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Review Ancient Shu Warrior from MJ Miniatures

Discussion in 'Reviews , Video Reviews and Open Book' started by Nap, Mar 18, 2016.

  1. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hello to you all ,

    One country full of history that is shrouded in mystery is China , a subject not often covered in our hobby , but we have a release from mj_logo.png in the latest release.

    It is this one:
    Ancient Shu Warrior

    S2.jpg

    We all know about the Terracotta Warriors an amazing sight , giving an insight in the armour and weapons used by Chinese Armies of the time
    1.jpg .

    The Ancient Shu are a different case with information hard to come by , there is wiki of course but thanks to the sculptor William Tsang and MJ I am able to share what details they used .

    Early history was barely documented if at all

    The Shu kingdom was located in today's modern province of Sichaun and was very active and flourishing during the Zhou period of 770-221 BC , the Shu alongside the Ba kingdom had no political influence on the Zhou empire .

    Language and culture of both was very distinct and individual , there have been excavations which have unearthed bronze containers with shapes and patterns .
    feel.jpg pattern on Basket.jpg

    Weapons included "Willow sword" , a short bronze sword often decorated with symbols , the colour being a reddish yellow at the time with the modern name being green bronze, size was 5-7 cm wide and between 37-60 cm in length

    sign_pattern_on_weapons_1.jpg

    1aaa.jpg 1.jpg
    They also had a Dagger axe or "Ge" , very similar to a pole mounted weapon but smaller .
    1aa.jpg

    Good references to look at on weapons include:

    Ancient Chines Treasures from a Lost Civilisation by Robert Baglet
    Ancient Chines Weapons by Cheng Dong
    1a.jpg
    Clothing was very simple for the common soldiers , generally wool coloured in whites , with patterns in dark reds and browns , blacks . Leatherwork was obtained from Sheep and cow skins and generally dark possibly black .
    colouring idea.jpg
    Modern reference books are generally written in Chinese but here are some on the Chinese Armies which I must admit I found fascinating reading , full of information , they are from the Osprey series .
    S8.jpg S5.jpg S6.jpg
    S7.jpg


    Continued in next post

    Nap
  2. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Lets see what we are looking at :

    Originally announced by MJ both here and FB

    http://www.planetfigure.com/threads...elease-from-mj-miniatures.75366/watch-confirm



    Title: The Ancient Shu Warriors 15-16th century BC

    Reference: MJ75-001

    Scale: 75mm

    Material: Gray Resin

    No of parts: 8 model part plus a sign

    Sculptor: Willian Tsang

    Box Art: Man Jin, Kim


    Firstly we have a new sculptor to the MJ team namely William Tsang , so a big welcome to him.

    As always shipping was quick and well packed on opening the box I was in for a surprise as I was expecting a cardboard box but no!! the model has been put into a nice silvered tin , on the top we have the colour picture of the box art with all the resin being held in bags and surrounded by bubble wrap.


    MJ Shu Warrior 001.jpg


    Parts consist of: The main figure , 2 hair pieces, sash end, , shield, 2 hands , a base and small tablet with a inscription in Chinese ( more later on this)
    MJ Shu Warrior 002.jpg
    Prep:
    Main figure....remove any resin from under feet to ensure clean fit to the base , sand away casting line running along arms and legs mainly on his right side
    Base... Slight sanding around the edge , use as provided or incorporate in a larger base .
    Shield... Remove small casting remnants from ends
    Weapon and Shield handle ( both have hands on them) ...Remove from formers
    Sash and hair Pieces...remove from former and fit MJ Shu Warrior 019.jpg
    Tablet...Small casting lug to cut away

    Starting with the Main Figure itself , a one piece sculpt without the hands, I think without doubt the first thing to say is this fellow is quite "rotund".....but full of character particularly in the face which might not be to everyone taste for sure.

    MJ Shu Warrior 003.jpg MJ Shu Warrior 006.jpg MJ Shu Warrior 005.jpg MJ Shu Warrior 004.jpg

    The head is full of details from the ragged and well formed hair showing nice texture with a bandana around his head , the face has nice work on the eye area with the mouth being wide open exposing teeth and tongue , our warrior is well fed with a bit of a double chin in evidence with a looked after waist size as well!!!

    Hair pieces ( x 2 ) need to be fitted in place as here:

    Shu hair pieces.JPG

    Clothing is both an outer and under garment, both loose and blowing , showing good movement , he has long sleeves with nice texture as well all over , the inner has a torn lower edge , well represented as well .
    Feet are without shoes and the toes are very good indeed , the leg shape having ample calves and legs being apart to the same width as his waist!!

    MJ Shu Warrior 009.jpg MJ Shu Warrior 010.jpg

    Around his waist is a sash , this is very well done one , nice definition , being held in this is the weapon , a sword and a lovely bit of work as well , the handle is wrapped fro grip with the scabbard having the stitches along the edges.

    MJ Shu Warrior 008.jpg

    You will need to fit the other end of the sash as here

    Shu Sash location.JPG


    A good pose overall IMO

    Hands these are holding both the shield handle and the axe and look good when fitted , both show really good details

    MJ Shu Warrior 016.jpg MJ Shu Warrior 017.jpg MJ Shu Warrior 018.jpg

    The Shield is a nice bit of sculpting with great surface work being shown
    MJ Shu Warrior 014.jpg MJ Shu Warrior 015.jpg

    The Base this is perfectly suitable for the job , sloping groundwork with rocks and dirt being worked into it , there are 2 slots for the feet to go , a little bit of filler might be needed , some will use it as it is others will I am sure incorporate it in larger groundwork. MJ Shu Warrior 012.jpg MJ Shu Warrior 011.jpg


    Now then the little tablet sign , this has Chinese writing on it MJ Shu Warrior 013.jpg and I was intrigued as to what it meant so contacting my friend MJ he got hold of William and this was the answer

    ----------------------William Tsang's answer--------------------


    It is my nick name actually created by my friends. And they given my nickname called - Old man. Which is showing on my nameplate in chinese writing. 老人家(Lao Ren Jia).

    Don't you just love that ...thanks to William for the explanation , so there you have it why not use it on the base




    Final Thoughts



    Its good to see a new sculptor working with MJ miniatures , his first is an unusual subject nicely sculpted with great presentation from MJ , the face perhaps is not to everyone's taste but boy he is sort of lovable ..go on admit it a cheeky guy!!...I like it lots . I am very sure we will see more from William , I would like to see him do a bust as well.



    For more details on this and all the other great releases in all scales why not visit the website at:

    www.mj-miniatures.co.kr

    e mail: mjminiatures@gmail.com

    Thanks to MJ for the Review piece and all of you for looking in

    Nap















    Martin64 likes this.
  3. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Lets have some unpainted pictures of the completed and then more of MJ's box art

    Resin first:

    S.jpg S0.jpg

    Now that box art ...Enjoy folks


    S4aaaa.jpg S3.jpg S4.jpg S4a.jpg S4aa.jpg S4aaa.jpg

    Nap
    Artem Rudy, Mac1966 and gogok like this.
  4. mick3272 A Fixture

    Not my cup of tea kev but a very nice review all the same.
    Mick
  5. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England

    Thanks Mick , agreed not everybody's subject but certainly results in a good display piece

    Thanks for looking in glad you like the review

    Nap
  6. Oda A Fixture

    Very,very interesting and authentic subject,extremelly well sculpted and cast.Full of character and personality not just a "generic"face.A promising start for a sculptor.And of course it goes without saying,another marvellous presentation.

    Oda.
    napoleonpeart likes this.
  7. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Oda ,

    Thank you you raise good points , good to see a different and not generic face as you say

    William is certainly a sculptor to keep an eye on

    Thanks for posting

    Nap
  8. Viking Bob PlanetFigure Supporter

    Country:
    United-Kingdom
    Lovely review Nap, seems your knowledge is endless.
    As has been said, a lovely sculpt and completely different.
    napoleonpeart likes this.
  9. gogok Active Member

    Country:
    HongKong
    Thank You for your Review and good to share for anyone interested or uninterested. I hope this is a first figure you may drop to your must busy model figure in your life timeline.
    However, you may interested to understand the little tablet sign.
    This is the correct presentations.

    Attached Files:

    • sign.jpg
      sign.jpg
      File size:
      17.4 KB
      Views:
      142
    napoleonpeart likes this.
  10. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Hi Guys ,

    Bob ,

    As you said it is something different certainly looks good painted up


    Gogol,

    Thank you so much for commenting and for showing the correct way up for the writing ..appreciate .

    Thanks for looking in guys

    Nap
    gogok likes this.
  11. gogok Active Member

    Country:
    HongKong
    HI Nap,

    This is fine to call me. William :)

    Good day,

    William Tsang
  12. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Sorry should have realised William ...great sculpt ...hope to see more from you

    Nap

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