The Ship Model Forum

I´ve been looking for some RN/RAN sailors with British-style helmets for my 1/700 HMAS Australia build. Google search yielded sets by SSMODEL (MRY-SFW STORE), Triumph Models, and one other Chinese producer on e-bay, but the latter two did not have too many figures wearing helmets, so I decided to go for the first one; and I also ordered two other sets with them:

SSMODEL SSCR013 Miniatures Soldier Model Kit British Military Officer
SSMODEL SSCR014 Miniatures Soldier Model Kit British Navy Sailors
Yao's Studio LYR006 Fighter Aircraft Military Model Kit British Supermarine Walrus amphibious aircraft


The package arrived within just over 3 weeks from placing the order, it was well packed and without any damage. Each product had it´s own plastic container and the print(s) were placed into small bubble-wrap bags. Let´s go through the contents one by one.

Officers (SSCR013)

Two identical sprues are provided, their protective „cage“ definitely provides good protection in transport:


I tried using sprue cutter to remove the "cage" in this case, it was not the best method as can be seen as it caused the base to break, which was quite dangerous to the figures. I used Proxxon/Dremel saw on the other sprue (not photographed) which I recommend.



Unfortunately, the figures are placed very close to each other and are stupidly orientated – so it´s impossible to paint them before removing them from printing supports. Moreover it would be a real pain to keep them in place for painting after removal

But to my greatest regret only 5 different poses (16 figures of each) are provided! I hoped the picture on the website was incorrect in this respect but, unfortunately, it was not. It would be much better to get 5 each of 16 poses or 8 each of 10 poses...

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Battle of Savo Island Collection (all 1/700)
Recently completed: USS Wilson DD-408
At works: USS Astoria CA-34 | USS Patterson DD-392 & USS Bagley DD-386 | HMAS Australia
Prep stage: USS Vincennes CA-44 | Yubari | Kako

Sailors (SSCR014)


The protective cage is absolutely ridiculous to remove in this case as there are columns not only around the figures, but also between rows of them! So the base platform (1.1mm thick!) has to be cut using a Proxxon/Dremel saw which not only takes time, it is dangerous to the figures, but also a lot of unhealthy resin dust is generated

On the plus side: rows of figures are a bit more widely spaced so at least it´s tad easier to cut the base between them – but it could have been done better.


But the sad story continues: printing supports are thicker than sailor´s hands...


Once again the orientation of figures is stupid – they´re impossible to paint before being removed from supports

...and again - only 5 different poses (16 figures of each) are provided

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Battle of Savo Island Collection (all 1/700)
Recently completed: USS Wilson DD-408
At works: USS Astoria CA-34 | USS Patterson DD-392 & USS Bagley DD-386 | HMAS Australia
Prep stage: USS Vincennes CA-44 | Yubari | Kako

Walrus (LYR006)

This set contains 6 aircraft plus their separate propellers. Interestingly, their count was not obvious on the producer´s website – actually it said „1part“, so getting 6 Walruses in the package was a positive surprise



The planes have nice details like bombs/depth charges under wings:

The large number of relatively thick printing supports connected to each other make it a bit difficult to remove, cutting the (thick) base with a Proxxon/Dremel saw would be recommended.

Unfortunately, the same overly thick printing supports leave unwanted marks on the wing´s leading edges that will have to be sanded – not easily done with such a small aircraft. Also the rigging looks far too overscale and the wires do not originate in the same places like on the original aircraft (on wings, not on struts). I was hoping for a better reproduction.


I´d like to take a photo comparison with the Flyhawk´s Walrus which is mixed media (plastic + PE), hopefully I can get to do it soon.

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Battle of Savo Island Collection (all 1/700)
Recently completed: USS Wilson DD-408
At works: USS Astoria CA-34 | USS Patterson DD-392 & USS Bagley DD-386 | HMAS Australia
Prep stage: USS Vincennes CA-44 | Yubari | Kako

Conclusions

For the reasons above I definitely CANNOT recommend the figures (as they are provided by now) to fellow builders in 1/700. The aircraft set is better, still an improvement would be desirable to make it easier to use.

Suggestions to the producer

• the base and cage frames should be modified (deep grooves added) to allow for easier separation of individual parts from others on the same sprue
• orientation of figures should be changed to side-by-side instead of chest-to-back, and spacing should be increased so these can be easily painted before removal from supports
• more than 5 poses should be provided for the figures!!!
• the tips of supports should be made as thin as technologically possible, especially in case of the aircraft set

This experience only strenghtened my adoration of Micro Master (see e.g. here) and Shelf Oddity who really not only design 3D parts in superb quality, but also print them with the modeller´s ease of use on their minds. Unfortunately, neither of them has any figures with RN/RAN helmets – that would have spared me lots of time and hassle

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Battle of Savo Island Collection (all 1/700)
Recently completed: USS Wilson DD-408
At works: USS Astoria CA-34 | USS Patterson DD-392 & USS Bagley DD-386 | HMAS Australia
Prep stage: USS Vincennes CA-44 | Yubari | Kako

Thank you very much for the reviews!

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Great review. Wise conclusions. Thank you Vladi!

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http://www.3xblackcats.wordpress.com

Thank you, guys!

I tried to compare the above Yao´s 3D printed Walrus (after sanding off the remnants of printing supports) with Flyhawk´s version from the FH 1130 WW2 Royal Navy Aircraft II set. Flyhawk´s plastic parts are better defined and crisper, and the PE rigging is thinner and more consistent than the 3D printed one. Assembling Flyhawk´s is, however, more demanding and time consuming. Most importantly and unfortunately, the "boxes" of PE struts & rigging between the wings clearly suck and would deserve modification, which I plan to try.

Despite the Yao´s Walrus´ shortcomings mentioned above it turned out to be an acceptable alternative. Some more work was needed than expected but the result is not bad "out of the box". Replacing the heavily overscale rigging with a thinner one may be a good idea for a more ambitious modeller though.

(BTW the Yao´s Walrus included a really nice tail wheel which unfortunately was lost during sanding off supports)

_________________
Battle of Savo Island Collection (all 1/700)
Recently completed: USS Wilson DD-408
At works: USS Astoria CA-34 | USS Patterson DD-392 & USS Bagley DD-386 | HMAS Australia
Prep stage: USS Vincennes CA-44 | Yubari | Kako

Avoid these 1/700 figures - they are TOTALLY UNUSABLE!
I´ve given them a final try today and I´m sad to confirm my previous conclusions. The outrageously thick supports leading to hands and bodies are joined with sides of the figures and cannot be removed without damaging the figures. The material is so brittle that most attempts end in feeding the carpet monster. All of that is even more complicated by the figures being so close to each other. And providing 100 figures in only 5 poses is just ridiculous. I tried to contact the producer with my suggestions but he replied he did not understand.

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Battle of Savo Island Collection (all 1/700)
Recently completed: USS Wilson DD-408
At works: USS Astoria CA-34 | USS Patterson DD-392 & USS Bagley DD-386 | HMAS Australia
Prep stage: USS Vincennes CA-44 | Yubari | Kako

Just for the record: See how the supports are really thick compared to the arms, bodies etc. Most importantly, they quite often "melt" with some part of the figure like in these examples. I attempted for a surgery but I failed - in my opinion this is unrepairable in this scale

For comparison these are by Shelf Oddity. No visible print layers, tiny supports, fine details etc. Sorry for the low-res of the photos, still I think they show clearly the difference.

_________________
Battle of Savo Island Collection (all 1/700)
Recently completed: USS Wilson DD-408
At works: USS Astoria CA-34 | USS Patterson DD-392 & USS Bagley DD-386 | HMAS Australia
Prep stage: USS Vincennes CA-44 | Yubari | Kako