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Modern gangster with cigar in 1/56 scale (Big T #2) from Pigeon Guard Games - Miniature figureimage © Kadmon
sculpt © Pigeon Guard Games
painting © Kadmon
Big T build #2 with cigar from Pigeon Guard Games company

Big T build #2 with cigar from Pigeon Guard Games company is a 32mm high, somewhat overweight modern maffia-boss, with a cigar.

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Details - Big T miniature from Pigeon Guard Games

Miniature: Big T build #2 with cigar

Sprue: Big T sprue

Set: Big T set

Kit: Big T set

Range: Modern Gangsters (Modern)

Company: Pigeon Guard Games company

Production: 2015-2020-

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Size: Human-sized (S3), Species: Human (Humanoid), Gender: male (Human male), Technology: Modern (Advanced), Role: gangster (Civilian), Armour: unarmoured, no shield, Helmet: no helmet, Equipment in hand: R: cigar, no weapon, Equipment carried: -, Based on: Tony Soprano from The Sopranos

Features: heavily built, gangster boss

Features: Human-sized (S3) Modern (Advanced) Human male (Humanoid - Human male) Civilian (gangster) with cigar (R), but no weapon.

Humanoid - Human - / Human-sized (S3) humanoidHuman-sized (S3) Human - Human-sized (S3) Human male

Advanced miniature - Advanced humanoid / Human-sized (S3) Advanced, Human-sized (S3) Modern, Human-sized (S3) Modern humanoid

Category: Human-sized (S3) Modern Human male civilian with cigar

Species: Human (Humanoid)

Gender: male (Human male)

Role: Civilian (gangster)

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Material: Resin

Priming: Primer is not necessary

Scale: 1:56 (28mm / 32mm) scale according to the maker

Proportions: Realistic

Assembly: One-pieceSprueless

Posing: Medium

Paintjob: Unpainted

Base: Tabbed for slottabase

Conceptual design: ?

Sculptor: Ian Mountain

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Review - Big T miniature from Pigeon Guard Games

I was looking for a large, fat gang leader, something like the Kingpin from the Marvel Universe, or Jabba the Hut from Star Wars, that’s how I found this miniature.

Description

It’s a one-piece resin miniature. It’s tabbed, and the model came with a Citadel-style 25mm black round plastic slotta-base. You have to cut the right hand, holding the pistol to attach the cigar-holding hand.

As it’s a limited edition model, it also comes with a cerfiticate. I’ve received it in a small box, that was stuffed with polystyrene pellets. That’s as safe as a box can get.

Scale & Size

Big T is a tall 1:56 (28mm / 32mm) scale man. The size is 30mm from the bottom of the to eye level and 32mm to the top of the head. According to the creators at Pigeon Guard Games, Big T is supposed to be a tall man.

Proportions

The proportions are realistic.

Details

The details are soft. They are mostly large.

Material

It's made of light grey resin. The resin is flexible, though I’m not sure how would it handle if I wanted to repose it with heat. It's soft enough to cut and carve easily. It is solid and consistent, so it's easy to work with it.

Priming

The miniature is made of resin so primer is not necessary.

Paintjob

The miniature is unpainted.

Assembly

The Big T #1 with pistol is a one-piece sculpt, no assembly needed. If you want to change the gun to the cigar then you need to cut the hand and glue the cigar holding hand provided with the miniature.

Accessories

The miniature comes with a bonus right hand that holds a cigar. It's there so you have a spare hand if you’d like to change the gun (like I do). The hand is not as nice as the other parts of the mini, I think it's just the gun-holding hand with the gun removed and a cigar added, as it still looks like it's gripping something. It is a little bigger as it should be, but it's not that much of a problem.

To change the right hand it was easy to drill into the lower arm, but while I tried to pin the hand, I managed to break off the cigar, as it's a very delicate part. Make sure you take care if you drill it! After I've found the cigar (it was not an easy task, as it's really small!) I glued it back. I tried to make it look like it hangs relaxed - it also make it easier to see the mini is not just giving a finger. Had I never find the broken cigar part, I would have just drilled through the hand and put a longer wire in it, that would have been hanging out, to make up the cigar.

Posing

Not easy, but possible. The appendages (except the left arm) could be cut to be repositioned.

Base

The miniature is tabbed for slottabase. The size of the tab is the usual for GW miniatures, and it fits the slot tightly.

Sculpting

The detail is crisp, and I’m pretty impressed how good the model is. I’m embarrassed to confess that I didn’t have that high hopes from a relatively new company. I’ve seen the master and some painted examples online, but it’s pretty impressive to see it in life. Some details are very fine though, so it's not easy to paint the mini if you are used to heavier details.

Sculptor

The sculptor is Ian Mountain, and I’m sure I’ll look out for his work.

Pose

The pose is somewhat static but I find it perfectly fine for a mob boss.

Changing the pose into a more dynamic one would be a lot of work as his left hand is in his pocket and it's fused with his body. I can hardly imagine any dynamic poses with a hand in a pocket, so you'd need to remove the arm, and repair the damages on the body.

The balance of the miniature is good, after removing the tabs it stands on its feet even without a base.

Casting

There was a mold-line on the outer parts of the right leg of my copy, but it was easy to remove. There are also mold-lines on the inner parts of the legs that are not that easy to remove as they are harder to reach, but then they are also harder to see, so it's not that much of a problem. There's also a mold-line on the lower part of the cigar-holding hand that needs to be removed if you'd like to use that. My model lacked that but I've also seen mold lines on the right upper arm of other copies.

Painting

If you are not a pro painter, I'd recommend some drybrushing after priming the mini so you'd see the fine detail you need to find with your brush. When I primed it, the uniform colour and the soft sculpting had hidden the details, and I made several mistakes by the time I finally got it right.

The eyes are hard to paint, even though I thought they would be done easily, as the baggy eye-lids cover most of the eyes.

I recommend to paint the pants first, then the belt, as there are some parts of the pants that show between the shirt and the belt.

Painting the left hand that's in the pocket is not an easy task, as there are several colours in a very small space that you need to paint - pants, belt, shirt, hand, lower arm, watch.

The detail on the clothes is so soft I didn't even try to use drybrushing for the highlights. As far as I can tell none of the other painters did, whose Big T miniatures I've seen.

Features

  • Balding head
  • Baggy eyes
  • Gun or cigar in right hand
  • Watch on left hand
  • Heavily built body

Recommendation

The Big T miniature from Pigeon Guard Games is really nice, but quite expensive. At the moment I’d recommend it only for serious collectors. If you want to get a character that’s exactly like Big T, it could be a good buy.

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Size comparison photos - Big T miniature from Pigeon Guard Games

Big T from Pigeon Guard Games - 1:72 (25mm) comparison with Zvezda Greek archer (left) and Zvezda Greek Hoplite (right).
Big T build #1 from Pigeon Guard Games - 1:72 (25mm) comparison with Zvezda Greek archer (left) and Zvezda Greek Hoplite (right).

 

Big T from Pigeon Guard Games - 1:56 (28mm) comparison with Games Workshop WHFB Ed5 Bretonnian archer (left) and Renegade Miniatures orc (right).
Big T build #1 from Pigeon Guard Games - 1:56 (28mm) comparison with Games Workshop WHFB Ed5 Bretonnian Bowman #1 (left) and Renegade Miniatures Orc with spear #2 (right).

 

Big T from Pigeon Guard Games - 1:35 comparison with 40mm high shepherd and 54mm high soldier.
Big T build #1 from Pigeon Guard Games - 1:35 (54mm) comparison with 40mm high shepherd and 54mm high soldier.

For further comparison images: Pigeon Guard Games-Big T comparison images

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Using the miniature - Big T miniature from Pigeon Guard Games

Possible uses

  • 1:72 scale: A giant, heavily built middle age man. I feel that the head is a bit too large even for a giant.
  • 1:56 scale: A large, heavily built middle age man.
  • 1:35 scale: A chubby, ugly, balding kid. Might need some work on the head, but the proportions of the head are a good fit for a child.
  • Gang boss
  • Gang hitman
  • Bouncer
  • Pool player (with the cigar)
  • Bookie (with the cigar)
  • Veteran soldier or detective in civil clothes or summer uniform

Uses for games

Uses on the website

  • None yet, but I intend to make a gang boss out of it

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Resources - Big T miniature from Pigeon Guard Games

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Buying the product - Big T miniature from Pigeon Guard Games

Price

Base price (Big T set)(2018-2020): 6 GBP

Base price (Big T set)(2015): 10 GBP

Company Set price (2015) Price/model (2015)
Pigeon Guard Games

Big T (10 GBP = 14 Euro / 15,3 USD)
This price is for the limited edition resin miniature, but there might be a white metal mini in the future.

10 GBP = 14 Euro / 15,3 USD

Where can you buy it?

Pigeon Guard Games: Big T: Official webpage.

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Possible substitutes - Big T miniature from Pigeon Guard Games

Modern gangster in 1/72 scale (Gangster #2) from RedBox - Miniature figureimage © Paul H
sculpt © RedBox
painting © Paul H

Gangster #2 from Red Box

Scale: 1:72Size: 22mm high, Material: Soft plastic

One of the gangsters in the set is a heavily built man with cigar.

Modern gangster with submachine gun in 1/56 scale (Blitzer for the Judge Dredd Miniatures Game) from Warlord Games - Miniature figureimage © Warlord Games
sculpt © Warlord Games
 

Blitzer from Warlord Games

Scale: 1:56 (28mm / 32mm) scale

It's a more brutal and heavily armed version of Big T, that wears a hat.

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Do you have a Big T build #2 miniature figure from Pigeon Guard Games? How do you like it? Would you recommend them to others? Tell your opinion in the comments!

 

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