Another blast from the past.. kinda.. A product review/gift that I received from Nuts Planet owner Benny Sa while at Euro this year!
This was a really big surprise to me actually to receive this model. How it happened was purely by luck as well really.
While at Euro, and standing in front of FeR miniatures, I ran into a one Mr Michael Bartels.. capt Painting Buddha himself who was chatting with another gent. Was just there to say hi really, before Michael introduces me to Benny Sa. Explaining to me who Benny was, and all that fun stuff.
What was cool was that I could provide my comments directly to Benny about his 3D printed models. Mostly from the Trigger range and how he has done a great job on them ( considering our journey with Handsome Jack, I can only say impressed a bit more knowing the difficulty of them ).
He was very surprised on the comment though I guess, as most at the show are more drawn to the hyper realistic busts and figures that his company produces. I was able to see one of his artists version of some of the pieces, and I made a comment about this heavily armoured model as well. How he would look really good if he was a bit less clean and a bit more worn.
On the showcase piece here above you can see many additions to it such as the concrete warning barrier there sticking out of the ground there. But again the model looks a bit too clean in comparison to the scene he is standing in.
I had also made some comments of the male version in the trigger series, and Benny was able to provide me a bit more details on the painting of it. I had mentioned how well it looked beside the bike, and wished to know more of where they got it ( in 1/24 scale it is very hard to find ) and apparently some of it was scratch built by the artist. Arghg....
But again I was really liking the scene, so not much can be said other than that.
So it was on the Sunday that I was shocked that upon running into Benny he had a special surprise for me.. a Nuts Planet surprise bag that had both the Exo Suit model and a Nuts Planet t-shirt inside! Like WOW! Super cool there to get both of those from him.. really not expecting it there!
Of course many thank yous were exchanged there, but lack of photos were taken of us it seems!
As for the model however, all I can say is that it is gold. Really.. have a look at the parts above there. First off you can tell that it is 3D sculpted and printed from the face, but even that is not like many 3D printed faces. There is a bit of expression here compared to some others.
The amount of pieces for it is quite nice. Not a lot overall, but the ones that there are are split between major components ( head, arms, body ) and then the details such as the pistons to the shoulder pads from chest plate, belt pouches, and a spare helmet ( not sure if it could be made to fit the model itself, or is just for decoration ).
Although there is a bit of flash on parts, the casting is good to have them on smooth sections instead of across detail sections like other models sometimes do. Clean up will be easy, as there is no flash to be seen on the pieces aside from the vents.
The smaller bits can be found in the small plastic bag, and honestly they are quite safe and secure for transport.
For me, it is interesting to see the chunk of resin that is the base. I think it was not needed for this piece, but I can see the reason for it. Honestly, I do not see myself using it on this piece, as I have a larger plan for the model.
Overall I think this a great piece, and one that I look forward to painting. And I think from it, I can see myself picking up many more from the range as well in the future!
Have a look at their Facebook page, and if your in the UK you can pick up their products from places like El Greco miniatures.