Heller Model Kits

[bmathison1972]

Walk-around of the seven-spotted lady beetle, Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus, 1758 by Heller (2001). This species occurs naturally throughout much of the Holarctic and is considered the most common lady beetle in Europe. It has been introduced into continental North America (where it has pushed out populations of native species, including C. novemnotata), Hawaii, and apparently Madagascar. This species is no stranger to toy form, and while several generic figures may be attributable to this species, it has been specifically made by Bullyland, 4D Master, Blip Toys, Furuta, Kabaya, and CollectA that I am aware of (although I am still lacking the Bullyland figure).

Heller was new to me when I stumbled upon this figure on eBay. The French company appears to specialize in model kits, primarily military craft and infantry soldiers. However, some recent snooping around revealed there are (at least) three other European insects: the scarabaeoids Oryctes nasicornis and Lucanus cervus and the ant Formica rufa. I have also seen the ant, lucanid, and lady beetle packaged together in a set marketed as 'Forest Monsters'. Just yesterday I won on eBay the two scarabs, but I really really want that ant!

The lady beetle figure comes in 11 pieces (venter; elytra; head+pronotum; 2 antennae; 6 legs), all in a base red color. There are also decals for the maculae that are applied with water, however I decided not to use the decals but rather paint the maculae myself. It is also intended to paint the elytra red but since their base color in adequate for this species, I did not apply an additional coat of red.

The first thing I did was paint the individual parts. I then attached everything, using glue where needed (the legs and antennae have holes in which to insert them, but the pronotum, elytra, and venter are all to be supported by glue). I applied additional glue to the base of the legs and antennae to secure them. I then did touch-ups of the areas where the paint got rubbed or scraped away during physical assembly. Lastly, I coated the whole figure with a satin varnish. The instructions suggested using modeling clay to attach the beetle to a branch or log, but I will leave my figure independent of a base (although it fits nicely on the plastic logs that the 4D Master figures come in!).

The figure is 90 mm, making it roughly 10:1 for an average specimen. On forums for model kit collectors, I have seen the four Heller insects indicated as being 4:1; this might be true for the scarab beetles, but the lady beetle is clearly in a much larger scale (as too is probably the ant)!

On to the pics:

windows 7 screenshot

windows 7 screenshot

windows 7 screenshot

windows 7 screenshot

windows 7 screenshot

windows 7 screenshot

windows 7 screenshot

windows 7 screenshot

...and the final product:

windows 7 screenshot

and lastly with the Furuta (Insect Science) and Kabaya (Insect Directory) figures, that are as close to 1:1 as possible among figures:

windows 7 screenshot

[Beetle guy]

I had the Oryctes nasicornis from heller ones. But one of the dog got it.

[bmathison1972]

I had the Oryctes nasicornis from heller ones. But one of the dog got it.

The Oryctes nasicornis will actually be a new species for me so I'm excited to have it.

[widukind]

Very beautieful

[bmathison1972]

Walk-around of the European rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes nasicornis (Linnaeus, 1758) by Heller, No. 79402 (2000). This is my second review of a Heller model kit, following Coccinella septempunctata (http://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=2075.0). Oryctes nasicornis occurs in the western Palearctic, including Europe (exclusive of the British Isles), northern Africa, west to Pakistan. It is the only dynastine in northern Europe. This figure represents a new species for my collection, and as far as I know, the only member of this species in toy/figure form (I do possess two figures of Oryctes gigas, by DeAgostini and Sega).

The model comes in 13 pieces (venter; elytra; pronotum; head (2 pieces), antennae (2), and legs (6), in solid black. Unlike the Coccinella figure, there were no decals.

I took a slightly different approach with this model. I painted individual parts first, and glued everything except the legs together. I then added the clear varnish to the individual legs and the completed body. After the varnish dried, I then glued the legs to the body.

I must admit, I am not crazy about the design of the legs here. It almost appears the pegs are on the wrong side and that the legs attach 'upside-down'. If the pegs were on the opposite side, and the legs flip-flopped from their intended side of the body, they may look more natural. Even as is, I arranged the legs in a way that I thought looked most natural, and not necessarily what was spelled out in the instructions [you might also notice one of the tarsi broke off and I had to glue it back in the end]. Also, the top and bottom parts do not align well and there are small gaps in the seams.

The model is 95 mm (not including legs), making it roughly 2:1 for a maximum-sized major male.

I am also working on Heller's Lucanus cervus model but have not been taking images along the way, so I probably will not do a review of that figure, but it will show up eventually in the Lucanus section of Bug of the Day.

On to the images:











and the final product:

[widukind]

A next beauty for you

[Jetoar]

thanks for sharing it. I saw it when I was a child.

[Jetoar]

It looks really cool too

[bmathison1972]

Walkaround of the red wood ant, Formica rufa Linnaeus, 1761, No. 79400 by the French company Heller (2000). This is the fourth and final insect figure in their set of four. It was the one I was most excited to get, and finally did! While ant figures are commonly made in 'chinabug' bin sets, having figures marketed at the species level is actually quite rare considering. This species is the classic 'red ant' of Europe. This species, as presently delineated, does not occur in North America, but there are about 25 species in the rufa-complex that do.

On ATF and STS you can see other walkarounds of the Coccinella septempunctata and Oryctes nasicornis. Sometimes the four figures (there is a Lucanus cervus as well that I did not do a walkaround for) are marketed together as 'Forest Monsters' collection.

Like all Heller model kits, assembly is required. This model comes in 13 pieces (top, bottom, mandibles, 2 eyes, 2 antennae, 6 legs) in a matte black. I first assembled the body and mandibles and painted the body with a red-brown-yellow mix (in the final product it dried a little more brown than I would have liked, but I am still happy with it). I then added the antennae (painted first) and legs, sealing everything with superglue. They recommended painting the black parts black, but the base color is adequate to I left it as is. As usual, I coated the final product with a satin varnish.

The final figure is 110 mm long, making it roughly 16:1 for an average-sized worker (normal legnth 4.5-9.0 mm).

On to the pics:















And the final product:





And with the entire 'Forest Monsters' collection: