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Manufacturer: Studio 38
Material: Resin
Cost: 9.0€
Scale: 32mm
Contact: www.figurines-studio38.com
Sculpted by Allan Carrasco
The legendary Tanka Wanka is the greatest earth extractor of “wake-dream forgers”, hallucinogenic mushrooms prized by Aurlock shamans.
Tanka Wanka… The name is enough to make people want to buy this miniature. Also the fact that it came from the mind and fingers of one of the finest sculptors knocking about, Allan Carrasco, who designed and sculpted Tanka for the Alkemy Skirmish game.
Tanka is an Aurlock from the toad clan and is the most renowned mushroom extractor of his people. These mushrooms are highly prized by the Aurlock shamans who use them in their healing rituals.
The Sculpt
Tanka is quite an iconic miniature that stands 28mm to his eyes. He comes in four parts, his left arm, weapon and head plume being separate from his body. He is also supplied with a resin base that is hollow underneath so gamers can use magnets to attach him and the miniature can be removed for storage and transportation.
Tanka stands with his left arm down and his right arm extended out to hold the huge flint headed weapon over his shoulder, he’s slightly twisting to the left and has a certain look of consternation on his face. He also has a huge, warty, toad-like chin and flabby belly. He’s wearing a loin cloth around his front and yes he’s anatomically correct behind that so that’ll be fun to paint ;)His left foot is slightly higher than his right so some interest can be added to a self-made base.
I like the sculpt as we see Tanka in a resting, but watchful pose almost as if he’s just seen something while trekking through the swamps of his homeland in search of his fungal quarry.
Before I go any further I must point out that I really like Tanka Wanka. Allan’s and Jérémie’s rendition of the miniature are both diversely different but both superb and I would like to attempt to paint him in a similar vein but I must admit the cast is pretty bad but in the right hands, It’s not beyond saving. The biggest problem on my copy of the miniature is the eyes. I always like the miniatures eyes to be clear and well-cast so when I paint them I can use them to become the focal point of the miniature. Unfortunately on this copy the eyes are rough and will take some time working in a very small area to fix them up. Next up is the mould slip, there are areas on his extended right arm and on both legs where I’ll have to re-sculpt muscle. The next big issue is a major mould line that starts just below the left part of his mouth and goes down the whole of his body. Thankfully this hasn’t obscured any facial details so it can be removed but on the back of the miniature some rebuilding will need to happen . On his left arm, unfortunately around one of his bracelets there is some resin that hasn’t been mixed correctly. It has cured but it looks like someone has dropped super glue all over his wrist and this will be time consuming to rectify. One last point and they’re hardly worth mentioning but there are three tiny air holes on his chin but these are nothing unexpected on a resin miniature and they’re very easily fixed. I know it sounds like I’m rubbishing this miniature but I’m really not and as stated, I really like the miniature, so it all boils down to two things. Do I have the skills to rectify these problems and will the time invested in fixing it up produce something that I can paint and display? We will all have our own answers to these questions but for my part I think I will persevere with this miniature and try to do a good job on it.
Ratings
Quality: 6/10, the cast is pretty poor, hence the low score but I will say that if you can expend the time to fix it up you will end up with a great miniature.
Assembly: 8.5/10, four bits that all go together pretty well. As mentioned above the plume and his arm will need pinning but I always recommend pinning everything so nothing out of the ordinary here.
Value for Money: 9/10, 9€, roughly £7.20 for a iconic miniature sculpted by one of the best in the business is, in my mind well worth every penny. But, with the work that is needed to correct the casting errors I wouldn’t take this miniature on if I didn’t know I had the skills to fix it.
Overall: 7.5/10, I’m split over this miniature. A part of me is disappointed with it because of the casting errors and knowing what work is ahead of me to get it to a state where I can paint it. The other part of me is very pleased with it because I hold an iconic miniature sculpted by Allan Carrasco and it didn’t cost an arm or a leg and the excellent paint jobs that can be seen on the internet provide some very cool reference images.
For those interested the English version of the rules, they can be downloaded from here (http://pj.b5z.net/i/u/2042237/f/Alke...s-THE_BOOK.pdf) and the cards from here(http://alkemynicoleblond.free.fr/eng.../index-uk.html).
