The Purchase: One pack of British Rifles (NB13) from Lancashire Games. The pack contains 10 riflemen in assorted poses. My pack contained 7 on the run, two biting their cartridges, and one cocking the rifle. At $2.10 for the pack they were relatively inexpensive ($0.263 each). The miniatures were packaged in a small zip-loc bag and arrived from England in decent shape.

First Impressions: Michelangelo is quoted as saying “I chipped away all the marble that was not David.” Such is not the case here. These look as if the original model were made from individual bits of clay stuck together (I have no ideas how minis are sculpted - this is just how it looked to me). I cannot say I was terribly impressed. There was some significant flash (more on that later). On most of the rifles the strap was poorly molded, either missing or only partially molded.

The Thigh Bone’s Connected to the Hip Bone: The anatomical proportions here, as with so many lines, is fairly far off. While the torso and legs are just about right in proportion to each other, the arms and hands are grossly oversized. Especially on the running figures - those aren’t hands, so much as they’re hams. Meanwhile, south of the border, these figures have feet smaller than my sister. (and “Die Hard” fans out there?).

Beware of Scrambled Eggs: While there are no scrambled eggs to be reckoned with, the faces of all the minis are decidedly “beak-like.” They come to a distinct angle so detail on the faces is minimal or entirely missing. Most of the mouths look as if they are practicing “puckering up” for a kiss.

God Is In. The Details: In terms of the equipment and uniform details, clearly the emphasis here was on simplifying for the painter (and game tables). The shakos look a bit oversized, and the shako cords are enormous for this scale. The rifles are nearly flat and the detail is awful. The molds may be old because the rifle straps for my poor lads were missing or only partially molded. There are really no discernible details for the trigger guard or flintlock mechanism. Furthermore, all of these men appear to have sold off their powder horns to go drinking and whoring. Not one of them can produce their powder horn!

The Verdict: Being cheap and easy to paint just is not good enough - there are very good minis out there that meet this criteria. These just ain’t it.

Paint By Numbers (My Paint Choices): Uniform jacket and pants - Colour Party Rifles Green; Bedroll - Model Master Neutral Gray 4757; Rifle - Howard Hues Rifle Butt; Haversack - Model Master Dark Tan 4709; Canteen - Tamiya Medium Blue XF-18; Powderhorn - Model Master Wood 4673.

[Home] [15mm World] [Reviews Home] [How To] [Beginners Guide] [Gamer's World] [Spanner & The Yank] [Points of View] [The Annex] [Links] [Say Howdy] [Corporate Schill] [Rules Directory]