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The Snail Shell Assassin figure recently released, and I got mine in a few days ago. Like Figma, Snail Shell has a very competent body that they tweak and provide for use in developing figures for the assortment of interesting character designs.
So I don't know the official names or anything, but this figure basically has two forms - some strange hybrid cybernetic animal form, and of course, the expected Waifu in skintight jumpsuit form.
It's an interesting design aesthetic, though for an assassin she seems awfully under armed, featuring a knife and a Grapnel Gun. The sheath for the knife and the harness for the Grapnel Gun plug directly into her lower spine. The interesting thing is that the hands are only meant to hold the knife - the Grapnel Gun is directly deployed from her harness... or that's what I think, as there's no real instructons.
Grapnel Gun comes with a coiled wire as well as three different tips, one for use when the tip has not been fired, and two actual projectiles to use with the wire.
Assassin is a return to average height for one of their figures, as Milk T Girl was just really short, though to be fair she was also really cheap to buy.
The cyborg mode head features multiple joints for articulation in the neck, covered with a fabric piece to hid the joints. There's also a joint at the base of the head, so overall this giraffe necked sculpt is actually very articulated. Compared to the normal head, which features effectively no neck articulation and limited head tilt, this feels somewhat like a step back.
Articulation has generally not been an issue with Snail Shell figures, and this is no different. mainly lacking a waist and butterfly shoulder joints. I've never removed the legs of any of the other figures (but this one I have to in order to swap out the groin pieces, and I notied the the hip design actually features some robust designs to allow for increased range of let motion without relying on a pull down hip design. The tail is actually articulated, tough the connection looks so fragile I'm afraid to actually manipulate the piece too much.
As always, use of the base will increase your posing options, and the base has cavities for you to store you spare pieces.
The two face plates are functional, and I can only presume they look like the source art. I can say, however, they're solid in terms of looking anime in nature, though again I wonder if this is simply because art direction insisted. There seems to be more rouge around the eyes on the finished product compared to the prototypes, and this shows up on the photos.
Otherwise, Paint and Build wise, pretty much on par with other Snail Shell items. in case you weren't aware, that is basically Storm Collectibles level of quality that should be coming out from these sets. Some questionable design choices as i've outlined above, but overall the figure certainly holds together than product from other companies.
Seen on my Saturday a.m. walk with friends; there were several of these around...but I liked this dude's shell the best!
A Hermit Crab cautiously emerging from his shell after being strategically placed on this rock by a giant scary creature with a camera - Sea of Cortez, Baja California Sur, Mexico
{ L } Lightbox view is best
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Coccinellidae is a family of beetles, known variously as ladybirds (British English, Australian English, South African English), ladybugs (North American English) or lady beetles (preferred by some scientists). Lesser-used names include ladyclock, lady cow, and lady fly. The family name comes from its type genus, Coccinella. Coccinellids are found worldwide, with over 5,000 species described, more than 450 native to North America alone. Coccinellids are small insects, ranging from 1 mm to 10 mm (0.04 to 0.4 inches), and are commonly yellow, orange, or scarlet with small black spots on their wing covers, with black legs, head and antennae. A very large number of species are mostly or entirely black, gray, or brown and may be difficult for non-entomologists to recognize as coccinellids (and, conversely, there are many small beetles that are easily mistaken as such, like tortoise beetles).
Coccinellids are generally considered useful insects as many species feed on aphids or scale insects, which are pests in gardens, agricultural fields, orchards, and similar places. The Mall of America, for instance, releases thousands of ladybugs into its indoor park as a natural means of pest control for its gardens. Some people consider seeing them or having them land on one's body to be a sign of good luck to come, and that killing them presages bad luck. A few species are pests in North America and Europe.
Medicago arabica (L.) Hudson
Spotted medick
Data Label;
Medicago Arabica / Heart Trefoil or Snailshell medick / Withering page 660 / Old Prince of Orange Field Gravesend / May 15
How unusual. An Osmia with a red abdomen. Very rare. Also as a cool aside. This one also nests in snail shells. Collected by Jelle Devalez on the Aegean islands of Greece. Pictures taken by Maggie Yuan. Shopping by Elizabeth Garcia.
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Photography Information: Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, Stackshot Sled, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash in Styrofoam Cooler, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200
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Art Photo Book: Bees: An Up-Close Look at Pollinators Around the World
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USGSBIML Photoshopping Technique: Note that we now have added using the burn tool at 50% opacity set to shadows to clean up the halos that bleed into the black background from "hot" color sections of the picture.
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A tiny mushroom grows from an empty snail shell.....mother nature has to be the mother of invention!
I found these by the side of the road on one of my previous road trips. There had been a huge glass jar full of them and it ended up smashed on the ground at some point. I'm really curious about the story of these shells.
Anyway, I scooped a bunch of 'em up in an empty McDonald's cup on the assumption that I could do an Art with them. Spent today taking some macro shots of things, including these.