ヤマネ Ho Dolls

HO/OO scale train accessories have been an integral part of small scale modeling since the days of Airfix, with HO being equivalent to 1/87 scale, and OO being equivalent to 1/76 scale. I've used a fair bit of HO scale accessories from European and North American manufacturers, but for the most part I've found that HO figures are too small to be usable alongside 1/72 scale figures.

I recently stumbled across some figures from the Ho Doll line produced by Yamane that made me look into Japanese HO scale, which I was not familiar with. Japanese HO scale is equivalent to 1/80 scale, but can be referred to by a number of names depending upon the type of track being used for the trains.

Name	Track Gauge	Scale
H0n2½	9 mm	1/80
#12 (HOj)	12 mm	1/87
#13	13 mm	1/80
#16	16.5 mm	1/80

I had reservations about whether to order the figures without any scale reference because there are a number of Japanese manufacturers who seem to make their 1/72 figures underscale (I'm talking about you Bandai and Pit Road!), but I decided to take a chance because of the subject matter, which will probably never be made by any company outside of Japan.

The first figure is a Japanese maid in black uniform with white apron (ME-001). Next to the maid is a female high school student (KK-001). She wears a modern school uniform, rather than the stereotypical "sailor uniform" that people envision when they think of Japanese high school girls. The final figures is an apprentice geisha, or maiko (MA-002). She is in a pink kimono with her obi tied in the darari style, typical of geisha from Kyoto.

The figures are small and slender, ranging from roughly 21 mm to just over 22 mm in height. The maiko is a bit short at 21 mm (scales out to 5' tall), but I'd say the other two (at 5' 3" tall) work out perfectly for 1/72 scale. The paint job is fairly typical of model train pre-paints, a little touch-up will be required here and there, in particular around the faces.

Yamane figures are pricey, so I doubt I'll be getting too many more of these, but on the other hand, I do have a use for these figures in gaming, so I'll have to look into seeing if cheaper unpainted versions can be obtained.

Halo Micro Ops

The Halo franchise has been very successful, and I've played the game a few times, but it never really appealed to me. I won't go into the backstory, since it did not seem particularly innovative, but what has interested me with regard to the Halo franchise, is that McFarlane Toys has released a series of toys that are in the 1/76 to 1/72 range.

I picked up the ODST Drop Pods set, since it came with three figures. I'm guessing the guys in gray armor represent Sgt. Edward Buck and the Rookie, while the one in blue armor is Veronica Dare.

The kit also comes with two ODST Drop Pods, one with a drag chute and detachable stand, and the other with an impact crater to use as a support.

The doors open on both pods to display the interior. The front panel is not hinged, and just comes off.

The human figures in the small sets seem to be closer to 1/76 scale. I'm not sure how the aliens scale out, but they are quite a bit larger than human sized. Series 1 also includes some more expensive large sets, and from what I saw at the store, the figures seem to be a bit larger as well. I may get one of the Falcon troop transports to do a comparison in the future.

Dragonsnail

Dragonsnails are gigantic chaos-mutated pond snails that mostly sport one or two heads, and enjoy eating people. They inhabit the swamplands of Prax, in particular the Devil's Marsh, where they presumably originated.

Pictured here are two dragonsnail miniatures. The snail on the left is a Drakesnail from the Dreamblade CMG (Chrysotic Plague #20). The snail on the right is a Ral Partha dragonsnail from the Creatures of Glorantha boxed set (RuneQuest 10-402), also available in the Dark Denizens blister pack (RuneQuest 18-015).

The earliest dragonsnail miniature, however, was produced by Archive Miniatures, and faithfully replicates the artwork by Luise Perrin from RuneQuest 2nd edition (shown at the top of the page). It is a particularly difficult miniature to find, and remains high up on my hunt list.

All the available dragonsnail miniatures are two-headed versions, so anyone wanting a one-headed (or three headed) dragonsnail will have to make their own. Probably not too difficult to do using seashells available in any craft store.

I just quickly made a couple of mock-ups out of Elmer's-Tack, but when I have some time, I'll make up some proper one-headed dragonsnails.