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Review Roman Soldier with Mastiff - 75mm resin - (Jinkoo Park)

Discussion in 'Reviews , Video Reviews and Open Book' started by Babelfish, Mar 6, 2019.

  1. Babelfish A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    I was quite taken with this release from a new company "Jinkoo Park Collectibles" when it was announced here recently, so I decided to take the plunge and order it. It duly arrived last week, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on it with you lot.

    The first thing that surprised me was that it arrived having been posted from Greece, as "Jinkoo" - the manufacturer / pF member selling his new range - is flagged up as being in South Korea. But no matter.

    I'd been charged US$6.99 shipping and there were 4 Euros worth of postage stamps on the box – which equates to about US$4.50. So a bit of a mark-up, but nothing that I'd call excessive.

    Immediate impressions were not good. Inside a small white box covered in brown tape, stamps and my address, the kit arrived just as you see it here, all the parts crammed into a small plastic bag and then wrapped in a bit of bubble wrap. That was it! Have to say that for US$ 65.00 (plus shipping) I'd expected a bit more by way of "presentation".

    As it comes.jpg

    Things got better from that point on though, and a quick reach for the ruler revealed that the soldier stands 83 mm from the base of his feet to the top of his helmet. So what we have here is a generously sized "75 mm" piece.

    The head and helmet are cast integral with the torso (which in turn is cast as a single piece together with the right arm and legs), and I know that a lot of guys (myself included) generally prefer the head and headgear as separate parts to facilitate painting. But that aside, the parts breakdown is logical enough, and the casting is of a very good standard. Not the best perhaps, there are one or two fine mould seam lines here & there that will need dealing with. But generally nice and sharp, with good crisp detail throughout.

    Main body & legs.jpg All parts.jpg

    I'm no expert on the period but to my eye the chainmail armour looks nicely rendered and in scale. The folds of the cape and what is visible of the tunic are well done, and there are some nice undercuts beneath the sleeves and at the bottom of his tunic at knee level. There's none of that filled-in, flattened-out nonsense that you sometimes get and that needs hollowing out & reworking to get a decent look.

    Someone in the original thread that announced the figure took issue with the helmet (lack of detail apparently), but it looks fine to me. However, the cheek guards being cast integral with the face won't make painting of the face or helmet any easier. An inconvenience more than a major issue perhaps, but separate cheek guards would have been nice – if not a completely separate 3-part helmet.

    The figure's facial features are sharp and well defined. The eyes look to be well sculpted and - most importantly – well cast. Because there's nothing more annoying when you come to paint a face than discovering that one of the eyeballs is off-centre, too big and/or has a sinkhole that then requires surgery on the workbench.

    Facial featuires.jpg

    All jowly & muscular and looking like the bad-ass big brother of the UK's famous insurance dog Churchill ("Ohhh Yessss"), our legionnaire's canine companion is very well detailed and looks the part, with a real "war dog" thing going on.

    Dog 1.jpg Dog 2.jpg

    The mastiff is "all there", so to speak (I believe the Latin phrase as used by the Romans themselves was "doggo intacto" ;) ), and his chain leash is beautifully done. It's a fine, filigree piece of work, but my concern is that during or after detachment from the casting block it might prove to be a tad delicate and thus prone to breakage. It's also divided into two parts – a long straight section and a smaller piece with two strands that exit the soldier's left hand on the underside. When I come to tackle this part of the kit, I'm going to try and source some very fine metal chain as back-up "just in case".

    Chains.jpg

    The dog is cast as two parts – "front end" and "back end" rather than split left & right from head to tail down the middle. There's a plug and a hole on the mating surface of each half to aid joining, but the larger plug is too big for its hole so a bit of whittling down will be needed to get a clean fit. The front end /back end split though is around the back of his harness strap, which makes perfect sense and I anticipate that little if any filler will be needed once the aforementioned whittling has been taken care of.

    As you can see below, some parts will require a bit of clean-up to get rid of the casting blocks and flash, but none of it should pose much of a problem. Bread & butter stuff really. The worst of it is on the inside of the left leg, which I've tried to capture in one of the photos. But I've seen and tackled worse, and I'm not going to flag it as a deal-breaker. (Note: In the photo below, the way the light falls on the figure makes the seam line down his right side look worse than it actually is, plus it will be less prominent once the cape is in place)

    Daggers.jpg Inside of legs.jpg

    Fit-wise, the left arm slots cleanly into the "socket" provided in his left sleeve, and the cape slides nicely into place around his shoulder & back (I don't expect that any filler will be needed). Not having removed any of the casting blocks etc. I can't comment on the fit of the rest. But looking at it, I don't anticipate any major issues.

    The base is … basic! But the holes line up perfectly with the pins on the soldier's and dog's feet and these pins slot into place nice & tight. So with a dab or two of glue it'll provide a useful hand-hold for painting and a decent basis for some more elaborate groundwork to sex the whole thing up.

    My main gripe is with the scutum, which is by some distance the kit's "weakest link". There's a tab on the back of it that slots into a hole in the the figure's cape to aid its positioning on his back. So far so good. But the back of the scutum is completely devoid of any and all detail, and is roughly cast as well (see photo). There's no recess & hand grip behind the boss, and no horizontal or vertical reinforcing braces. As if the sculptor just didn't bother. Which is a shame because once in position, some of the back of the scutum will be visible. All that should be a fairly straightforward fix with a Dremel and a bit of plastic sheet. But that's not really the point, because it's a real oversight that smacks of "couldn't be bothered".

    Shierld.jpg IMG_2260.jpg

    Overall verdict: Scutum issues notwithstanding, a very nice release from an exciting new company, and also something a bit different with the inclusion of the mastiff dog. I'm giving it 7.5/10, with marks deducted mainly for the scutum, the integrally cast head & helmet, and the piss-poor box-less presentation.

    At US$ 65.00 (plus shipping) it's not a cheap piece for a 75mm. Especially as mine came only in a small plastic bag and a bit of bubble wrap. So I'll leave you to decide whether or not you think it's worth a punt at that price.

    - Steve
    NeilW, Redcap, KenBoyle and 8 others like this.
  2. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi Steve

    Quality and constructive review there

    You highlighted well the concerns and I agree about the presentation

    Hope we see this being worked on soon

    Jinkoo Collectibles have agreed to sponsor FOTM as well

    Thanks for sharing this

    Nap
    Babelfish likes this.
  3. Tecumsea PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    England
    I hope this company will take note of your concerns Steve.

    Abysmal packaging and a half sculpted shield do not sit well with the price of this figure.

    This is now off my buy list.

    Keith
  4. Babelfish A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Indeed Keith. My hope is that Mr. Jinkoo will look at it again and re-do the shield properly because it mars what is otherwise a nice kit. Some decent boxing wouldn't go amiss either at that price. Let's hope these are only teething problems because he's putting out a nice varied range of stuff.

    - Steve
    Nap and Tecumsea like this.
  5. 1969 A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Been waiting eagerly for your opinion on this figure Steve, also been on my buy list and would have shelled out instantly when released but was holding back due to the price. Your review has been very useful, I would have at least expected a box for the price and not just some bubble wrap.

    Cheers
    Steve
  6. Tecumsea PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    England
    The excess postage could have provided a very nice box:rolleyes:

    Keith
    Nap likes this.
  7. grasshopper A Fixture

    Country:
    Canada
    Be nice to know more about the company...Korea, Greece...? Perhaps originator is in Korea, cast by Greek service, posted direct..which might explain shoddy packing...
    Nap likes this.
  8. Tecumsea PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    England
    Possibly cast by YS in Greece? seem to be one of the go to casting operations these days.

    Keith
    1969 and grasshopper like this.
  9. Babelfish A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Could be Keith and that was my immediate thought too. But usually YS enclose one of their own little slips in with the kit, and this was absent.

    - Steve
    Nap likes this.
  10. Tecumsea PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    England
    Quite true Steve-the mystery remains:confused:
  11. 1969 A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    The thing that comes to my mind regarding no box is how would you tell an original kit from a recast kit ? One of the few remaining defences of spotting a recast is the fact it comes without a manufacturers box.

    I will still probably get this figure, the work on the shield will be easily dealt with and the rest looks very nice to me.

    Steve
    Babelfish and Nap like this.
  12. Blind Pew A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    I'll hang fire. At almost double what I'd expect to pay for resin figure, I expect perfection, sorry.

    And this is probably the best kit review I've ever seen. (y)
    NeilW, Redcap, 1969 and 1 other person like this.
  13. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi Steve


    Excellent review mate and agree with BP comments , think I am lucky I haven't had anything like this ...must admit my initial thoughts looking at packing, etc was a recast ...you have helped many members regarding this piece

    Nice one

    Nap

    PS I think I have seen similar subject in the King and Country releases
    grasshopper, 1969 and Babelfish like this.
  14. Babelfish A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    I'm inclined to agree, and as much as I'm tempted by a number of the other releases in this range, I'll probably hold off buying any more JPC figures until he ups his game in the boxing department at least.

    In case he misses it, I've posted Mr. Jinkoo a link to this thread via PM in case he wants to comment on any of the points raised.

    One thing that I forgot to mention in my review was the delivery time, which was less than 2 weeks - not bad from overseas.

    And thanks for the kind words re. the review. Appreciated (y).

    - Steve
    Blind Pew, 1969 and Nap like this.
  15. Jinkoo Park Active Member

    Country:
    South-Korea
    All your comments and feedback have been duly noted. I appreciate the thorough critique and will definitely keep those pointers in mind.
    I admit that there a few issues with the packaging and those issues are being addressed as we speak. We currently have Fabio, an Italian painter,
    who is working on the box art. So when that is completed, you can expect brand new packaging along with the box art sticker. For your information,
    I am based in South Korea but most of the casting is done in Greece, including shipping. Hope that clears any confusion. We are still fine-tuning every aspect
    of our business so please bear with us. Your messages will certainly help us improve in every way. Thank you again!!
    Blind Pew, Helm, Redcap and 5 others like this.
  16. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England

    Thank you for responding so positively it's good when a company responds to comments

    I am sure all will bear with you and look forward to future releases

    Thank you for supporting a future FOTM

    Nap
    DEL and 1969 like this.
  17. Babelfish A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Thanks for responding. It's great that you're now working to resolve this. Will this new packaging be available on request (and free of charge) to customers who have already bought figures from your range that arrived without any proper boxing?

    - Steve
    Nap likes this.
  18. Jinkoo Park Active Member

    Country:
    South-Korea
    Yes, the new packaging will be available upon request free of charge. A paper palette will be included as a small gift. Thanks for asking.

    Jinkoo
    Redcap, 1969, Babelfish and 3 others like this.
  19. Babelfish A Fixture

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Can't say fairer than that. Keep up the good work, I'm sure that a lot of us here are looking forward to seeing your range develop. (y)

    - Steve
    grasshopper and Nap like this.
  20. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    I will second those comments Steve

    Nap
    grasshopper likes this.

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