RedBox IRISH TROOPS War of the Roses RB72044 In depth review 1/72 figures soldiers miniatures

Today I will make the review of a super new release, the Irish Troops from the War of the Roses!

Box; A complete success in my opinion. Okay, is not a very perfect drawing, but it very nicely depicts the subject, with lots of charisma, showing the figures you get.I was hooked when I saw it and the box art prompted me to buy it. 

THE FIGURES - 8.0 out of 10 - (40 figures, 10 poses)

Detail; Are these figures really RedBox, or some alien with sinister sculpting powers have substituted them? no, RedBox have improved, and these are figures with sharp detail, reminding me of the first Strelets sets, but maybe even better.They lack the fine detail of Italeri or Zvezda, but these are figures that will be easy to paint, as every piece of detail is clearly defined.


Poses; Good set of poses, we have the famous "Kerns" (Skirmishers), a sort of leader, nobles, archer, many halberd troops and one spearmen. The bad thing is that there ares just 10 poses, and really, 12 is the minimum. All the same, if we have to live with 10 poses, then the choice was quite good.

One of the things that annoys me is that both men with two-handed swords are not actually using them. Both two-handed sword poses are realistic and lively, but I miss a figure in slashing pose.

Also, I would have given one spear to the armoured halberdiers, as 3 armoured halberdiers seems a bit too much.

About the poses themselves, all very nice, active, and well executed. The skirmisher running is one of the best attempts at this pose I've seen.

Anatomical proportions; Excellent. Not as good maybe as Esci or Caesar, but in the top league. They aren't giants as Zvezda, don't have big heads as Italeri, they are not trolls like Strelets, etc. 

Execution (how the company has made the figures); there is a certain quantity of flash, but if we compare with other sets of RedBox this is nothing. The good thing is that it is easy to remove, it is a "clean flash". In other words, it is a bit of excess of plastic here and there, but clearly defined. Not like the Koreans or Chinese light infantry, where it is everywhere, and when you try and remove it, the figure ends up scruffy and looking awful if you are going to paint it. 

Also, the sword of the leader is not flat, but in a cross shape, clearly to help casting, and you will have to cut it to leave it flat.

Plastic used; very dark grey, quite good for painting, semi-elastic.


HISTORICAL ACCURACY - 8.0

Sadly, the War of the Roses is one of the few themes I don't have much knowledge about, basically because it escaps my scope of interest. Then, why on earth I am reviewing this set? because of it's Medieval (and Dark Ages) usage. After consulting the matter with somebody with more knowledge than me, and after a bit of research, I can say this is a solid set, with no big inaccuracies.

Maybe, there shouldn't be two so well armed nobles in a 10 pose set, but this is a thing of proportions not historical innacuracies. The light troops with the standard round shield is maybe a bit strange, but in any case, RedBox have actually tried to make something different, where there was not much historical info, they have tried to get what there was, and do it as best as they could. And they have succeeded in my opinion.

ARMY REPRESENTATION - 8.0
"The army representation score is the potential of the soldiers to be used for other purposes different to the one originally intended"

Besides the two men with the strange hairdress, the rest have plenty of usage. First, all men can be more or less used as late medieval Irish (1350 on). Many men can be just medieval troops from the north of europe, the light troops could be used as many sort of barbarians and,  
with some conversions, these figures can even have more possibilities. 


FUNNESS - 8.5

"I feel that many reviews are oblivious to this point - there are fantastic figures, which you can´t say anything against, but they are just too "correct", maybe too static, and so just boring. So I feel that this is an important point when deciding if you buy a set"

As I've said, RedBox have gotten a bunch of loose historical info and has made a solid set with a distinct "flavour" and appearance. All men are active and combative, except one. And they all have a sort of personality.

The only bad thing is the small number of poses, and the 4 leaders you have to accept, so conversions will be mandatory.


WARGAMING VALUE - 7.0

Even with few poses, the good choice of them gives a minimum score. 

PRICE-VALUE RATIO - 7.7

"The price value ratio of this soldiers will vary between every shop you go, and the best I can do is judge by their average price on eBay and online stores"

They are nicely done, and at the average price of 10 € roughly, where most sets are  today. There are just 40 figures, but at least they are not as expensive as some new Mars sets of worse quality.



OVERALL VALORATION - 8.5

This is a set not only good for those who like the War of the Roses era, but also to the Medieval collector/wargamer. I hope that this improvement in quality with RedBox continues, and if they keep this level they will soon disbank Strelets and become one of the best 1/72 manufacturers in the market.

Conclusion; A set as sets should be, as they were in the golden days. 

Would I recommend buying them over other alternative sets? ; There is no alternative, and will hardly be ever I think. But if there was, I hardly think it will be better.


If you have enjoyed this review and want to say thanks, the best way is to click in one of the advertisings in the blog. Every little help will be appreciated. 






PAINTED EXAMPLES

I haven't painted mine yet, but if you do, please send me pics to tam_cob@hotmail.com and I will include them here!

At the moment, I don't know if they have been painted yet by anyone! Be the first on the net to show them!

Thanks for reading, and see you in the next battle!

Airfix RAF Air Sea Rescue Launch boat 1:72 A05281 R.A.F.

Today we review a entirely new subject to this blog, a 1/72 boat, the RAF Rescue Launch from Airfix.

Let's see the box arts;




The original one. Personally, not very good, it deforms the shape of the boat, ok, it is to give sensation of "speed", but this would be fine for a comic-book, not so much for model kit box art. 

As with nearly all Airfix models, in the 80s they decided it was better to actually picture the models instead of box art. In this case, the kit was very nicely built, and it turns out really well. This is the one I bought back in 1998.

And finally, 34 years later, it is considered that mankind hasn't evolved so much, and the same artwork than in 1979 is reused,  just adding a realistic sky, which gives a quite sloppy effect. Certainly Airfix doesn't want to spend too much in unnecessary things. Even the number on the boat is not valid anymore, as Airfix has changed the numerals.

THE KIT - 9.0 out of 10.0 >>

This is a kit of good detail, very good really if considering it was first made in 1979. It has no major inaccuracies, and it builds into a very nice and good looking model.

As negative points, I would say that the machine guns do not stick out enough from the turrets, and that as the turrets are given a rotational movement, the side machine guns and cannon in the back should also have a rotating mechanism (which I had to make myself with tons of problems back in that day)

Probably the worst error in the model kit is that the side machine guns are way too tall. Their own men as provided can't use them in a proper way, as they should be;

All the same, this can be very easily solved by trimming the pole.

EXTRAS - 8.0 >>

 

The 4 crewman are a very good extra, even if one or two pilots struggling or being rescued would have been perfect. It also includes a inflatable boat.

POSSIBILITIES - 2.0 >>

Not much to do here, besides making a commando version, or maybe a captured one by the Germans.

PRICE/VALUE RATIO - 7.0 >>

It averages between 15 and 20 pounds on eBay. It is quite a big model, but not too cheap, considering that there not many more parts than a twin-engine.

HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE - 6.0 >>

The historical importance score is determined by how many were built, and how much operational service they had, and how much influence they made on the conflicts in which they were involved.

70 boats were built, and they saw plenty of usage throughout the war.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_Two_63_ft_HSL

OVERALL - 7.0 >> 

There are not many 1/72 naval model kits out there, and much less kits priced at affordable prices. This is one of them, a kit that will please and interest both aircraft, naval and general ww2 kit builders.

In one phrase; one of the triad from Airfix boats. A true classic.



If you've liked this tutorial and want to say thanks, one way is just to make a click on the advertising below, that will help me buy modelling materials and dedicate more time to the blog and less to work!

IMAGES OF FINISHED JOBS 
(What? You have built this model? I'd love to include the pics here in this section so everyone can look at it. Just email me at   tam_cob@hotmail.com    !)

Model kit made by myself. .
                                                     
  Until the next rescue mission!!!

Tutorial; HOW TO MAKE A STONE BUILDING in 1/72 for WARGAMING and DIORAMAS How-To

Welcome to my fourth video tutorial, this time something that will be useful to all wargamers and diorama makers, making realistic stone buildings. 

As always, you can follow this tutorial with some of the most basic elements you can find; clay easy to find everywhere (if you live in a suitable area, you could even get it from nature) and cardboard (you could also use transparent plastic, but it would not bond together so well).

Hope you find it useful;

See finished pics below;



If you've liked this tutorial and want to say thanks, one way is just to make a click on the advertising below, that will help me buy modelling materials and dedicate more time to the blog and less to work!