Review SBS RM 1982 from Mookies Miniatures Ltd

[Nap]

Hi there everyone​

Time to introduce a new company to you , a result of a passion for the hobby by one of Planet Figures member's namely Richard Pearce aka maximus37 .

Behind every guy is of course the supporting and very hardworking and even more very understanding lady in Richards case its his wife Helen whose support has been so important getiing this release to the market.

Why Mookies.....a tribute and in memory of Richard and Helen's much loved cat Mookie whose paw prints you see on the box label

The release is a bust but fear not there will be an option of legs for a full figure in the very near future!!!!

What also good to know is that individual parts are also available separately to purchase , all it takes is an e mail to Richard ( details at the end of the review)

The release was announced here:

http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/mookies-miniatures-new-company-first-release.112165/

Details of the release are as follows:

Title: Royal Marine Special Boat Service , 3 SBS , Fanning Head , Falklands , c 1982

Reference: N/A

Scale: 1/10th

Material: Gray Resin

No of parts: 17

Sculptor: Moz Corry

Casting: In House

Box Art: Peter Day

Depicting one of the " elite within an elite" on operations in 1982 on 20/21st May

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Bit of background info:

An amphibious landing force was preparing to deliver troops into San Carlos Bay, which would become the bridgehead via which the Islands would be retaken.

Of concern to the British planners was an Argentine position placed atop Fanning Head, a high ridge that overlooked San Carlos Waters. Radio transmissions had been detected, from an Argentine call sign of 'EC Hermes'. Believed to be half-company sized and covering the approaches to the landing areas with heavy weapons, the Argentine presence was a significant threat to the landings.

The task of clearing Fanning Head fell to 3 SBS, supported by HMS Antrim.

The Argentine position was located by using a thermal imaging device attached to Antrim's Wessex helicopter.

An SBS assault force of some 25 men, many armed with GPMG's, was delivered into the vicinity, piecemeal, by Wessex helicopter.

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Accompanying the SBS was Captain Hugh McManners, a Naval Gunfire Forward Observation (NGFO) specialist from 148 Commando Forward Observation Battery who was expert at directing artillery fire from Antrim's main gun, and Caption Rod Bell, a Spanish-speaking expert at psychological operations, who hoped to persuade the Argentine forces to surrender.

As the SBS approached the enemy positions, Captain McManners directed artillery fire onto the target. Upon reaching the target area, the SBS lined up and aimed their GPMGs towards the enemy forces. Hoping that the shelling the enemy had suffered would be enough to break their morale, Captain Bell, called out in Spanish for the Argentines to surrender. The response from the enemy positions was a volley of machine gun fire. With that, the SBS countered with sustained fire of their own, raking the Argentine positions with GPMG fire as well as M203 grenade launchers and LAW rockets.

The SBS moved forward, getting within hand grenade range of the Argentine positions before those surviving defenders chose to surrender. The SBS and naval artillery had killed 11 of the 60 enemy, 6 had surrendered and the rest had fled. The SBS had suffered only light injuries.

One interesting event is reported to have happened the following morning as the landings got under way. A pair of Argentine attack jets came screaming up the valley and flew over Fanning Head, seeking to attack the landing force. The SBS who were now covering the landings from the Argentinean defenses opened up with small arms fire, bringing down one of the jets.

Books are available here are a couple you might like to look at:

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Its my honour to dedicate this review to all those that served in the campaign on both sides .

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Here we have reference pictures for you to use :

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Now to the box and contents :

First Impressions

WOW !!! a BIG box ...why to allow for those legs that will be available at a later date ...good forward thinking there !!!

The box is a strong box with labels on all but the lower side with a colour picture of the painted version by Peter Day.

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Its quite a weighty box with the contents so you can expect something large!!!

Information on the labels include contact details and H & S information and picture of Mookie's together with paw prints !!



Also included is a 2 sided information sheet with painting details and care notes (and a compliments slip )

The packaging inside is recycled/shredded paper strands with the pieces in resealable bags.

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Parts consist of main torso ,backpack, head, 2 arms, 2 hands, M16 , M16 Magazine , 2 grenades, 6 pieces of equipment .

Its good to see that Weapon packed on a cardboard backing .

Prep

Main Torso....Remove casting plug from underneath and drill hole for display post if you use a rod , there is a casting line on the back which won't show when backpack is in place I would remove , there is also a bit of excess resin on the backpack strap end .

Arms...Casting remnant from raer edges fit is clean to the torso with a smidgeon of filler needed.

Hands...Excess Resin to cut away from wrists and fit

Head...Excess resin from under neck and then fit in place.

Backpack... Excess resin from underside , fit is clean to rear of torso abut I would suggest pinning as well.

Pouches...Excess resin from lower edge , on pistol holster excess from rear of casting

Grenades...Remove small casting plugs from lower edge

Weapon...Remove excess on stock end and carefully cut away the former on the from sight and muzzle

Magazine...Cut off excess resin and fit

Note: No base is included within the kit but one is available separately from Richard Here are the size information.



General comments

Presentation is good.

Careful packing is seen throughout

A lot of resin and a model that is top heavy when all together so make sure you base it up well .

Minimal prep , with all excess resin in a easy to get at position .

Overall sculpting and casting is very good as expected from the likes of Moz and the in house casting

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On now to the resin

Main Torso

Wearing a windproof , these were much seen in use not only by the SF , hooded , large pockets , with a rank tab in the centre of the chest .

Sculpting is really good particularly of note are the pockets , rammed full of essential the shape forming against the material , the button work again good , on the left pocket ( as we look) this is sculpted nicely to take the arm fitting naturally into the torso .

Folds are good again particularly on the pocket and at the rear edges.

Looking at the hood at the back this is opened out and sitting naturally , the material folds continue towards the front , the tie cords are shown hanging down.

The rank epaulette is nicely formed with excellent edge definition

The backpack strap and the 58 pattern yoke are also sculpted onto the torso .

Around the waist we have the belt ...still very much in use , a great piece of webbing , really good buckle details , nice edging with additional straps cast on for one of the pouches , at the back we see the securing part of the shoulder/yoke .

Although our subject wears a webbing yoke some had a belt order only with many various pouches of all types

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Arms

These are both going across the torso , with the weapon resting across , again we see good work on the folds with suitable cutouts ready to fit well to the torso with the weapon sitting in the crook of the elbow . Fit is easy and very cleanly done both in sculpting and casting , at the cuffs we have the velcro strips



Hands

I like the way Moz does his hands , these are no different with the cut off gloves being work the fingers peeking out at the top from the fingers middle , nails and definition of the digits are really good with the actual gloves showing really good texture work .

Fit is again no problem to the arms , I would suggest to dry fit to get the position spot on .




Head

Wearing a woolen cap which as with the gloves has good texture details ...a painters dream to be honest , the material sitting nicely onto the head small folds where the material is folded over.

The face is good , moustached , you might like to lengthen it as seen in some pictures , but the details on it is very sharp , the same can be said on the sideboards and the hair working its way out at the back .

Facial features are sharply done and he has a determined look about him even unpainted . . good sculpting o the mouth and the ears , you could also paint him dirtied up a bit more with cam cream etc .




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Now to the remaining pieces

Webbing Pouches

A selection are included including 58 and 44 pattern pouches , as I said much variation is seen , including US pattern pouches , the pouches include 2 ammo pouches , a pouch used for escape and evasion/emergency items

Ammo Pouches

These are a good shape , correctly worked with the bayonet loops on one and the small pocket , generally used for the knife , fork , spoon , infact anything apart from the regulations designed it for !!!

Pouches are closed using the push trough tabs , these are well depicted



Escape pouch

Again good shaping and nice details , a variety of pouches were used to hold vital items the soldier needed.



Water Bottle

This is the extremely useful '44 pattern pouch with the fold around and push on studs to seal it , a nice choice adding variety to the pouches



Pistol Holster

Again Moz has done the business on the holster exactly as references , a nice touch is the edge slightly up , the holster is again secured closed with good details in place.



Compass Pouch

Again from the '44 pattern set, its got the compass inside , sculpted closed with the push popper keeping it closed.



Back Pack

Many versions were in use both during this campaign and indeed since , this is a private purchase Norge backpack , fully loaded , the straps straining with the contents , side pockets are the same , strapping details are sharp and nicely defined.




Grenades

A high explosive and a smoke grenade are included within the kit both are correctly shaped , nice details on the pin and handle .



MI6 and Magazine

The Weapon is nothing short of a triumph , and has been sculpted very well , it was safely held on cardboard packing as well , details are all over , from the firing mechanism to the foresight , muzzle ...fit is very good as well, no carrying strap is included the stock and front covering shw a good shape and vent details , thsese can be painted as in box art or you could also add some camo tape at various angles ...another option .

The magazine is the correct angle , the design and chanelling on each side is good , make sure this is fitted central to the weapon area .





So that's all the parts of this 1st release from Mookie's.

Final thoughts

A lot of hard work has gone into this release , with support from many others , Richard and Helen are to be congratulated in getting this to the market , sculpting is as expected very good indeed with matching casting , prep is minimal , conversion potential also possible of course , you could add your own additions .

But don't forget that you can also contact Richard for extra parts including pouches, weapon etc , there are legs being sculpted and a variety of heads will also be available .

I do hope we see more from this period , lots of options to choose from

I have enjoyed this review and sharing a new company so why not support this venture

Highly recommended

There are contact details on the labels ( see above) but you can also contact Richard via a message here and don't forget the Facebook Page as well

E mail: [email protected]

FB: Search for Mookies Miniatures Limited

Finally lets have a look at the unpainted resin and enjoy the box art above as well .

Thanks to Mookie's for the review item and to you all for looking in

Happy bench ime

Nap

 

[Mookie]

Hi Kevin.
So much thanks goes to you for a very well done and informative review of our first release.So much background information which im sure many will like to read.So much potential for conversion as you say.The box art was by a great painter Peter Day whos a wizard with acrylics.Im of the opinion he made the colours more vibrant for artistic effect,Can be hard to paint muted tones which can end up too dark,stark in my opinion.
We hope to see some of you at Euro in a couple of weeks.I shall be lurking at Ellies minatures etc.Mookie was a nickname for our cat Lara.,Grey princess who has left a big space but never forgotten.
Thanks friends.
Richard and Helen,Mookies miniatures.

 

[Nap]

Hi Richard

Thanks for comments .look forward to seeing you both at Euro

Here is another view of the unpainted version and some more pictures of the artwork by Peter , I think you are right painted for artistic effect , as we can see he also added a weapon sling as well .

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[Sgt. Red]

Looks very nice. Mine just arrived in the mail.

 

[Mookie]

Hope you are pleased with your purchase fella.
Richard

 

[Viking Bob]

The 58 patt webbing is too light and the brown in the DPM is too red should be more chocolate brown.
Other than that a fantastic sculpt by Moz, should do very well.
Great review too Nap

 

[Babelfish]

Great review Kev as always. Nice to see another Falklands piece, as they're relatively thin on the ground.

Looks like a cracking first release - the first of many hopefully. Have to say that the casting looks spot-on as well. Nice and crisp, with not too much clean-up to do.

And what a nice tribute to a loyal friend, naming the company after her! As many of us on here will know, our animals (cats & dogs especially) are much more than just "pets", they're fully-fledged members of the family and it comes as a massive wrench when their time comes to leave us. So yeah - a lovely touch that!

- Steve

 

[Ventress]

Quality review, quality piece and look forward to the next release.

 

[Mark Dollery]

Another great review Kev, Top notch!
Watched this on another forum on the build & paint up & good to see it here....
look forward to seeing it in the flesh...
Mark D

 

[MarquisMini]

Great review Kev, well done!.
The fig. Looks great, amazimg detail and i think it capture the image we all know aboit a hard fighting trooper.
I will jave to agree with Bob about the reddish bron on the camo, it would have been a more chocolate brown rather than reddish, nonetheless, the art box gives a vibrant colors and makes for a great product indeed.

 

[Sgt. Red]

What about a SBS fig from Afghanistan?

 

[swralph]

Thanks for another great review Nap.

 

[Mookie]

Thanks for the comments folks far and wide.We hope to produce other items in the future.Falklands head set is in the pipeline and legs for the SBS chappie.I would also consider maybe an Argentinian figure or two if there was interest.As we are a new company future releases is dependant on our sales and we are trying hard to promote our release on Facebook etc.We will visit the Euro expo show in Folkestone on the 16th September.Myself will be on S.K.miniatures and Ellie miniatures stands.
Regards from Richard.

 

[valiant]

I like this one, but I feel that the cheekbones need making a little more prominent, IMO - the painted version seems to highlight the lack of them even more, by the use of a deep shadow. Just my thoughts....

 

[MarquisMini]

Thanks for the comments folks far and wide.We hope to produce other items in the future.Falklands head set is in the pipeline and legs for the SBS chappie.I would also consider maybe an Argentinian figure or two if there was interest.As we are a new company future releases is dependant on our sales and we are trying hard to promote our release on Facebook etc.We will visit the Euro expo show in Folkestone on the 16th September.Myself will be on S.K.miniatures and Ellie miniatures stands.
Regards from Richard.

That would be great to see the Argies, i have few figures i have bought in Argentina, they are still in boxes and stored on my garage.
I have lota of references.
Here are an infantrymen and a Navy commando.
Cheers

 

[Mookie]

I was thinking of a bust of an Argentinian buzo tactico commando,Ive seen an image of one wearing a puffer jacket and a baggy.rucksack,Any guys know what backpacks the argentinian chaps carried?.
Richard