PiliPili difficult to say (try filly-filly) and difficult to ignore ranges! I am a big fan of this company and the sculpting work of Le-van Quang who is also the head of the company, must be a busy life. The company base is the excellent range of American Native chiefs that have been produced in bust form. From the success of this excellent series Le-van has branched out into other ranges and this brings me to the subject of this review.

The release is from the "Man `o War" series of busts, it is of a Kings Musketeer and is the third in the line and although very different in subject matter it follows in the same vein of high quality. The bust is supplied in the usual PiliPili box with a coloured wrapper showing the finished bust from various angles to inspire you even further. Inside are held the component parts of the bust cast in a light grey resin that has captured the quality of the master. There are some of the dreaded castings blocks to remove, nothing to major. What you need for this is a razor saw for the bulk of the block and then the rest with a sharp half rounded blade in the knife. I find the half round blade works best for removing the resin as it gives you different cuttings angles to work with. I like the way that the blocks are marked so that you are in no doubt as what is to go.

Assembly is a breeze and the fit is so good that you can leave it to the very last when the painting is complete. The light grey acts as an excellent colour for the undercoats. I always like to keep the base coat in a similar colour that the end colour that will be the end result. I used Humbrol for my undercoats and as is usual with the "super enamel" series you need at least two coats for a good coverage. The face was painted using oil paints. For this a mix of Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Crimson Lake and Burnt Sienna. More Sienna for the mid shadows and more white for mid highlights. Burnt Umber for the deep shadows and pure white for the top highlights. I went for brown for the hair and eyes, but the choice is very much yours after all this is a hobby and is meant to be fun. One tip I would like to pass on is a small dot of Titanium White on the eye when finished and it really brings it to life.

I followed the box top illustration for the hat and then to the tabard and here I got a touch of the "don't knows". What colour for the blue? Hollywood has given us many films of the Musketeer and all seem to feature the very blue colour, Help. For this I went to Le-van himself and here I have got to say how helpful he was giving colour mixes in acrylics that he used for his bust and suggested ones for oils, excellent thank you. I used an oil mix of Cobalt Blue, Titanium White and Payne's grey over a base of acrylic dark Blue. I find that this really matts down the oil shine and if it is put on thin you get an almost matt finish. I do not know how it works it just does!

The white of the shirt collar, sleeve edges of the tabard and crosses were painted using an off white and then washed over using a Pearle scent Medium that gives a "shimmer" to the paint which gives a very nice effect.

This leaves the arm holding the pistol and this was the most fun of the lot! Or to be more precise the wood grain of the pistol. A case of taking your time and being honest if it looks wrong wipe it off and start again. The metal parts were painted using Humbrol metal cote that was buffed up and then painted over using Tamiya Smoke, which gives a very nice finish.

Now the final flourish assembly! This was very straightforward due the quality of the castings and the way that they are keyed together. I attached the main body to the base first then attached the pieces on; this seems for me the easy way to do it as you handle the finished product less. No chances of mystery finger prints appearing!

Verdict well the Musketeer has a real presence about him. You can see that he is intent on ruining someone's day with that pistol. This really is a super study from the hands of a very good sculptor, one to add to the collection.

Musketeer