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I immediately think evil antagonist when looking at this model, but he could also make an impressive PC in an evil or unscrupulous campaign. Additionally, it looks great as a special character on the table top, standing apart with its dynamic pose, highly detailed armor, and exotic weapon.
The mini is three pieces, torso and two arms. It's integrated with the base but could be removed with some effort if it bugs you. The arms fit into place with some normal file prep. I'd recommend pinning at least the back arm since the sword is rather long and could hook on things very easily. The arms are thick enough to pin so don't get lazy and cut corners on this great mini. Careful with his right arm, the shoulder armor contains a blade that could look like a casting tab and be removed accidentally. The mold lines were only visible on the underside of the legs and can be removed without losing any of the detail on the armor plates.
Painting him should be fun for any skill level. There is frequent detailing across most of the miniature- the only large flat surfaces are the blades. I could see strong contrasting colors working really well on this mini if chosen wisely.
Quality: 8.5
Great details, stance and casting
Assembly: 8
The assembly adds depth and is reasonable to do safely
Value: 9.5
$8 is really a great price for this beautifully cast and detailed miniature
Overall: 9
Bad ass Dark Elf warrior right here!
ShaneRozzell
Like most DS Miniatures it is on an integrated base, but in this case it will be very simple to remove him and add him to one you have made yourself as only the feet are attached to the base.
The sculpting of this piece is very intricate and pronounced even down to a small scar on his left cheek which will make it a joy to paint.
The miniature comes in three parts, the main body and both arms separate. The fitting is very nice but will need pinning and thankfully this will be easy to complete because the arms are a decent thickness. All the details are nice and sharp and the cast quality is also very good with nice smooth surfaces and no pitting.
There are a few mould lines and flash tags but on the whole these are what anyone would expect with a white metal miniature. The only one that will be hard to remove is down the left side of his shin armor on his left leg, here the space is very tight for a micro file but it should be able to be removed with careful scraping with a scalpel blade.
Ratings
Quality: 9.25/10
A very well designed and sculpted miniature with an eye-catching dynamic pose.
Assembly: 8.25/10
Pinning will be nice and straight forward but the one mould line on his lower left leg will need careful removal.
Value: 10/10
At $7.99 (£5.68) Another good miniature at a very reasonable price.
Overall: 9.25/10
The Male Dark Elf offers something to both games and painters alike. Nice strong features and smooth surfaces will make it a dream to paint as either a display piece or as a character model for a tabletop army or role-playing game.
Cregan Tur
This white metal kit comes in 3 pieces: body, right arm, and left arm with double-bladed sword. The base is sculpted as a part of the torso and shows a plain bare-rock motif. It would be easy to remove him from the base, which I think is a good thing as this is a very plain base that doesn’t add much to the figure, but on the other hand there is a tremendous amount of detail on the elf, so some contrasting plainness may be a good thing.
Detail loving painters rejoice, for this figure has a lot of them for you to play with. Every section of armor has a little filigree or design or spiky protrusion, so there are a lot of places for creative color schemes or contrast. The main chest section of the armor has the design of a skull with fangs, for instance. I’ve seen a few old metal Games Workshop miniatures that had spikes protruding from many places, and most of them time some of these spikes would be miscast or missing altogether. That is not the case here; Dark Sword’s metal wizardry ensures that every tiny spike and detail is presented in sharp detail (seriously, one of them poked me).
I have had assembly problems with Dark Sword pieces in the past. Thankfully, that is not the case with this warrior. The arms fit in place very easily. The miniature I was given fit so well that I didn’t have to do anything more than glue the arms in place. The sword is well designed and thick enough that I didn’t find any bending or warping, which is a common problem for weapons on a lot of miniatures out there.
This figure’s design makes him stand out from the crowd, especially when you take all of the fine detail into account. He would make an excellent addition to any game where you can add in a Dark Elf. The pose and sculpt is also so nice that he would be an excellent candidate for a display or competition piece. Highly recommended!
Quality: 9.5 / 10
- Very easy preparation, barely any mold lines
-No pitting or rough surface- super clean cast
Assembly: 9.5 / 10
-Arms are easily placed on the figure
-Fit is so good that I didn’t need any putty work
Value: 10 / 10
-Unbelievably cheap price for such a good figure
Overall: 9.6 / 10
This is a perfect Storm of a figure: excellent production, easy assembly, and a great price make it a piece everyone should consider purchasing.
