Front Rank 28mm Marlburians

Reviewed by Steve Crofts

First Thoughts



Wow! Alec you Naughty man! If ever I had been inspired to start a new period then this was it! Opening up the package and taking the selection of minis out of the bubble wrap protection, I was inspired, each as beautiful as the next, this has to be some of the best work Front Rank have produced so far!





Detail



The detail on these minis is really well presented, from the wigs to the lace, all is finely sculpted and presented in such a way that it will be hard not to do these minis justice, saying that, even a painter with limited experience I feel would be hard pressed to make a hash of painting these, although the expert could go to town, so they are figures for beginners and experts alike.

Cut on the minis is reproduced to a very good standard, which will aid the painting of the models no end, folds creases, all make up to make these minis so lifelike.

How ever long Alec has spent researching this period I couldn’t say, (I’ll have to remember to ask him!), but I must say how ever long it was it was time well spent.



In this range I have noticed a new concept that Front Rank have decided to go with, whether this is a trial I couldn’t say, but a good idea none the less, and that is the use of a separate weapon arm on the cavalry figures, now I do personally like this idea, reason is that it allows you to buy the same mini and multi pose them, this I have done in the past by bending the arms and cutting here and there to modify the way the arm is, having separate arms allows this and it doesn’t hold the risk of the arm being broken off or severely weakened. 

The same goes for some of the officers of the Infantry, although they do not have separate arms,(well the two given for review, didn’t have or allow the change), they give you the choice of the mini being a normal officer with a halberd or a standard bearer.

As a point of note, (hopefully somebody at FR will be reading this), I would personally like to see this idea and the separate arm idea expanded to not only other minis in this range but other ranges too, and where possible separate head variants, this then opens up an even wider selection of possibilities.

Along with the new Marlburians, Front Rank have also released two new Heavy horses, these are really nice subjects and add further to the choice of Heavy Cavalry horses, each is, as you would expect very well sculpted and cast. (take a look at the photo’s with this review and see what I mean!). 

Full of movement and Character, the horses really are nice additions to the existing choice and I do hope that there will be a few more additions to this and the light horse ranges.





Flash



There was very little in the way of flash on these models, and not a lot of clean up was required, mould lines, there were a few, these were not too bad and were easily dealt with, the only one I did have that may need a little more attention was on one of the new horses which in places could cause a few minor problems but on the whole I think that the minis are pretty much mould line free. 

Painting



I had a great time with the ones I painted for the review, the more paint and layers I put on the more the figure rewarded the efforts.

As I said earlier, although the detail on these is stunning and may put off the beginner, don’t let it worry you, it actually works with you and I do think that you will be hard pressed to make a mess of things so worry not, the figures are very painter friendly, just think about how you are going to tackle the miniature before you go ahead and you will be rewarded!

Difficulties and were there any, no I had none, I just took my time and didn’t rush, the whole key to these figures is to take your time and, (yes I know we all want to see the end result quickly!), go with the flow, it is well worth taking your time and getting a very nice result.



Question Time!

I did get the chance to ask Alec a few questions and to put him on the spot, hopefully I asked the major questions I thought could be upon everyone’s lips, and although general I hope they give answers to at least some.

I would also at this point like to thank Angela, Alec’s wife for turning the thumbscrews to get the answers out of him!!!


1) I know you had figures before with separate weapons, what gave you the idea to try a multi pose separate arm?

There are always limitations to poses when designing figures as consideration has to be given as to how they go into the mould and the way they cast. A separate arm is a useful way of expanding the variation of poses on a cavalry figure, giving the customer greater choice as to how they want their units to look.



2) With multi pose in mind, I did notice the choice that you have given collectors with some of the officers, of being able to use them with spontoon or to use them as a standard bearer, How come you decided to have only a few of the figures enabling this choice?

The Spanish Succession range gave me an opportunity to use certain officer figures as standard bearers or officers by providing a rigid flag pole and cast spontoon, this however is not something I would do universally as a flag is not always held in the same way as a spontoon or sword.



3) Also on the subject of Multi pose, have you thought of expanding this idea and the idea of separate arms, to other ranges, and do you think this may cause any problems for you during the casting of the miniatures, or will it enhance the poses of the figures available, to allow more flamboyant poses?

I am now trying to use multi pose arms for many of the new cavalry figures I'm now producing, also as many of my customers are now becoming aware, Front Rank's new figures often have random head variants within a code. So far I have not received any negative comments about the separate arms, however it's not something I intend for every cavalry figure I design from now on, I need to strike a balance, some will need to be like that and others not, and I also understand that a lot of assembly work prior to painting can be a bit of a pain.



4) How many more figures do you intend to produce for the British and French starter ranges, before you start with another nation/s? and ,(a question that will be on everyone’s lips!), which nation/s will be next on the list?

My plan is to complete the Spanish Succession British and French ranges before moving on to any new nationalities, exact numbers are difficult to predict, but my intention is that the finished ranges will be pretty comprehensive. The next nationality of Spanish Succession figures will be a more generic range which will cover the Dutch/German States/Austrians, but with specific figures for Grenadiers etc., I haven't planned this out in any detail yet, I tend to do this as I come to design the range.



5) The two new heavy horses are a very nice addition, do you intend to add any more new horse models for the heavy and light horse ranges?

We still have a few of the older designed H and LMH code horses in the line up, I'm in the process of redesigning these into the new HV and LT ranges, there will also be occasional opportunities for new horses, for instance my reasoning behind doing the new HV10A & B heavy cantering horses was due to the needs of the Spanish Succession Cavalry which at most would either trot or canter - although there are differing opinions on this subject, especially with British Cavalry.



6) Are you intending to expand your wagon and limber riders, as well as the wagons to complement this period?

Front Rank currently has an 18th Century range of guns, wagons & equipment which were partly based on the actual models of Marlborough’s Artillery train which were on display many years ago at the Royal Artillery Museum at Woolwich, but I'm definitely expanding this range and I'm doing more research at the moment.




Final Thoughts

As you can tell with the review I really liked these minis, and I can’t wait to have a look at other new figures in this range, I did really look to find fault on these miniatures and in all honesty apart from the mould line on the horse, I didn’t find any!

All I can say is that I do hope a wider variety of poses are made available for this range, a few different poses like I have mentioned before when reviewing Front Ranks miniatures.

Overall a superb set of figures from the Front Rank studio, a very well done to you all!

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