Re: Aragorn Maquette - Order NOW, link in 1st post.
Ok, just got mine in. First impression is very impressive, good size and detailing. The eyes I was worried about but these turned out fine I think. As many have said the images do not really look like the piece does in person, Viggo is there but not a dead ringer.
For the rest of the review I need to confess, I was super impressed with the magnets for attaching the different versions of the head. This is important because it tells you how little I buy statues, so take the rest of this review with this fact in mind.
After playing some ball outside and sneaking peaks here and there I started to notice the paint job. Good in some places but not the midsection. My belt buckle is half sort of gobbed with brown paint and there is some general looseness and sloppiness all around the stomach area. Not fatal but something I would mention.
The other area that tweaks me is the differential amount of mud splatter on the cloak and the hood. The mud is thicker near the feet as one would expect and is lighter near the shoulders, again as one would expect. So far so good. But the hooded version has a ton of mud splatter on it to the point it looks odd. Clearly different people painted the different parts and there needed to be coordination here. It looks like it was raining mud. Perhaps a bit picky but honest nonetheless.
And now for the final comment which may just have me return it. Why I didn't notice this before is beyond me. As I put the piece together and put it on display and kept messing with it I realized what I consider to be a design flaw. The head is totally turned sideways but your eye wants to look at the front of the body but the face at the same time. This isn't really possible with this sculpt. I tried off kilter, 45 degrees, etc and I just can't find how I want this piece to look.
So the paint is fine if a little sloppy as to be expected. The eyes are fine, likeness fine, switch out heads really cool. I think I still prefer unhooded just because you can see more of the face which your eye naturally wants to see. The body posture is something I may grapple with. I have 444 of 550. If anyone wants an Ex and missed out, and despite my review, send me a PM and maybe I can sell this rather than ship it back to SS. I may keep it, let's see what tomorrow holds.
Chris
PS: 1-10, maybe a 7 overall.