Introduction:

Whenever a question “what 1/35 scale modern figures would you like to see produced?” is posted on the modeling forums, one of the most frequent answers is: civilians. Indeed, among all the different military figures both in plastic and in resin, high quality miniatures depicting civilians are hard to find.

Enter Black Army Models. The philosophy behind Black Army is far from mainstream, with company’s catalogue featuring number of unique figures, many of them depicting modern day civilians. The latest release from the company is Businessman (35-35), a figure portraying a man talking on his smartphone.

Review:

The figure is packed in a hard cardboard box. The front of the box features a box art image, crediting Gabor Szabo as both the sculptor and box art painter. Opening the box reveals figure pieces secured in a zip-lock bag. The kit consists of 5 pieces:

- full torso with legs,
- right arm,
- left arm,
- left hand with telephone,
- head.

The pieces are cast in grey resin and the inspection reveals very good cast with no sign of seam lines or air-bubbles. The carrier blocks are large and the pieces should be removed with care. This is especially important when cleaning the arms, as the blocks connect with the entire upper arm segment. As for the fit, the pieces align well, but I did have to fiddle a bit with the right arm so it would fit to both the torso and the hand in the pocket. I ended up cutting a small portion of the hand to position the arm correctly. Also, some putty work is needed to fill in the gaps between pieces.

The figure depicts a man talking on his mobile phone, in a relaxed posture with a hand in his pocket. The sculptor did a good job on the pose, with the phone close to the figure’s head. The figure is dressed casually, in a simple shirt and jeans combination. The attire does however have its peculiarities... the cuffed jeans, tucked in shirt, large belt buckle, boots, as well as pompadour hairdo, all adding to the character. When I first saw the figure, it somehow reminded me of a used car salesman, but the possibilities who this figure actually represents are endless.

Conclusion:

Businessman (35-35) is a very interesting 1/35 scale civilian figure from Black Army Models. It is posed really well and perfectly cast in resin, and should offer an excellent addition to many modern day vignettes and dioramas.