Well I have certainly slipped away from my usual stuff and really taken to the Fantasy side after discovering the Dark alliance figures. Here I’m just going to show some photos and make a few comments in regard to some of the sets I have painted.   The reason being that when I received my first set, I was at a loss as to how to paint them.   I’d not done any of this type of figure before so I looked at Paul Bod’s work as I remembered seeing some sets he had painted up earlier and he had done a fine job.  (You may want to look at jumping onto his site as he also does great Medieval figures.)  I also checked out a few others who had done some reviews on these sets and that was a great help.  So I felt I should share some of this, with the hope it might be of some help to some of you out there.

The first photo is a group shot of a few of the sets I’ve done, just for a general size view. You will notice that the two Amazon figures are a different size, but I might do a review of these two sets along with one of the two sets of Warriors of the Dead at a later date, but for now I will concentrate on the Elves, Cimmerians and the Mummies .

First the Elves, (10 figures to a sprue ). They are tall compared with the other sets, but I’ve been told that is their normal stature so that’s fine.  They have fine figures with good faces which I’m sure those with a keen eye and steady hand could do something with.  The figures themselves are well done with little flash to speak of, but they don’t lend themselves to a fast action diorama.  They are more reserved so it will be interesting to see how I fit them into a diorama.  I have only painted a straight set in their original stances, and they  don’t look like they will lend themselves to many improved stances when boiled.  As a rule I generally leave one complete sprue as is and then I select any that are suitable to be changed from the others (boil, twist then plunge in cold water, then attend to burnt fingers, ha-ha!)

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Fourth from the left is a Cimmmerian from set No. 1 (11 figures to a sprue, but only 10 shown on the box as pointed out by another reviewer, thanks mate, I was confused until I read your review. ) This extra figure is the guy with the sword and shield and a horned Viking helmet. I’ll say here that the two Cimmerian sets are very different. This set is very human-like, quite muscular. However set No. 2 is a bit more beastie-like. These figures are really well done and are full of action so will easily fit onto one of my dioramas that I have in mind, and again, only a small amount of flash. I have only done the one sprue but I can see a lot of possibilities when I get to boil the remaining sprues. The figure in the last two photos is from the mounted set and you only get one which is a shame as he would be a great figure to change. It has great scope, like moving his sword arm back and curling his left hand in around a victims neck .

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Now to the last figures, the last in the row, 045 Mummies.   Now I don’t generally get too excited when I open a new set on arrival (and I have to say now that I have bought near on 150 sets in the last seven years!).  However, this lot blew me away!  The person that sculptured these little beauties must have been having a grand day.  First, the detail is so fine, the work on the bandages is in great detail, as with the skull like faces, and the various poses.  A generous 12, they are truly grand and will lend themselves to a great variety of new poses when boiled .  The only fly in the ointment is that some of the figures in the set I purchased  have quite a bit of flash on them but the plastic is reasonably hard and with a sharp knife, it is easily removed, unlike the Amazon set No. 1. The detail is so fine, I’m sorry my photos don’t do them justice, but I can’t wait to use these little guys as there is so much action in the poses.

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Well that’s it from me at the moment ,as you can see there will be a few things being produced this summers ,I hope it has been of interest and maybe a bit of help to some of you ,Cheers Pat .

PS I receive no financial rewards for this post, and remember it’s only my opinion and as some of my mates would say that’s not worth a cracker !!