[Open-Box review] Hannibal Barca by Kevin

Hi to you all out there in resin land, Those that were able to get to Euro this year would have looked in awe at the Competition , for me one of the highlights was seeing the painting from a great guy called Myeong-Ha and also meeting Benny Sa both from the Korean Company :

Amongst those on show was the subject of this review:

The release was announced on PF here: http://www.planetfigure.com/threads/hannibal-barca-from-nutsplanet-of-september.73101/watch-confirm As in my reviews lets have a bit of background on the man himself , of course say the word Hannibal and the response will more than likely be " he took Elephants across the Alps" . Yes that's correct In a lightning campaign, he crossed the mountains with an army of 50,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry and 37 elephants; next, he crossed the river Rhône ferrying his elephants across the water on large rafts. His full name was Hannibal Barca , , the former means "joy of Baal" and the later meaning "lightning" , born in Carthage in 247 BC , from a very young age it is said his father instilled hatred of Rome and anything Roman in him , often dipping his son's hands in blood . When in 184 BC as commander of the Bithynian fleet using various methods to inflict defeat amongst these was the use of pots filled by deadly snakes and catapulting them onto enemy ships !!!! Wearing the very best in armour heavily decorated as with all commanders of the Ancient world .carrying weapons including the razor sharp and lethally distinctive sword called the falcata. All did not always go his way though and in 202 BC he lost the Battle of Zama resulting in Carthage making very many concessions to Rome. He did not die in battle perhaps as he might have wanted but it is said took poison in 183 BC but but he was a great leader both by example and in skill in tactics and logistics ranking alongside Alexander the Great in my opinion.

He has been looked at in many documentaries and there is lots on You Tube to look at and of course there has been TV and films. Books are many but here are a few I like:

Lets see what we are looking at: Title: Hannibal Barca (The 2nd Punic War) Ref: NP-B018 Scale: 1/10th Material Resin ( Lt Gray) No of Parts: 6 including base Sculptor: Jun-Sik Ahn Box Art: Myeong-Ha Hwang As with all releases from Nuts Planet , packaging is very good indeed , with the usual strong box and excellent colour depictions on the top and sides , parts were again sandwiched between foam layers keeping the resin safe and sound , smaller parts were held safely in a plastic bag .

The parts consist of the main torso , the head(with helmet), helmet horsehair piece, the sword handle and a cord to fit to cuirass ( this is not in picture as I only found it on the carpet after...sorry Nuts!!!) , and of course the base .

Prep The Torso has a single casting remnant to take off from an otherwise super smooth underside , the head a small bit to fit the neck to the torso , there is also an almost invisible casting line to quickly and carefully sand away from the neck at the back under the helmet , this is easily missed its so fine ....its the reviewer in me ..."warts and all" . the horsehair has a plug to easily cut away from the base . The cord needs fitting to the breast in the ring running to the bow on the actual cuirass. The sword handle has a plug at the base to cut away The base ...a quick sanding around the edge . That's it as expected minimal prep which as its so easy isn't a chore then you can get on with the really enjoyable stuff!!!

Looking at the Torso first , our "H" is wearing a rather fetching animal skin , the drapery on this is great , both front and back , hanging over the shoulders , what really shouts at me is the texture ...amazing work all over .

Without a doubt painting the skin will be a challenge but the choice of type is up to you , the boxart shows Cheetah or Leopard. The cuirass is muscular in style , the sword belt hanging across the chest coming from underneath the skin on the left , the sleeve details are good sitting naturally , with good undercuts , these are also seen on the shoulder piece. At the neck we have a fine scarf no doubt protecting the neck from rubbing , like the folds as always worked extremely well . The Cuirass has super details on it including: An elephant in the centre , ears flared out to the side , tusks and a truck all in nice details ...I cannot imagine what it was like facing these beasts in battle ...terrifying to say the least. There is a lions head with a ring in his mouth on the shoulder protection leading down to a lovely bow under which we have another lion , with the cord fitted this holds everything in place. The brooch on the right shoulder shows a woman with a bird , al in fine details From under the neck scarf there is another animals head..

On now to the Head , this is sculpted wearing the helmet , looking at the facial features ...working off known pictures he has a rather well styled beard , which again shows really good details the curls on it and on the hair peeking out from under the helmet on the forehead and helmet looks natural. Facial features , eyes , ears , nose etec are all 1st class , I particularly like the forehead wrinkles and the way the eyes are worked , you can almost see the facial muscles move.

The helmet is as his station in life very full of decoration , the visor has swirls and the helmet edges also show cleanly worked patterns, on both sides there is a horse in full gallop , again well done you can almost hear the beast !!!!

The helmet top is also well shaped with 2 cut out holes ready to take the crest itself .....when fitted this is a really sharp bit of work in all areas , no gaps anywhere ...we like that lots!! The Crest , this is a flowing piece in keeping with the original horsehair used , fit is excellent as said above. you could fit this before or after painting , I would suggest before . We see the strands of hair falling down , with the shape being very good indeed particularly at the top .

The Sword Handle , a nice addition in the shape of a horse , both sides are decorated with a pattern , fit is easy by mean of a lug matching a hole in the cuirass.

The Base is the standard pedestal type well formed , nice and smooth and a perfect fit into the recess on the underside , I would advise pinning as well .

inal Thoughts: This is another really nice addition showing very high quality both in sculpting and presentation as always with matching casting as always with Nuts Planet to such a wonderful level Very Highly recommended Thanks to Nutsplanet for the Review model and to you all for looking in .