Introduction

Live Resin is a Russian company specialized in producing high quality, amazingly detailed modern figure aftermarket sets. So far the company was oriented towards creating 1/35 scale weapons and accessories, digitally sculpted using 3D software and cast in resin (some of Live Resin goodies are reviewed here.

This review covers the first Live Resin head set available on the market: US Army Modern Heads (LRE-35067). The set consists of 5 heads designed to upgrade modern US Army figures.

Review

The US Army Modern Head set comes packed in a zip-lock bag safely secured between a firm cardboard backing (9x10cm). The box art on the front shows all the kit parts, while the one on the back lists Live Resin offerings which could be used with the heads: MICH helmet and accessories (LRE 35019-35025) as well as PASGT helmet and accessories ( LRE 35040-35044).

The kit consists of 5 different heads cast in grey resin. The resin looks really good and I found no imperfections in the cast; there are no air-bubbles, no seam lines, nothing… even the tiniest and most delicate details are perfectly rendered. The heads feature small protrusions on the top which serve as "anchoring points" for helmets. I tried fitting the heads with one of Live Resin ACH/MICH helmets and found a perfect match: the protrusion on the head clicks perfectly with a corresponding recess in the helmet. Another aspect of the set that has to be mentioned are slightly thicker and longer necks than usual. Longer necks will come in handy while fitting the head to the torso, allowing a good connection at almost any angle.

Each head included in this set is slightly different, with facial details suggesting diverse characters and races. The heads do not feature any specific facial expressions, but there are several head sets in Live Resin pipeline which will be covering a wide range of different appearances and emotions: shouting, smiling, smoking, laughing, etc. thus giving the figures more “personality”.
Two heads in this set are wearing ESS Crossbow Goggles, which are on the US Army Authorized Protective Eyewear list and are usually supplied with Clear, Smoke Grey or Hi-Def Yellow lenses. One of the heads is wearing ESS Profile Goggles. All heads in this set are sculpted with 4-point chinstrap suspension system, which was adopted in 2003 for ACH/MICH helmets. Older PASGT helmets usually employed 2-point chinstrap suspension system, but could have also been upgraded with the 4-point chinstrap.

One more thing that needs to be mentioned in this kind of a review is definitely the size comparison between Live Resin heads and offerings from other resin figure manufacturers. I measured up Live Resin heads to those from Evolution Miniatures, Bravo6, Minisoldiers, NATO in Miniatures, Hobby Fan, Airborne Miniatures and Alpine Miniatures... and found a really good size match to all of those figures.

Conclusion

We are witnessing a major change in sculpting techniques. Digital software is assisting scale model manufacturers to produce exact replicas of various models with the incredible amount of fine details. But can 3D software be used to realistically sculpt living forms? Is computer modeling going to replace talented hands of traditional figure sculptors? I was going to put my money on conventional sculptures... however, after seeing Live Resin digitally sculpted head sets, I think I might be proved wrong very soon. Although wearing neutral expressions, the facial features of the heads in the set are very well defined. The heads are perfectly cast and by combining different helmets and helmet accessories, which are available separately from Live Resin, modelers have an option of making almost any headgear setup they desire.

Thanks to Yaroslav from Live Resin for this review sample.