You can do many different things during night… one of them is to take pics and write reviews. I didn’t really feel like sleeping, so I decided to spend night on something productive – writing a review of Spellcrow miniatures.
I’d like to present two models released by Spellcrow, a company behind the Umbra Turris game. I had bought them last year at the Mad Days event and recently found them in my boxes. I thought it’s a good to review them.
Both minis were packed in folic packaging inside blisters. No bases were provided, as these miniatures were brand new releases at the time. Fortunately, I was able to pick square resin bases at their stand. Miniatures sold through their online store do have bases of course!
Helloween Mage
The first model I chose is a Helloween Mage – pumpkin-head released for Helloween 2011. It’s a one-piece cast, but it doesn’t mean a poor quality, quite the opposite! The is not quite fresh, as we have many pumpkins on the market. Nevertheless, I wanted to have this one from the very first moment I saw it. It’s a second pumpkin-head in my collection, many more still waiting for a purchase…
And here’s a nice painted version of this miniature, done by C’Tan.
What’s good
The sculpt is precise and detailed. There’s a lot of interesting details and textures, thus should comprise a very fun model for painting and should “paint by itself”, as painters use to say. Textures on the pumpkin, wood and details deserve the highest notes. I’m sure I’m not going to regret time spent on painting it and final effect will the best reward for my efforts.
Not so good
There are some drawbacks of course, as always. Cast is not bad, but there are some mould lines and excessive flesh. The metal piece connecting the wand with tag is the biggest part to be removed. These are not complicated things to do. Also, a piece of foam could be added to blisters to provide additional protection for miniatures (not that I expect any damages to light metal miniatures packed tightly in folic wrapping).
Packaging
The packaging does not contain any specific information apart from the name of the game. This might have changed in the meantime. If not, I believe it would be reasonable to add at least name of the model and few more pieces of information, to make it look more professional. Just a minor issue, really.
Score
Final score: 9/10.
Mrokin
The second model is this Mrokin with a staff. Fun sculpt with quality not worse than described above. One-piece cast again. There were also a few mould lines and other elements to be removed, nothing exceeding the standard preparation and assembly things you do with all miniatures.
Detailing
Face, and equipment deserves a special attention. Fantastic! Small brush and steady hand will make the most out of this sculpt; other manufacturers in that scale might be ashamed! Finer and better details can be found on resin casts only.
I have to admit that Spellcrow models’ quality and amount of details are amazing! The model is very small yet the sculptor did a superb job.
Score
This model will get the same score: 9/10.
Spellcrow miniatures review: conclusion
In my opinion Spellcrow did everything one could do with metal and produced miniatures of high quality. This is supported by an outstanding sculptor’s performance. As you can see – impossible is nothing. 🙂
I can sincerely recommend both miniatures and will surely get more from them in the future. Prices are also good – EUR 11.98 ($15.97) for the Helloween Mage and EUR 5.99 ($7.99) for Mrokin.
— Slawol