Time for another Out of the Box - this time it is
Ruby, by
Studio McVey. Ruby is the 15th limited edition figure (released December 2010 actually) and is one of the larger releases.
Ruby and the dinosaur come in a mix of sprued and loose bits, as well as a 50mm round lipped base and an insert.
My insert was bent - guess it was demoulded too fast. The injection point is quite extreme, but nothing a sharp blade won't fix. The base has footprints for where the dinosaur is supposed to stand. After I remove the sprue, I'll have to use a hot water bath to flatten it back out.
The first of the two sprues comes with the dinosaur's arms and tail. The only bit that is very fragile is where the tip of the tail is sprued - the join is quite large (and mine had an air bubble right at the point of tail, causing the last millimeter of the tail tip to break off when I removed it from the sprue).
The second sprue has the guns, the horns with the reigns, Ruby's arm and hat, and the dinosaur's tongue. There is also one sprue with nothing on it - this must have been either unused or where the head is supposed to be.
Ruby herself is very nicely cast - the injection points are on her feet which should be quite easy to clean up.
Here is Ruby from another angle - you can see that even the pin has been cast which fits into the saddle so you can mount her properly and accurately without fiddling around too much.
Ruby's cloak fits seamlessly onto her back - the joins are very cleverly designed to be hidden when she is assembled.
The resin is extremely thin in some bits and you can see the light shine through in this following shot. You can also see the "W" shape of the join where the cloak attaches to her back.
The dinosaur's head. This might have been suppose to be on the sprue - you can see the sprue on the back of the head. Either way, it has to be snipped off so it can dry-fit to the body. There is a cast pin, but because of the sprue it's probably easier just to cut it flush and re-pin it during assembly. The detail is fantastic - every single tooth is intact without a miscast.
The body of the dinosaur - you can see there is also a pin joint for the tail - again you need to cut off and clean the sprue joints before you can dry-fit the pieces.
Here is the dinosaur from the front - you can see the pin holes for both the arms. Casting is generally excellent across the whole model - air bubbles are minimal compared to a lot of other resins on the market and details are all clean with no noticeable distortions.
Here's a bonus shot - I cleaned the base, and then dumped it in a plastic container filled with near-boiling water. After a minute, I fished it out, and pressed it flat into the base. After cooling, all signs of distortion are gone.
Although there were some slight problems, in general I am very happy with the model. I think the theming is fantastic. The model is not cheap (at £24.99) and is certainly not intended for beginner modellers. But it is well worth the money if you want to create a center piece model in your collection (especially with all the hype around cowboys right now). I hope to see more cowboys and dinosaurs in the future from Studio McVey!
Ruby is available from the
Studio McVey store and is limited to 750 castings.
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