Knights & Knaves Alehouse

TRP wrote: Woot.

Your shipment was postmarked on 03-28-2013 and is being shipped UPS Ground.

Woot.

Lucky bugger! I demand pictures and reviews so that I may enjoy them vicariously!

Scheduled Delivery:
Monday, 04/01/2013, By End of Day

TRP wrote:Scheduled Delivery:
Monday, 04/01/2013, By End of Day

Hopefully not the most epic April Fool's joke ever...

I feel a bit like I'm floating in limbo at the moment, not knowing when deliveries to this part of the world (New Zealand) are going to start, nor whether my order counts as "complex" for the purposes of scheduling. I suppose, if I just convince myself that nothing will be arriving before mid-May, then if they arrive any earlier I can be presently surprised instead of obsessively champing at the bit

Ha, ha. That would be a mean spirited April Fool's joke!

That is pretty much what I am doing, MojoBob. My package(s) could arrive any time between now and the end of May (do not want to think about the possibility of June). Apparently, they are notifying individuals when their miniatures are shipped, so at least there is no need to keep checking the post box every day before receiving that!

Right. I received an e-mail the day they shipped it.

It's heeeeere. Pics tomorrow.

Sweet! Count me as extremely jealous!

A day late... and sorry for the quality of the images. Later, I'll take more pictures using greater care with the lighting.

6 plastic bags, each stuffed with minis, were stuffed into one box. The plastic bags were not puffed with air to protect the minis, and everything was rather cramped in the box.

The 6 bags.


Opened a few bags at random. Metal minis shown for scale.


The soft nature of the plastic is disappointing. I'd expected a harder, high-impact plastic. There definitely is the problem with bent swords, spears, staves and such. I'll agree with Matthew that it's a result of the shipping, and that's the shipping from China.

The detail isn't all that great either.

I was really looking forward to this, and must admit to feeling a bit let down. Still, they're definitely good enough for gaming purposes, but I'm not going to spend a lot of time painting them well. They'll receive serviceable paint jobs, but they don't really warrant trying to make them into show pieces.

Thanks for the pictures! Can you take some of the "black orcs" next to some other humanoid miniatures? Yeah, the bent weapon thing is going to be an issue every time, I think, but on the other hand they will not suffer as badly from breakages. Interesting point about the detail level. I do not have any metal models by Reaper Miniatures to compare (well, one succubus), but I thought the ones I bought were average to above average. Not show pieces, that is for sure, but suitable for gaming, as you say. Also, the giants and other large creatures I am very interested in with regard to the level of detail.

I think if you boil a mini for a couple minutes it will unbendy.

Falconer wrote:I think if you boil a mini for a couple minutes it will unbendy.

Didn't Matthew try that, but the plastic's memory kicked in and returned to the bent state?

So far, I have been fairly careful with them, and not boiled one yet. I have placed them in boiled water for a minute or two and then bent the plastic to the correct shape, but you are right it tends to return to the earlier form, if not entirely then at least in part. Others have had better results by keeping the miniature clamped while it cools down. Exposing them to hot water is very interesting, as the plastic becomes much softer.

Matthew wrote:So far, I have been fairly careful with them, and not boiled one yet. I have placed them in boiled water for a minute or two and then bent the plastic to the correct shape, but you are right it tends to return to the earlier form, if not entirely then at least in part. Others have had better results by keeping the miniature clamped while it cools down. Exposing them to hot water is very interesting, as the plastic becomes much softer.

This worked well with the old WotC minis, but it will depend on the plastic used.

i wonder if you could do hot water, bend it, then cold water to temper it?