Work has been doing a great job of keeping me from my painting desk but that just means I can feed into my FOMO and pick up up some new models for my pile of shame. And with the holidays upon us I figure now would be a good time to get back into reviewing some of my recently acquired swag. To start I would like to look at a Jodie Muir bust from Mindwork Studios, the limited edition 1:9 bust ‘Red’.

This model is the bust version of ‘Red’ from the the Jodie Muir Signature series from Mindwork Studios. The packaging is simple with a black box and product label with a handwritten production number. Inside, the bust was packaged with what appears to be crinkled strips of black construction paper which was effective and very similar to what Neko Galaxy uses to package their models. Also, although not pictured, the sword was given extra protection as it was wrapped in black foam which was nice considering that it is quite a long and thin piece as you’ll see.

The bust consists of five resin pieces; a longsword with attached right hand, the left armored forearm and hand, the armored right shoulder and upper arm, the armored right forearm and finally the main torso with head and left upper arm. At a glance the pieces seem very clean with no obvious flash or gates still present on the pieces.

Taking a closer look at the main torso piece, it boasts an impressive level of detail. The sculpt depicts individual muscles across the abdomen, armor and chest providing an interesting canvas to work with. The hair has long flowing hair that isn’t overly complex or fiddly but with large volumes that should make lighting interesting and dramatic. The most impressive part in terms of detail are the ears in my opinion. The casting on the ears are flawless with no bubbles or extra bits and, as if to show off the caster’s skills even more so, the right ear also has a large, thin hoop earring that also came out perfectly intact. I have seen models with larger and less detailed bits come out with bubbles and excessive flash, in fact the raven queen model I reviewed previously had some issues like that, but this is practically perfect. The face is relatively simple but is sculpted with strong features such as pronounced cheekbones, a strong jaw, pointed nose and thin lips that the casting depicts flawlessly.

Looking to the sword and armored parts is where we can see some minor flaws and blemishes in the cast. The right arm vambrace and the flared area of the sword just above the guard exhibit a little bit of a mold slip; the sword is easy to fix the vambrace has it along the edge of the armor and thus will require some very careful sanding lest I damage the strap piece, the arm or the rivet. The left arm vambrace has a noticeable but small bubble on the edge of the hand section that will require some particularly deft filling work that will be difficult to blend in due to it’s location. And lastly the right upper arm piece has a flared lip on the armor around the bicep that isn’t entirely complete. The upper edge of that particular detail seems to not have been fully casted and honestly I might just sand it smooth so that it’s not noticeable rather than try to rebuild it.

Now I should state that despite the flaws I listed above the overall quality of these pieces are still quite amazing. The blemishes I pointed out are more nitpicks than anything and do nothing to detract from the overall amazing quality of the piece. If anything it is a testament to the skill of the sculptor and caster that there is as little to complain about it as there is.

If I had to give this a rating from 1 to 10, with a 1 being old school GW finecast, I would rate this a solid 9. The only things holding it back are the few mold slips and blemishes that happen to be in relatively difficult places to fix and the fact that it’s a limited release. It being a limited item means only those who were fortunate enough to be aware of this promotion in time and be in a position to afford it are the only ones who can get this piece. I should add that I understand that there are logistical and business reasons most likely as to why a limited release was decided upon and don’t hold it against the company but I still lament that not everyone can have the opportunity to enjoy working on this piece themselves. Hopefully they add this piece to their regular lineup of products as it did sell very well, in fact I believe they sold out during the sale window.

This is my first piece from Mindwork Studios but obviously you can see that it did not disappoint. The quality and workmanship are outstanding and one can only hope that they put the same care and craftmanship into their regular products as well. Which, as it happens to turnout, will be a question I can answer very soon as I took part in the Minipainting Discord Secret Santa this year and let’s just say that Santa was very generous in their gift giving.

Till next time.