McEwan Miniatures

Over the summer, Reviresco brought the old school McEwan Miniatures line of 25mm (and 28mm) fantasy miniatures back into production. I purchased a few of the 25mm figures hoping that they were similar in size to their 25mm Starguard figures.

This post is a short review of the miniatures that I received. The first figures are of a Demon Class I and an Evil Priest.

The Evil Priest is sold as part of the Evil Priest & Sacrifice set, which consists of the former Evil High Priest (Heros and Wizards WZ-11), and Alter [sic] of Chaos with Sacrifice (Fantasy Items AS-22).

The Evil Priest has the look of an Egyptian priest, and perhaps was modeled after Thoth-amon from the Conan stories by REH.

The demon is not the Type I Demon of AD&D, but I like it because it is not much bigger than a human, which is how demons are often pictured in medieval illustrations.

The next miniatures are a Sphinx Female and a Sphinx Male.

These are not colossal sphinxes like stone monuments, but they are of a size that reflect figures shown on ancient Greek pottery. They also look like they may have been modeled after the gynosphinx and androsphinx illustrated in the AD&D Monster Manual.

The final figures are from the Armored Goblins set. These figures were previously called Lesser Orcs (Heros and Wizards WZ-10). The set consists of six figures in two poses with shields and a mix of swords.

The figures appear to represent goblins (orcs) of Isengard based on the symbol depicted on their shields. They also remind me a lot of the old Citadel Red Orcs.

The McEwan figures match up very well with 1/72 figures. They are obviously crude in comparison to modern figures, but I still like them a lot. I wouldn't say it is due to nostalgia, since I wasn't even aware of  these figures when I first started playing FRPGs. Perhaps it is their simplicity that makes me use my imagination to fill in the details when I look at them that makes them appealing. Who knows?

I plan on getting more figures from the line, and if others are interested, Reviresco is currently having a 20% off sale until Dec. 15 2017.

Universal-Motor-Gerät

The Unimog is a versatile all-purpose vehicle renowned for its off-road characteristics. The platform has been used worldwide for civilian and military purposes since the end of WWII, but it does not have the name recognition of the Land Rover or Hummer in the U.S. because they are not sold here (due to regulatory compliance issues).

The naming conventions used for the Unimog can be rather confusing since they are sometimes described using the series number, and sometimes described using the model number, and sometimes just referred to as "Unimog" without any indication of series or model.

I will use the series number when referring to specific types of vehicles in this post since the model number reflects the horsepower of the engine, and can be identical for two Unimogs from different series.

All of the Unimogs that I currently own are diecast models. There are a number of resin and white metal kits of military Unimogs on the market, but since they are 3–10 times the cost of a diecast toy, I decided to pass on them for the moment.

One of the oldest diecast models of the Unimog is the Matchbox toy from Lesney Products (blue). It dates to 1967, and has no given scale. Next to it is the Tomica Unimog (yellow) which is listed as 1/70 scale and slightly smaller than the Matchbox Unimog.

These models represent medium-duty 406 series Unimogs (manufactured 1963 to 1989), and are ~1–2mm too long for a 1/72 model. However, any difference would probably be more apparent with respect to height rather than length or width.

The next Unimog is a fire engine version produced by Atlas, described as a 404 series VLF (Vorauslöeschfahrzeug) Unimog.

Not to be outdone by Altaya, Atlas also decided to attach the model to its base with a security screw system, but in this case I was able to remove them with a hex wrench.

The 404 series (manufactured 1955 to 1980) has the long wheelbase, and was apparently popular with European and African armies. The wheelbase measurement of the model is almost dead-on for 1/72 scale.

The side mirrors are very delicate, and I managed to break both of them while unscrewing the model. Luckily they were easily fixed with a little CA glue. The tow hook also fell off, and I only noticed because I found a small plastic piece in the carpet that looked like a model part. Definitely a display-only model.

The next pair are a Majorette Unimog with green camouflage markings, and a Hot Wheels Unimog in desert camouflage.

The Majorette model was packaged with a couple of knockoff Airfix German soldiers like the rest of their Series 220 Special Forces sets.

I'm not sure if these models are supposed to be the heavy-duty 425 series, 435 series (both manufactured 1975 to 1993), or 437 series UHN (Hochgeländegängig) ‎(manufactured 1988 to present). However, most pictures of military Unimogs that I've seen appear to be from the 425 (aka model U1300) or 435 series (aka model U1300L).

I've seen the Majorette Unimog described as being 1/82 scale (which sounds about right), so they're probably okay to use for 15mm gaming (though some might want to replace the monster truck wheels with something more suitable).

The models are about the same size as the Matchbox and Tomica vehicles, but really undersized in both wheelbase and cab size if they are supposed to be series 425/435/437 Unimogs.

The final models are Hongwell medium-duty 405 series UGN (Geräteträger) Unimogs ‎(manufactured 2000 to present).

Hongwell also decided to make these models hard to remove from the packaging by using a screw inside a tube that was too narrow for my regular screwdriver. The Phillips head jewelers screwdrivers (< size 0) that did fit into the tube were too small to turn the screw (~ size 1), so I had to use a slotted blade screwdriver to release the models.

These are really nice models with metal cab on plastic undercarriage. The tilting bed with swinging tailgate is also made of metal. The wheelbase is 52mm which scales out to 3.75m, but I'm not sure if there is a UGN with this length wheelbase, or if the model is off-scale.

Last is a comparison shot of all the Unimogs from this post.

Scarecrows

From Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

The scarecrow has been used since ancient times to prevent the depredation of fields by birds during planting season and harvest season. It's use during harvest in particular has led to the scarecrow becoming closely associated with Fall.

The animated scarecrow is of more recent origin, with the earliest example that I can find being Feathertop from the eponymous short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Some may argue that Kuebiko (久延毘古) qualifies as an animated scarecrow, but since he is described as being immobile (though capable of speech), the point is moot.

In any event, both Feathertop and Kuebiko were entirely benign, and it wasn't until recent times that more sinister scarecrows became prevalent. The TV movie Dark Night of the Scarecrow (which I vaguely recall seeing, back in the day) is credited with popularizing the "killer scarecrow".

The D&D scarecrow appeared in the Fiend Folio in the same year as Dark Night of the Scarecrow, but the two scarecrows were quite different in appearance.

Scarecrows seem to fall into two main categories as far as looks go. One type has a turnip or gourd for a head, while the other has a sack filled with rags or straw for a head.

Do not confuse the two.
One is a Bram Stoker Award winner,
the other has an audience score of
26% on Rotten Tomatoes.

There are several companies that make scarecrow miniatures, but finding figures that are close to 1/72 scale is more problematic.

The first miniatures I found were the lesser scarecrows from Monolith Designs. Their website hasn't been updated in over 10 years, but the last time I sent an e-mail, they were still in business, and I was able to order a couple of packs of their scarecrows.

From Beyond Crow021

From Beyond Crow022

The scarecrows have old world jack-o'-lantern heads with straw bodies, and are armed with various farm implements.

I modified some of the models to look like the 28mm scarecrows from their Crow011 and Crow012 sets, and replaced the head on one figure with a new world jack-o'-lantern head.

I really like the Monolith lesser scarecrows, although I have one nitpick with the way they painted their samples figures.

If the stem is at the top of the head, the purple color should probably be painted on the upper portion of the head, not the bottom.

Another figure that can be used as a scarecrow is available from North Star Military Figures. They produce a Small Construct (center), which can pass for a sack-headed scarecrow.

The Northstar figure is not as good a value as the Monolith Designs figures, but it is part of a set (Frostgrave Bestiary FGV303), and comes with a Medium Construct that can be used as a wood golem.

A gallery of scarecrows created by "Rot" that you can use to fuel your imagination can be found at Pumpkinrot Works.

Paravane

The paravane (aka water kite, sweep, tadpole) was developed during WWI as a countermeasure against underwater mines.

It had a secondary usage against submarines that was probably infrequently used, and even less often likely to be successful.

I became aware of this obscure piece of equipment because they were shown in the Haifuri anime from last year, so when I came across some 1/72 scale models while browsing through Shapeways, I decided to buy a couple of the more inexpensive models from the 3D Boats store.

Three sentence review of Haifuri from Himeuta Channel

The models I bought were described as early RN paravanes, but they also looked like certain types of USN and IJN paravanes as well. Unfortunately, I couldn't really find any references on the appearance and classification of WWII paravanes to verify any of this.

The models were printed with the Frosted Ultra Detail material, and require the addition of some bent wire to complete.

I believe this is a Type B Mk. IV paravane

The resin used for the print allows a good level of detail. but is still unable to achieve the perfectly smooth surfaces of traditional models. FUD seems to be somewhat brittle, so care is needed when handling models made with the material (particularly with very thin parts).

The translucent properties of the material looks like it might have potential applications as well.

The models are covered with a sticky layer of support wax, and dust will stick to the wax and form a gooey mess on the surface if they are left on the desktop for any period of time.

To remove the wax, I washed the models with dishwasher detergent, then swabbed them down with 95% isopropanol.

I sprayed one of the models with a couple of coats of gray primer, hoping that the paint was sufficient to hide the layer lines of the print.

The top of the model didn't look too bad, but the lines on the underside of the model became a lot more apparent after the primer (I think they were a lot deeper to begin with, but it was difficult to tell until the model was painted).

I guess I need to add some smoothing epoxy to my shopping list for next month in order to finish these models.

Iron Dome

Models of vehicles that make up Israel's Iron Dome air defense system have been produced by Panzerkampf which is ostensibly a Chinese company, but seems to be based out of Spain.

I've seen references to these models announced as far back as 2015, but it's possible that they may have only been available in Israel until this month. Some background on how the models came into being can be found at ISRAEL21c.

I wasn't sure what to expect of the models, since I've seen some pictures where the entire models were fully painted, while others looked more toy-like because it looked like only the metal parts were painted.

In any event, the models I received seem to be of the fully painted type. The truck cab and some of the body are made of metal, the tires are made of vinyl, and the mounted units and remaining parts are made of different types of plastic.

The radar unit, control unit, and missile launcher are all mounted on identical RMMV trucks of some type. Translucent plastic is used for the colored dome lights on the trucks, but I think that they should actually be amber colored instead of red.

The radar unit is attached to the body of the truck, but is capable of elevating and rotating.

I'm not sure if the color of the radar unit is accurate though, since from what I've seen in pictures, it seems to usually be the same color as the trucks.

The control unit is fairly unremarkable. It has the Rafael logo on the side, which I'm guessing only appeared on demonstration units.

The launcher is of course the centerpiece of the set. The unit can elevate, but is firmly attached to the body of the truck.

The lights on the launcher are painted red, but should probably be one amber, and one red.

The launchers are sometimes described as having fixed or mobile capabilities, but it's not clear if mobile means that the launchers can be fired from the back of the truck. I have only seen video of the rockets being fired from a fixed position at any rate.

It would have been nice if the launchers were available separately or at least removable so that a battery of 3–4 units could be put together.

The following promotional video from Rafael shows how the system is deployed.

Dungeon Meshi & Walktapodes

I don't remember food (or lack thereof) ever being a particular issue when playing tabletop RPGs, but it was often a mechanic used in computer RPGs (e.g., Rogue, NetHack, Ultima).

One of the methods of preventing death by starvation in the dungeon in rogue-like games was to eat the corpses of monsters that you had killed in the dungeon.

The manga Dungeon Meshi by Ryōko Kui is a humorous take on this concept.

The English language version of the manga is published by Yen Press, and I believe that two volumes have been released so far.

The translated version uses the original subtitle of the manga, "Delicious in Dungeon" as the title, but I would have personally used something like "Dungeons and Dining" as a play off of D&D, or "Dungeon Eats" which is closer to what "Dungeon Meshi" would translate as.

Some of the monsters cooked up by the adventurers include giant bats, giant scorpions, myconids, slimes, living armor, carnivorous plants, and basilisks.


In one episode, they kill a kraken, but unfortunately it didn't taste as good as Marcille envisioned.

The episode reminded me of an article by Bill Johnson printed in the Wyrm's Footnotes about cooking walktapus.

Walktapus is also an ingredient of the Everlast biscuits used as rations by the troops of the Broo King of Dorastor.

The walktapus of course, is a tainted chaos creature from Glorantha with a head like a giant octopus, and a man-like body. It has the ability to regenerate, and can release poison gas in the manner that a normal octopus would release ink.

I recently was able to complete my collection of walktapodes when I picked up an Archive Giant Octopus (Fantasy 5038) which was originally used as the head of the Archive Walktapus (RuneQuest 819).

I've had the body (which is the same as that of the Arduin Shadow Golem) for years, but was missing the head.

The following image is of the Archive Walktapus, the Martian Metals Walktapus (RuneQuest 7002), and the Ral Partha Walktapus (RuneQuest 18-402).

The Martian Metals miniature comes in two pieces like the Archive miniature, while the Ral Partha miniature is a single piece casting.

Lance & Laser also made a walktapus, but at ~2.5" in height it would have towered over my other octopodes, so I had no use for it. The Lance & Laser walktapus suffered the fate of the Archive walktapus, and now only exists as a [giant] octopus from Armorcast.