Verlinden Spartan figure

Hey Ghamilt-Went to Pilipili's site-no moderns and only busts-but they are incredible and the faces say it all.

Dan

If I can add my 2 cents... I did quite a few Verlinden figures, when I was starting out. Like ajlafleche said, stiff, unnatural looking poses, some funny looking faces, and the warped parts, eventually sent me looking for some figures of higher quality. Mind you, Verlinden's stuff is pretty good for the price and offer a nice variety of historic periods for the beginner.

Have a look at some of the figures put out by "S&T", "Pilipili", and "Warriors", to name a few. They all have 120mm resin figures which are beautifully rendered and a joy to paint. I'm just putting the finishing touches on Pilipili's "Landknecht" soldier from the 1500's, and it was a great kit for about $50.00 CDN. His face was unbelievable! I'll post it when I'm done so you can see the difference between that and some of the Verlinden offerings.

Hey, Ajlafleche-rudimentary painting instructions is an understatement. They used to have front and back photos on the box-but now only front. They are some good kits still be produced but many awkward ones as well.

Dan

My experience with Verlinden has been that some of the older kits are okay. Newer ones often have very awkward poses, stiff and unnatural (3rd New Jersey Cavalry) Character faces are marginal, such as the recent Custer. Across the board. plugs are huge compared to other manufaturers. Warpage, even on some fairly thick parts, and fit can be a serious problem. Assembly and painting instructions rudimentary to non existant. Packaging of delicate parts can result a lot breakage.

Hey Mike-Being a fat, lazy guy-I decided to just make some kerf cuts on the convex side of the scabard-filled them with CA and taped it to a cutting board. It worked-although I don't think it would help a musket.

Dan

Thanks, Mike. I was hoping for a better prognosis than "hard work"-but I'll just grit my teeth and become more of a scratch builder. I'm working on a Napolean figure right now with a warped scabard-seems like an easy way to start.

Dan

The long parts that are warped are a problem with alot of manufacturers, sadly. Running the resin part under really hot water will help some. The part can be taped to a straight edge of some sort, run under the water or quickly dipped into a pot of hot water and then cooled. If this doesn't work....toss it. The effort does not equal the outcome and alot of times I find it easier to scratch build the part from styrene, extra resin, metal or lately I've been looking at some of the aftermarket stuff.

I think I've had 3 swords that I could not rebend, and scratchbuilt them from plastic card stock. Spears, pilum, bayonets, etc I've made from extruded styrene or brass rod. Scribe the center of the blade of the sword and use it as a guide for a rat tail file to make the fullers on either side of the sword. Some sanding will make the diamond shape cross section of a sword blade. Rifles, muskets etc can be made by either fabricating a new one. Remove the barrel, leaving the stock, a replacement length of fine tubing will act as a new barrel and serve as a spine or straightener for the remaining stock. The locks , etc can be salvaged from the remainder. Copper or lead foil, or strip styrene has acted as bands securing the barrel to the stock. (as well as made nice slings). Usually and hour or so of work will yield a nicer piece than the supplied version.

I don't have it at hand, but I will look up the sources I have for aftermarket parts if scratchbuilding is not your thing.

Renarts-the snags I've had with Verlinden are with some of the hands-all the fingers are the same length. Also some long parts-muskets, swords, are sometimes warped. Any ideas on how to fix that (that resin's mighty brittle)?

Dan

If you're talking about the 120mm full figure... its a nice little kit. The connection points of the limbs are in good spots so there is minimal filling. Nice detail, although I changed the spartha out for a spear. The helmet is a little thick but a careful paint job will make it unoticeable unless someone goes looking for it.

All in all, I enjoyed it and thought it was a really nice figure. It's rare that Verlinden offers dogs. Most of their kits are nicely cast and the resin is easy to work.