Hi to all on PF ,

The enterprise of the Korean people has given us some great companys all with talented and inspirational artists working and running them one of the easily recognised is who along with DG Artwork have produced the subject of this review .

Previously advised by MJ in this thread http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/mj-miniatures-new-release-for-jan-2015.68862/watch-confirm


The subject is a Roman Centurion so before we have a look at the resin lets have a tiny amount of background on these professional soldiers.

Lets call him Marcus Julius Lorus , he has a proud family history of legion service his father and grandfather all served , his father dying at the Teutonburg forest when Marcus was only a young boy as a result he joined the legion and has over a period of 33 years service managed to get over 42 battle scars ..he has seen lots in his career some things he would rather not remember ..his one dream is to retire with honour and farm .

On trying to join he easily met the standards needed , tall but a bit thin ( never mind the legion will fill him out!!) and most importantly a Roman citizen joining he swore allegiance before the symbol of his unit the 20th it is of course the eagle.. he has suffered the training hard but effective and now serves alongside others with pride .

Now 33 years later he is the centurion of a mixed Infantry and Cavalry unit of Hispanic soldiers ...a leader respected by his men, fighting alongside them often on ground so wet with blood it was almost impossible to stand....like all the other in the Legion they know they are better in battle ..they are Roman after all.......

......fighting with a razor sharp gladius the scene is one of carnage with the Germanic warriors all around , all shouting and hacking at the Roman line ....suddenly Marcus slips ...a legionnaire shields him ..it is a veteran .....but he too is struck down and the next thing Marcus falls , a blow to his head has opened the skull he looses all his strength and feels the wet and bloody cold ground on his cheeks as he falls ........

......close combat like this means almost certain death ..he is wounded badly and in the mayhem he feels his father and grandfather gently pick him up and take him with them ....Marcus will never farm.

Books are plenty of course and there are numerous excellent other websites to look at , these and the books all providing a great insight into the Roman Army .



Continued in next post:

Nap

Lets start the review!!...

What are we looking at here are the details:

Title: Roman Centurion AD 9.

Reference Code : MJDG 12-002

Scale : 1/12 Scale

Material : Gray Resin

Pieces : 13

Sculptor: Dae-Hyeong, Kim ( from DG Art Work)

Box Art: Man-Jin, Kim


As with all releases from MJ , shipping was very efficient and fast , packaged in a very strong and useful box with a full colour picture on the top of the completed piece. Inside we find 3 bubble wrap bags all containing various components of the kit , these were also put into secure plastic bags inside the bubble wrap , all of these packages provide really good protection...quality from the start .

Parts are all in a gray resin , and consist of the following : the main torso , the 2 arms , the head , helmet , cheek pieces x 2, a helmet crest. the sword blade, the sheath , a dagger , the shield and a base.

Preparation needed includes removing 2 small casting plugs from the torso , one from helmet , and the head, onre from each of the arms , in addition to one from the shield as well as the base , these are all well placed and easily removed but care will be needed on the helmet in particular, the crest and weapons are all on securing formers and need to be carefully cut off ..make sure the knife is sharp!!!

In this part we will look at the torso and the arms and the base


The torso first , this has been sculpted with dedication and skill , it is a 3/4 length finishing just below the waist , our centurion wears a mail coat with an awesome amount of awards for bravery on the from , over his shoulders we see a cloak , the torso is slightly turned to the left .

Lets look at the cloak , wonderful drapery and a particularly nice surface texture , coming round his shoulders it is held secure by a brooch .

The neck area has the scarf around it , the actual neck area being really clean and ready to receive the head .

At his shoulders we have some lovely movement on the leather strapping , great folds and some nice edging , these lead down to the sleeves , short and again with good movement and folds.

The mail shirt is a delicate piece of sculpting ..oh the patience of sculptors amaze me so well done here ..very fine details are seen ...I have tried a mail shirt on and believe me it is heavy !!!

On his chest we have an array of awards , including torques and phalarae , all are full of details ...let the picture show you ..I am looking forward to painting these , they are held on a leather harness , beneath this we have a belt again lovely work .

The arms are both muscular and very cleanly cast , at the wrists we have leather bands, the left hand grips the shield handle the other has the sword handle gripped tightly.....the hands are well formed with nice detail on the back of the hands with the straining veins.

On to the lower area this is textured and slopes slightly towards the back of the piece.

The base is again textured matching the undersides , nice piece if you choose to use it .

Continued in next post:

Nap

Now lets look at the remaining pieces

Beginning with the Helmet and Cheek pieces and the Crest, the helmet is based on the Imperial Gallic "H" which was found at Augsburg , very nicely sculpted , good decoration is evident , the small handle on the neck piece is there as are the ties for the crest , fit to the head is clean.

The cheek pieces again are well done and in keeping decoration wise with the helmet , they are very in scale as well , often these are seen over sized but not here , fit is fine to the head , make sure they line up with the tie on the chin!!.

The crest is a tranverse one this has been commented on in the initial release thread , I cannot find any reference as yet perhaps our centurion was promoted on campaign from an Optio and has just kept the helmet waiting for his one for his new rank. Aside from this the details are again very good on the surface , with fit being carefully done , I would pin this as well if you can.


Now to the Head , this is a cracking bit of work ...this man is angry and all fired up in battle , I really like the features , mouth open , good definition on the eyes and ears , eyebrows slightly raised, the hair is well worked as well , on his chin we have the cheek piece ties , fit into the neck are is very good.

The Weapons now , these are held on a former as said , the blade looks sharp , even sharper after removing a small casting remnant from the tip, I would if you can suggest pinning this .

The scabbard is a lovely bit of work again ..ooozing quality in sculpting and casting , beautiful decoration on this .

The dagger deserves the same comments as the sword ...excellent work here.

The Shield , this is just over half the full version , battle damage is seen on the front , no design allowing you to paint your own on ...centurions generally carried the same shields as their men ...perhaps with a bit more decoration on them , the back is nicely detailed showing the supports .


Final Thoughts

To be honest Quality pours from the box , its a very popular subject , extremely well presented , casting is the same high quality and as for the details ...top notch ..Very highly recommended to one and all.

Thanks to MJ for the review piece and to you all for looking in ...enjoy your modelling

For more details have a look at the website at :

www.mj-miniatures.co.kr

Email:

mjminiatures@gmail.com

Nap

Thanks Guys

Appreciate your posting ...more to come soon!






Nap

Thanks for the post ..as for the upper lips IMO I reckon it's looks fine and the lips are easily defined even more by painting but everyone is entitled to their thoughts so thanks for the input .

Nap

Hi Guys,

Ref the lip on the Legionary , it could be the expression or more likely the painting style ...?..but everyone has and is entitled to their own thoughts

I have the Legionary for review very soon so keep a look out for it !

Nap