You also receive a plinth to display it on.

Sculpting was done by Phil Hosking and the bust stands at 90mm tall when on the plinth. The box art was completed by Phil Pryce.

The kit is £42.00 and then shipping costs from the UK to wherever you are.

Let’s take a look at the quality

James has been casting mechanical parts for a while now so moulding busts will be a new adventure I’m sure.

The main torso is nicely cast and the detail looks crisp so I have no issue there.

If you look closely you can see a bit of clean up on the beard.

On inspection you can see a mould line through the material. It's not a bad mould line and will take only a little work to correct.

However; I think the cut of the mould could have been placed around the bottom edge away from any detail but that is just my thoughts from my experience working at BrokenToad, but James has been casting a while and does things his way so a little clean up is needed.

The two hands are really well cast with limited clean up needed and the connector cable will need heating to bend it into shape.

If you are not experienced with warming resin, this can be done with either hot water of using a hair dryer.

• The water technique is simple. You just dip the part in very hot water and it will go soft you can then bend it to shape before it cools and hardens.
• The hair dryer technique, I would glue one end in place and let it cure then using the hair dryer warm the part till it softens and then bend to shape, then glue the other end.

Both techniques can be tricky but just take your time and you will be fine.

The clear skull cap is frosted and this will need some considerable preparation to get it to be crystal clear.

If you log on the Taro ModelMaker site James explains in the bust write up on how to make the part clear. Basically you sand and buff the surface and then hit it with clear gloss varnish. I will be giving this a go myself so this will be interesting to see how it turns out.

What is the clear cap for?

Well if you turn the bust around you can see the subjects brain is full of cyber-technology which will no doubt contribute to his extreme knowledge and will be time consuming to paint but will look great when done.

Finally, what was in that Mystery envelope?

    
Inside is an art card with the artwork also created by Phil Hosking and on the reverse is a bit of back story for the bust, which I always find a nice touch.

So all in all, I am not disappointed at all with the quality, and the theme of the kit really does suit my interests.

As mentioned, the renaissance style mixed with a Shaolin monk gives of an air of Knowledge. As you may know, the renaissance was the birth of modern thinking and art, and the Shaolin Monks are some of the most spiritual and wise characters on earth. So the aesthetic suits the name very well and James has put together a nice release for his first foray into the display bust genre.

In summary, there is potential for some tricky preparation ahead but the kit itself is really nice and I am looking forward to tackling it in the future.

If you wish to purchase this kit head over to www.taromodelmaker and grab yourself a copy and maybe take a look at the Projection bust too.

You can follow Taro ModelMaker on social media on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Whatever you decide to do, make sure to tell James you read this review and it helped you to decide to take a look.


I want to wish you happy hobbying with anything you paint and to remind you to NOT drink the paint water!

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