Introduction

I rarely buy figures on impulse, but the Boy from Black Army Models was something I just couldn't resist. I saw the kit on a local modeling show and immediately knew I had to have it... the figure of a curious young boy was so charming that I thought it could easily be the centerpiece of numerous 1/35 scale vignettes my mind was already projecting.

Review

The figure is safely packed in a hard cardboard box. The box features Black Army Models logo and two box-art pictures of the painted figure… since the kit comes with two alternative right arms, the guys from Black Army wanted to show both figure versions on box cover. The box also credits the figure sculptor (Miklos Pali) and painter (Balazs Schuller).

Inside the box, a zip-lock bag contains 5 resin figure parts:

- full body with legs
- head
- left arm
- right arm (with toy airplane)
- right arm (with flashlight).

The resin cast is really good. I did find a seam line on the inside of the right leg which could be a bit difficult to remove and another, less prominent seam on the airplane horizontal stabilizer. Some of the big resin carrier blocks could be difficult to remove, so be careful when cleaning the pieces... particularly the toy airplane, which is extremely delicate. The parts fit well and I had no problems building the figure. I really like the addition of two different right arms, offering the choice of building two slightly different versions of the figure.

The figure depicts a young boy dressed in a simple T-shirt and trousers, wearing sneakers on his feet. The boy is kneeling with his left arm on the floor supporting his weight. In his right arm he is holding his favorite toy airplane or, if you decide to use the alternative arm piece, a large flashlight. The best thing of the sculpt for me is definitely an extremely cute facial expression conveying that honest childish awe, with eyes wide open and mouth agape, silently saying that wordless “wow” of astonishment. Perfect!

Conclusion

I just love this figure. It is cast pretty well and it is very easy to build; but its charm comes from the childish body language so masterfully sculpted in scale. Whether you decide to use the toy airplane or the flashlight piece, the atmosphere created by this figure will be something special, distinguishing your vignette from all the military stuff usually displayed on modeling shows.