Hi ,

Its nice to be able to sharing releases from the smaller manufacturers amongst these is a company called run by Daniel Batta .

Daniels aim is for the releases to have an Irish theme in the past we have had film characters , Michel Collins , Bono , and a Leprechaun , all reviewed here by me on PF. For this release we have come right up to date with a modern Irish Soldier.

Today's Irish Defence Force is a well trained and professional army , with all the skills and equipment needed , there is also a Air element , together with all the normal forces we see , logistic etc and a SF group ...the Ranger Wing.

As well as Irelands internal commitments troops have also served as part of UN forces wearing the Lt Blue beret or baseballcap but all proudly wearing the colours of their country in an arm badge.

The model has the soldier in a combat pose kneeling down firing , wearing webbing and a helmet .

Although this says its an Irish soldier it has many conversion possibility.

There are some interesting books on the subject all providing a wealth of information

Continued in next post

Nap

Lets look at the resin,

Title: Irish Soldier

Reference: SM-H04

Scale: 1/35th (52mm as on box)

Material: Gray Resin

No of parts: 12

Sculptor: Gabor Szabo

Box Art: Mate Novak

Special Thanks to Sgt Glen Phelan

The parts are in a green coloured box sealed at both ends by a shamrock!!!..on a sticky label....definate Irish theme here!!
On one side we have the box art on the other we see an assembly guide .

One thing I will say is the parts are very small so be careful of that carpet monster

Parts are held in plastic bags and include the legs ( in a kneeling position) the upper torso , 2 heads(one with baseball cap) , a helmet , 2 grenade pouches, a Marconi radio and earpiece, a waterproof pouch and a respirator pouch , the weapon with the lower arms cast on , also included is a length of wire ( radio antenna)

Prep

Torso..Remove all excess resin from the underside and fit to legs
Legs..Remove casting remnants from under leg and boot
Head...Choose head version and fit to torso after removing the excess casting block
Helmet ...Carefully remove the casting piece from inside the helmet
Weapon and arms ...remove from former and fit to torso
Pouches...Remove casting plugs and fit to figure before they get lost!!!

You might wish to leave off the arms to allow for the painting of the equiptment.


Looking at the parts now

Torso this is a nice bit of work especially on the combat webbing , all the details are there with the breathable backing also being worked , for such a small scale casting is good with the straps and loops being defined , pouches are sculpted as being worn which is good to see , the sleeves are rolled up ready to receive the arms , on the left arm we have the country flag , the folds on the arms are in scale and sharply presented. Neck area is agin well sculpted ready to take your chosen head.


Legs sculpted in the kneeling position and very naturally if I may say , again the folds of the clothing are well done in keeping with the pose , pockets have been done like they have stuff in them ..nice to see , the boots ate excellent with nice details on the laces and the tread

Fit of the torso to the legs will need a wipe of putty but easily done.


Head and Helmet there is a choice of headwear one with the ACH ( Advanced Combat Helmet) the other with a baseball cap . The face is good and fit to the helmet is okay after you have removed the awkwardly placed casting plug inside , the helmet shape is good with the webbing on the outside being done correctly.

The baseball cap ( my favourite ) has the head cast with it, the shape of the cap is right on the nail and would be my choice .

Both have really good facial features , the helmeted version has the chin straps also on it.



Pouches ...you do not have to fit all of them ie you could leave off the grenade pouches , the respirator pouch matches up to the strap cast on his rear , all have the same level of details and again look like they are actually full not rigid and uninteresting as in some models I have seen
.

Weapon and Arms these are held in a resin former and need to be carefully taken out ...sharp knives I think...be careful!!
The hands are holding the weapon in the "ready" position , they have nice finger definition , the weapon is the Steyer AUG ( Armee Universaal Gehwer) which has a 5.56 mm round. this is a good sculpt , the correct shape but delicate so again take care , the sight needs strightening a tiny bit ( hot water will do this )

Final Thoughts

Its good to see Shamrock releasing again , this is a well presented and sculpted piece , small in scale with even smaller pieces( for me anyway...lol) , painting will be an enjoyable challenge with the camo and the webbing . Its nice to see a modern Irish subject but it also has masses of conversion potential as well to other forces , i liked the option of the 2 heads as well .

For details on this and others that have been released why not visit the website at:

www.shamrockminiatures.com

Plus of course there is FB so like and follow

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






Happy Modelling

Nap

The resin looks better than the box art, but not the cleanest casting I've seen. And good luck removing this from the casting block and cleaning it up without damaging anything:



I recently stumbled across one of their earlier figures online and wondered what had happened to Shamrock. So far they've done nothing that's interested me (a Bono caricature?? I think not!) and I won't be bothering with this one either, but that said it's nice to know they are still around. It's never a happy day when a company stops trading.

- Steve