Review The Aquila from Nuts Planet

[Nap]

Hi to all ,

The country of Korea is the homeland for several quality companies in our world amongst them Nuts Planet who like others have quickly established themselves as a leading light in our miniature world releasing some very interesting subjects

The Roman army was one of immense strength and power but at the core was the symbol of the legion ...the standard ...the Eagle and thats what we have from Nuts Planet ..... a Eagle Bearer or Aqulifer

Lets have a bit of information on these standards which like the Regimental colour's of today's army was the focal point of the Legion's world all throughout the span of the Roman army.

Many forms are seen ranging from the Imago (a image of the Emperor) or the Vexillum (a horizontally hung cloth flag) , the Signum is another type often seen , we also see what has become an endearing image of the Roman Legion ...the Eagle was seen in many forms in this period and later in history we also see it being used famously in Napoleon's Army .

The men chosen to carry the standard very often gave their lives in defence of their pride , indeed there are recorded by Roman historians of a standard being found still with the hacked off arm with it .....an image I can well imagine ...our modern comparison are the brave young Ensigns at Waterloo .

Books are plenty and all make interesting reading packed full of information.



Continued in next post:

Nap

 

[Nap]

Lets see what we are enjoying today:

Title:: Aquila Roman Legionary

Reference: NP - B005

Scale: 1/10th

Material: Resin

No of pieces: 8

Sculptor: Jun-Sik Ahn

Box Art: Myeong-Ha Hwang

As in other bust releases I have reviewed we are again given the model in a distinctive blue strong cardboard box with the box art on the front and sides , colour representation is clear and bright ...providing a good reference even if you have no other.

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The pieces consist of the main torso , the hood the head, the sword handle, 2 cheek pieces , the knot for these and of course the eagle with a pedestal shaped base to use if you wish.

Do we need to do ay prep before we put it together , a little removal of casting plugs is needed but as with other releases these are well positioned and easy to deal with , the cheek pieces will need removing from a former with a smaller plug to be taken off the sword handle (with the ties for the cheek pieces being not lost in the carpet!!!) ...all of this is simple to do as the caster has carefully thought this out with the customer in mind.

Let's begin with the main torso first , our legionary is wearing similar to the Corbridge A laminated cuirass (named so as this was the place a lot was found) . he also wears the heavy woollen hooded cloak called the paenula.
The armour is well sculpted and very clean in lines , with the shoulder pieces you might wish to carefully reduce the undersides to a more scale thickness on the larger one , I hasten to add this is not a must but a suggestion and the bust does not detract if you leave it .

The ties on the armour linking clasps are finely done with good undercuts on the small straps hanging down . we have a couple of straps hanging across his chest one for the sword the other perhaps was for a leather satchel.

The cloak is a lovely piece of work with a slight rough texture great folds this is blowing in the wind of a harsh campaign , there are area's that are ripped and torn with the edges having buttons(wood perhaps) on one side with the securing loops on the opposite , these are fine work and credit to the caster must be given for the cloak and the armour .

Next we come to the hood itself so needed against harsh winds or snow , you will need to remove the thing membrane where it fits onto the torso ....at the top we see the helmet , the material is well done again with rips and wear . This piece is a great example of careful engineering when casting .

The head now ...now this is just a wonderful face , strong and a seasoned campaigner giving his all for Rome and his beloved legion, features are strong and square jawed facial features with his gritted teeth slightly showing , the nose and eyes are excellent and will (as we have seen in WIP's on PF) make painting an absolute pleasure ...I will be giving mine a heavy growth !


Fit into the hood and neck area will need careful thought , I personally will find it easier to paint first then fit everything in place ..but I am sure everyone will have their preference.

Looking at the cheekpieces now these are nicely sculpted and fit well onto the face with some nice circular decoration as seen in references ..when fitted these seem to bring our subject to life IMO. We also have a cast tie/knot which fits carefully (carpet monster about)

The sword handle is as can be seen in the parts picture smoothly done and fits well in place nice work on the actual holding area , some have commented previously on the size of this I think it looks fine .

Now to the Eagle itself , this is wrapped up in a cloth fantastic details are seen with the eagles head and wings peeking through , why is this all wrapped up..perhaps he is hiding it from the enemy or protecting it from the weather...we can only surmise ...I might add a small section of the pole on my version . I really like the details that have been included the way the eagles form is seen by the ties holding it in place , the cloth is ragged at the edges with the fit into the back of the tors being no need for any filer whatsoever.

Finally we come to the base (see parts picture) , a little bit of prep is needed to remove flashing and when done the larger end fits (I suggest pinning) into a cast area on the underside of the torso.


Final Thoughts:

Another fine addition to the Nuts Planet range ,extremely well engineered and presented with a lot of thought being done with the customer in mind , well cast and sculpted ...a nice display piece

For more information on this and others from Nuts Planet and to see a SBS by our very own Chris Edwards go to the website :

www.nutsplanet.com

Thanks to them for the Review model and to you all for looking in

Nap

 

[MalcC]

Good review Kev.

I got this for Father's day, and wow the detail is superb. Going to enjoy painting this.
Got a bottle of Rum from the cat too.
That made my day.

Malc

 

[swralph]

Great review Nap, shows the kit really well.

 

[storm_zh]

Another great review article with historical background info. Thanks much for your sharing, Nap.