Ong
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2005
- Messages
- 384
Introduction:
Heramodels of Spain’s 75mm (1/24) resin Science Fiction female warrior, Shony, gets a special place among the Science Fiction figures in the market today−a resin garage kit company has produced an original Sci-Fi female figure in futuristic hard body armor. This is not a post-World War 2, Steampunk, or Dieselpunk figure design. It looks high-tech, futuristic, proportional, and serious. While modelers may argue that futuristic hard body armor female figures already exist on the market (and they are correct), not many exist in 1/24th scale and holding a custom rifle. True, there are those Sci-Fi female figures armed with pistols; those in 54mm, those in 28mm wargaming size, those in 1/8th and larger scale, and those that are unarmed, and yet none appear like 75mm Shony.
Parts:
75mm resin Shony came in a stiff cardboard box with the Heramodel’s logo brand pasted on the cover. Perhaps in the future the Shony art card would grace the box, but for now, one would have to settle on the logo cover.
Opening the box reveals the parts in sealable plastic bags and nestled in two layers of gray wavy foam.
The figure kit consists of the following parts:
· Full body minus head, right leg, and arms
· Right leg
· Two heads, one with a respirator and one without
· Left arm
· Right arm
· Shoulder armor
· Rifle
· Backpack
· Side pouch bag
· Base
· Shony “Eight of Clovers” art playing card
· Glossy Shony art card
· Heramodels.com brand identification card
I detected no casting flaws or errors with Shony. There is a little bit of flash here and there on the rifle. She does show a few subtle seam lines and on closer inspection I believe that they are part of her uniform. To sand the slight seam line running down the back of her right leg might mean ruining the fine ribbing behind her knee so I suggest using really fine sandpaper or even leaving it alone.
Shony follows the Science Fiction look of a slender and curvaceous female half-clad in strap-on hard body armor plates, mainly protecting the front and back of her torso and only the front of her legs. Shony has a few articulated circular hinges at the kneepads and the lower hips. Underneath, she wears a flexible unisuit that is ribbed at the back of the knees and grooved at her abdomen.
She wears two belts; one around her waist with nothing on it and a strap leading to the side pouch bag on her hip with two cylinders on the back.
I testfitted the pieces to Shony’s body and found the fit overall superb. The right leg fits nicely using the square peg into the hole and both feet pegs nestle finely into the base’s square holes. I also testfitted the arms and found them to fit generally well although their tiny pegs have been snipped off, creating a bit of flare at the end that prevents them from fitting snugly into the holes. The modeler would have to ensure that the arms are glued well to avoid falling off in the future.
The hands casted onto the rifle fit securely into the holes on the end of the arms and the left shoulder armor fits snugly into the square socket. Both heads’ square pegs fit snugly into the neck’s square socket, leaving no room for play or turning the head without modifications.
The backpack and side pouch both exhibit excellent fit into their respective square holes. The backpack itself combines a top cylinder with two circular lower caps. It resembles more of a powerpack than a radio or cargo carrying pouch due to the lack of zippers or antennae. The side bag has curving ends that mate well with the three-quarters casted belt buckles, completing the look that the side bag’s strap holds onto something heavy.
I found the rifle a work of technological high-tech Sci-Fi art. Although it lacks a scope, the rifle seems to be a combination of two muzzles of the same size and a pyramid of three dots on top. I’m not sure if it’s a combination rifle and grenade launcher because Shony lacks any bandolier of rifle grenades. The art cards show a rifle carrying handle and a huge box magazine attached to the side of the rifle, making it some sort of light machine gun. In reality, the kit lacks this box magazine and the rifle doesn’t indicate any hole or peg for mounting anything on the side, nor is there any carrying handle. I emailed Heramodels for an explanation and this was their response:
“We decided to make some variation of the original concept to facilitate the assembly and production of the figure. The figure already has more pieces than normal, and we wanted to reduce it to the minimum possible. That's why we decided to change the machine gun for a simpler rifle or plasma gun.
We did not want to change the original design to give people an easy idea to convert their model. We also try to think of all those fans who want to give a different look to their figures.
Diego Esteban
Art director”
Conclusion:
Heramodels of Spain produced a winner with 75mm resin Shony. This female figure kit possesses excellent fit, sculpting, pose, casting quality, details, and Sci-Fi technology. She exhibits proportional dimensions and a body armor style not too feministic and sexist. The 75mm (1/24) size means that details pop out compared to 54mm or smaller. Shony stands as one of the unique armed female Sci-Fi figure kits on market today.
Special thanks to Heramodels for the discounted review sample.
Highs: Excellent fit, casting quality, details, and futuristic Sci-Fi technology
Lows: None.
Heramodels of Spain’s 75mm (1/24) resin Science Fiction female warrior, Shony, gets a special place among the Science Fiction figures in the market today−a resin garage kit company has produced an original Sci-Fi female figure in futuristic hard body armor. This is not a post-World War 2, Steampunk, or Dieselpunk figure design. It looks high-tech, futuristic, proportional, and serious. While modelers may argue that futuristic hard body armor female figures already exist on the market (and they are correct), not many exist in 1/24th scale and holding a custom rifle. True, there are those Sci-Fi female figures armed with pistols; those in 54mm, those in 28mm wargaming size, those in 1/8th and larger scale, and those that are unarmed, and yet none appear like 75mm Shony.
Parts:
75mm resin Shony came in a stiff cardboard box with the Heramodel’s logo brand pasted on the cover. Perhaps in the future the Shony art card would grace the box, but for now, one would have to settle on the logo cover.
Opening the box reveals the parts in sealable plastic bags and nestled in two layers of gray wavy foam.
The figure kit consists of the following parts:
· Full body minus head, right leg, and arms
· Right leg
· Two heads, one with a respirator and one without
· Left arm
· Right arm
· Shoulder armor
· Rifle
· Backpack
· Side pouch bag
· Base
· Shony “Eight of Clovers” art playing card
· Glossy Shony art card
· Heramodels.com brand identification card
I detected no casting flaws or errors with Shony. There is a little bit of flash here and there on the rifle. She does show a few subtle seam lines and on closer inspection I believe that they are part of her uniform. To sand the slight seam line running down the back of her right leg might mean ruining the fine ribbing behind her knee so I suggest using really fine sandpaper or even leaving it alone.
Shony follows the Science Fiction look of a slender and curvaceous female half-clad in strap-on hard body armor plates, mainly protecting the front and back of her torso and only the front of her legs. Shony has a few articulated circular hinges at the kneepads and the lower hips. Underneath, she wears a flexible unisuit that is ribbed at the back of the knees and grooved at her abdomen.
She wears two belts; one around her waist with nothing on it and a strap leading to the side pouch bag on her hip with two cylinders on the back.
I testfitted the pieces to Shony’s body and found the fit overall superb. The right leg fits nicely using the square peg into the hole and both feet pegs nestle finely into the base’s square holes. I also testfitted the arms and found them to fit generally well although their tiny pegs have been snipped off, creating a bit of flare at the end that prevents them from fitting snugly into the holes. The modeler would have to ensure that the arms are glued well to avoid falling off in the future.
The hands casted onto the rifle fit securely into the holes on the end of the arms and the left shoulder armor fits snugly into the square socket. Both heads’ square pegs fit snugly into the neck’s square socket, leaving no room for play or turning the head without modifications.
The backpack and side pouch both exhibit excellent fit into their respective square holes. The backpack itself combines a top cylinder with two circular lower caps. It resembles more of a powerpack than a radio or cargo carrying pouch due to the lack of zippers or antennae. The side bag has curving ends that mate well with the three-quarters casted belt buckles, completing the look that the side bag’s strap holds onto something heavy.
I found the rifle a work of technological high-tech Sci-Fi art. Although it lacks a scope, the rifle seems to be a combination of two muzzles of the same size and a pyramid of three dots on top. I’m not sure if it’s a combination rifle and grenade launcher because Shony lacks any bandolier of rifle grenades. The art cards show a rifle carrying handle and a huge box magazine attached to the side of the rifle, making it some sort of light machine gun. In reality, the kit lacks this box magazine and the rifle doesn’t indicate any hole or peg for mounting anything on the side, nor is there any carrying handle. I emailed Heramodels for an explanation and this was their response:
“We decided to make some variation of the original concept to facilitate the assembly and production of the figure. The figure already has more pieces than normal, and we wanted to reduce it to the minimum possible. That's why we decided to change the machine gun for a simpler rifle or plasma gun.
We did not want to change the original design to give people an easy idea to convert their model. We also try to think of all those fans who want to give a different look to their figures.
Diego Esteban
Art director”
Conclusion:
Heramodels of Spain produced a winner with 75mm resin Shony. This female figure kit possesses excellent fit, sculpting, pose, casting quality, details, and Sci-Fi technology. She exhibits proportional dimensions and a body armor style not too feministic and sexist. The 75mm (1/24) size means that details pop out compared to 54mm or smaller. Shony stands as one of the unique armed female Sci-Fi figure kits on market today.
Special thanks to Heramodels for the discounted review sample.
Highs: Excellent fit, casting quality, details, and futuristic Sci-Fi technology
Lows: None.
