Something of an odd one out—this was never a kit, but rather a bronzed-finish collectable statue. It's certainly a striking piece, standing nearly 20" tall from the bottom of the base to the tip of the flag. It comes supplied in about 6 pieces that attach with the aid of magnets, and once assembled, it really looks the business!

I had it on display, but something was nagging at me, and I started to wonder, would a splash of colour improve it? Maybe one day I'd give it a go and find out...

Cue a global pandemic and more time on my hands than I might have ever wished for.

First things first: this was never intended to be a kit, nor, I imagine, did Weta think anyone would be crazy enough to paint it. The sculpting style is different from what you would find on a typical resin model in that this is supposed to represent a bronze sculpture, and as such, the style is intentionally less detailed and more 'angular' and 'chiselled'. The only flaw—and IMHO, it was a serious flaw—is the centre of balance. The base simply isn't big enough or weighty enough to support the figure, and even just a little tap was enough to tip it over. To fix this, I made the bottom of the base much wider and blended it in with the sculpted rocks... I hate to think how many of these things have taken a tumble off a high shelf.,

I permanently glued all the parts together, then gave it an all-over grey undercoat (I didn't bother stripping off the Bronze 'paint' because, as I said, the detail wasn't really there to lose).

Personally, I think a fully painted statue elevates the sculpture from a wow! to a WOW!

If only Weta would make 'real' resin model kits rather than those fully-finished collectible statues!