GENERAL MILAN ASTRAY C1936 - 1/9TH SCALE BUST BY NIMIX LTD OF MADRID RETAILING AT AROUND £ 16.

The Spanish company Nimix are well known for their range of modelling accessories, perhaps less so for the range of figures and busts they produce.

They have a range of busts depicting personalities from Spanish and European history, including this one of Milan Astray, the founder of the Spanish Foreign legion and supporter of General Franco in the civil war .

Astray is depicted at around the start of the civil war in the 'isabellino' cap with braid of a General, and the fur collared reefer jacket common to senior Spanish officers. He has the open necked blue / green shirt, worn collar out over his tunic , and the eye patch covering the empty socket of his right eye.

Astray was a real war hero, having sustained several severe wounds during the Rif campaigns in North Africa, injuries whhich would have finished off most men. The bullet that destroyed his right eye also left a nasty exit hole in his right cheek and this has been well captured by the sculptor. For further information he lost his left arm due to an infected bullet wound and suffered a severe chest injury and major surgery to a wound in his right leg. He died of old age in 1954!

The bust is nicely presented in one piece with a small information leaflet giving a breakdown on colours to be used. Mould quality is reasonable although the part lines are quite severe on the back of the example I have, and need careful treatment. My only other gripe is over the depiction of Astray's face, which is rendered a little on the thin side, judging from photographs. He is shown with a wide straight mouth and a squarish jaw, none of which this bust depicts. Other than this, it is a nice item, and in my opinion an 'ideal first bust', since colours are quite straightforward.

Nimix are available from most major suppliers.