Thunderbolt Mountain



25mm Arthurian & the first of the new 30mm Medieval Range
Review by: Steve Crofts

First Thoughts


When the box arrived and I saw the name Thunderbolt Mountain, and I immediately new that, whatever the box held, I was expecting quality and detail. 

Opening the box I carefully took out the packets, and laid them out on the table, then one at a time I opened them up and had a good look at the contents in turn.

Wow! 



First of all I opened the new 30mm Medieval foot knight, the main figure and a separate shield and as an added bonus a couple of different weapons to choose from to arm the knight with, (I’ll cover the thoughts on this minis detail along with the other minis being reviewed). The figure is modelled with it’s base attached to the figure.

Next come the 25mil Arthurian miniatures, now there were two lots here mounted and dismounted, I’ll describe the dismounted minis first then the mounted…

Each of the miniatures comes with a separate metal base and a small selection of weapons, this is in my opinion an excellent idea, as it not only gives the modeller a choice of weaponry but also opens up the option of being able to buy a few of the same miniature and have a slightly different look to each adding to the variety of the minis.

The metal bases have holes in them so fitting the lugs on the bottom of the minis into them can give quite a firm hold, although a little bit of work with either a modelling drill or file may be needed in some cases to “open them up” slightly for fit.

The mounted minis come in a couple of parts too, the base, Horse, (with the riders legs attached), main body and the weapon, again a little work needs to be done to seat the horse in the base properly but once that is done the fit is quite solid.

How big are they? Well the 25’s stand at 27mm base of foot to top of hat, the 30mm stands at 30mm base of foot to top of helmet.

They might appear skinny to some collectors but I assure you they are not, they are true scale minis and not the heftier chunky type minis we are all used to.

Detail on all the miniatures is of a superb standard, the cut and hang of the cloth is realistic Armour is beautifully recreated, and as for pose, well very realistic and full of movement.

Faces are, (when not enclosed in a full Helm!), very well animated and detailed, each with an individual character to them, although I did seem to think that the lady of the lake was a little reminiscent of an Elvish type face, what with the almond style eyes, but as she could be construed as a somewhat Elf type character, this I think is acceptable.

The detail is not just on the main figures either, the horses are superb, sculpted in a way that captures the feeling of full gallop ect… harnesses and saddles are very nicely detailed and all add to bringing the animal to life.

The peasant sets again are quite delightful with the addition of the separate weapons that are with them, again a very good selection of variety can be achieved just with giving the minis a different weapon.



Flash

Not so much in the way of flash, more in the way of the lead in vent hole type of flash cleaning required which being of this nature was quite easy to remove and didn’t cause any major problems, once this was cleaned off and the holes in the bases opened to allow the mounting lugs on the bottoms of the minis feet to be glued in position, then the real appreciation for the trouble the sculptor went to, to bring us these minis can begin.



Painting

After the undercoat was put on I could see even more of the lovely detail that I mentioned above, the scabbard on the 30mm model is without doubt a wonderful piece of sculpting, the ornate decoration is a wonder to behold!

I must admit that I put quite a lot of thought into how I was going to paint the models I’d selected for painting, (I would have liked to have painted them all at this point but time being a persistent enemy when doing reviews the others would have to wait, (unfortunately!)).

I did a Google search for reference material that could be of use and finally decided on the colour schemes that you now see in the photos.

It is hard to feel that one has done justice to these little masterpieces, but then again the figures work with the painter to bring to life all that lovely detail.

Did I enjoy doing them, well silly question really, of course I did, who wouldn’t! 

Final Thoughts



Well not much that I can say to add to my comments above, These are by no doubt a really superb set of figures!

If you are contemplating building a medieval Army give these figures a look, they are exquisite, plenty of detail, plenty of variety, all in all really fine minis that will take some beating!

Simply stunning.

Please remember to mention Wargames Forum when contacting traders!

Return to What's New?    Return to Home Page