A bust reduces figure modelling to its hardest and most rewarding problem, the portrait. Showing a subject from the chest up puts every brushstroke on the face, the headgear and the collar, which is why busts are such a popular competition discipline.
Most castings here are 1:10, with 1:12 the next largest group, larger pieces at 1:9 and 1:6, a run quoted directly as 200 mm, and the occasional small subject at 1:35. The range covers soldiers and commanders of both world wars, statesmen and public figures, airmen, and symbolic, genre and fantasy subjects. Resin, multi-part, unpainted. The guide below explains how to choose and start your first one.
Because a bust shows only the upper body, all the attention falls on the face, the headgear and the uniform detail around the collar and shoulders. At 1:10 a head measures two to three centimetres, at 1:12 a few millimetres less, and the larger scales give correspondingly more. The catalogue runs from recognisable individuals, through anonymous soldiers tied to specific units and battles, to symbolic and genre pieces, and castings usually divide into head, torso and base. That division is deliberate: the head can be painted in the hand, held by its locating pin, with nothing in the way of the brush.
A portrait of a known individual is a commitment: the likeness and the uniform details can be checked against photographs, and viewers will check them. An anonymous soldier or a genre subject leaves you far more freedom in expression and colour, which makes it the better first purchase. It is also easier to abandon and repaint, and repainting is part of learning portrait work rather than an admission of failure.
The larger the scale, the more room for soft flesh transitions, and the more visible every inaccuracy becomes. A good school is a bust wearing a cap or a helmet, since headgear conceals hair, one of the hardest parts of portrait painting to make convincing.
Everything learned on a bust transfers directly to large figures, so the natural next step is 120 mm model figures. Resin equipment for conversions and personal variations, helmets included, is listed under resin figures and equipment.
Full figures in every size are listed under model figures.
