PRELUDE

Devastator Victor is the latest release in the near future series “Trigger” from Nutsplanet. It arrived in its’ instantly recognisable blue box adorned with the box art by Ki Yeol Yoon. This is a 75mm scale, polyurethane resin kit digitally sculpted by Joo Heum Yoon, consisting of twenty incredibly detailed parts, including an expansive piece of scenery and a section of clear acrylic for the visor of the respirator.

First impressions are as always, very good. The quality of the sculpt, cast and level of detailing is exceptional. This piece could easily be painted separately or as part of a larger vignette with other members of the Trigger “universe”.

The kit could easily depict some kind of post apocalyptic survivor, carefully walking the streets of deserted towns, looking for resources or survivors, always alert in case of contact with an enemy, his weapon readied, held ahead of him, breathing apparatus is essential as who knows if there is contamination?

The figure and the scenic base offer an enormous wealth of possibilities when it comes to painting the kit, weathering, damage, graffiti, industrial, etc and the details and textures are superbly sculpted and cast. Let’s take a look!

SCULPT AND CAST

Let me begin by saying the sculpt and cast are exceptional and then I will look at the various key elements and give an explanation for what I am seeing. Actually I am going to begin with the scenic elements first. This is probably the most expansive and detailed scenic base I have seen that comes as part of the kit. This is a complete vignette in one box! So when you look at the price $70 (just over £50 plus shipping) it offers excellent value for money.

The two main components are the floor and wall sections; the floor shows moulded details to the paving and the steps that lead up to the door which is sculpted to the wall section, along with bricks, a door entry panel and the cabling for the air conditioning unit.

The brick work is nicely rendered and shows enough variation and randomness to their size and texture that when painted will look very convincing. Clean up to the base sections is minimal and there is very little warping to the parts due to their thickness.

Next up for the base is the air conditioning unit and the shelving it sits upon. The unit itself is nicely detailed with enough panels, covers and bolts to do it justice. The unit sits within a rack which is mounted to the wall via two “L” shaped brackets, again  nicely detailed and the thickness of the parts is all to a good scale.

There is also an accurate, to scale, sharply detailed “jerry” can that can be used as they have in the box art (however, unlike the box art, there is no cardboard box and the cabling to the unit isn’t ribbed, its just insulated).

Onto our protagonist, Victor!

He stands a little short of 80mm in height and is covered in details. Although I picture him in a post apocalyptic, near future setting, he is incredibly well equipped with pouches, canisters, bottles, pockets, ammunition, grenades etc. His clothing looks durable and practical with knee, shoulder and shin pads offering extensive protection whilst maintaining his ability to move freely and comfortably.

The jacket shows excellent details once more, with ribbing, seams and buttons all present and correct and it is opened at the neck exposing a neck scarf beneath. The straps for the canister backpack are sculpted to the jacket and line up perfectly with the backpack frame once attached.

I would recommend building and painting in sub assemblies to reach all of this detail, the fit is so good though there will be no need for gap filling which is always a great benefit.

The creases to the jacket are nicely sculpted and not over done and where the fabric is cinched beneath the straps etc is a nice touch. The detailing is crisp and the straps and buckles (there are a lot of them) have sharp undercuts and depth to the detailing. The same care and attention to details is carried on down the trousers, with nice seams and creases, a very nice touch is the slight bulge to the trouser pockets, suggesting something within.

The head once more is nicely sculpted and has some very nice details, it fits snugly to the neck via a tight peg and socket assembly. The amount of skin on show is minimal due to the respirator which is attached over the head via elasticated straps, beneath this we see some sort of protective hood.

The canister is integral to the design and the clear acrylic for the visor is a nice touch and fits perfectly. There is a double, stitched pouch with really nice zipper details that fit snugly to a cutout on his left hip, again some form of grenade or smoke canister is present here too, he definitely means business!

I saw a few mold-lines along these parts, along the arm, inside of one of the legs and underneath the respirator and up the neckline. There are resin plugs to most of the parts that will need cutting and filing smooth but there are no major casting defects such as air bubble holes or slippage.

His weapon of choice, a flame thrower, possibly home made design is once more very well detailed, ribbed hosing, copper fasteners, gas regulator and trigger and guard are all represented. The hand held (business end) fits perfectly via two pins, the hands being sculpted to the weapon, straight to the wrists.

None of this fiddly assembly I had to so often deal with, with a certain large wargaming company! Some considerable thought has gone into the design!

Again this means you can paint all of the parts of the figure and then attach the hands and weapon, which otherwise, being carried across the body could have obscured and made painting these details particularly difficult.

The canisters upon his back, the two larger and a third, slightly smaller one which connects in the middle, are great scale replicas of the real thing and have holes and slots to accept the cables and be mounted to the backpack frame.

The frame itself is a wonderful piece of sculpting and clever casting but care will need to be taken to remove the excess resin plug without damaging that fine and delicate tubing.

Finally we have his axe (looks like Fire Department issue) again full of details with very nice strapping along the handle, take care here, there is a moldline and this will need removing without defacing the strapping.

DESIGN AND ORIGINALITY

The design of the kit in my opinion is of the very highest standard and the composition is well balanced. There are a lot of details across all the parts and yet somehow it doesn’t become too busy.

The kit could quite easily be interpreted in various styles and settings, the box art depicts a survivor, quite possibly a civilian but he could easily be painted as a militiaman. There are some great open spaces too, crying our for freehand, for instance the walls, door, the air-con unit or even the canisters. This could easily see damage, wear and tear, graffiti, maybe even old, sun bleached posters and the like. The figure is sculpted with left leg forward and his right foot firmly planted and at a slight angle, this leads me to think he is in a stationary position, a pause in his search perhaps? Or maybe he is expecting trouble around the corner.

Nutsplanet continue to deliver excellent kits that in my opinion are filling a niche in the market and are thus offering a range of unique and original figures for painters and collectors alike.

DESIRABILITY

Nutsplanet are proving to be quite prolific with their releases and each one is eagerly anticipated by many people within the hobby. It is easy to understand why too! This particular kit, is packed full of super details, options for painters, a complete vignette scenic base and a quality of sculpt that is pretty much second to none. Anyone with a fascination in all things post apocalyptic will love this latest release for the “Trigger” series.

AFFORDABILITY

As I had mentioned previously the kit comes in around the £50 mark and whilst depending on your own financial situation, no one can deny this kits offers great value for money. Highly recommended!

DATES, FIGURES AND STUFF

Cost                                      $70

Material                               Polyurethane Resin

No of Parts                           20

Release Date                        Available Now

Where Can I Get It?           HERE